Paul Branch is the risk taking self-made business man who has it all and is on the verge of getting even more. As a humanitarian and well-traveled business guru he’s a privileged, connected, and sought after industry titan whose meteoric rise to the top shows no signs of slowing down. Although he views life through atheistic lenses, his insatiable passion for family and community prove that despite an abundance of wealth and notoriety, he’s possibly one of the nicest guys you could know. This mogul has a long-standing history of outstanding charitable work aimed at making the world we live in a better place. Being outspoken on various politically incorrect topics allows Paul to be viewed as an expert in his field as well as a public icon. Paul’s heavily opinionated views on money, religion, politics, family, and philanthropy always seem to resonate well with the masses.
Well not everyone. One day everything changes! A string of smack you in your face shocking catastrophes stir up plot twists leading to a total and immediate shake up of his tight knit loving family. Paul’s flourishing multi-million dollar business and hard earned legacy are also vulnerable to demise. One unexpected tragedy snowballs into an unpredictable series of unfortunate events blindsiding everyone by pinning their backs up against the wall. A credible and imminent threat to everything Paul has worked for lurks just beyond the horizon. Paul’s loyal wife Angela is suddenly thrust into an overwhelmingly maddening predicament. Under tremendous pressure and following the advice of the wrong voices in her head, she unknowingly puts herself and the lives of those she loves directly in harm’s way.
Paul and Angela’s two teenage children rise to the occasion and begin showing their true colors when adversity puts its stranglehold grip on the family. Sides are taken and lines are crossed as they all begin isolating themselves from each other. One wants to control the family’s money to fund a high risk reckless lifestyle. The other just wants life to go back to the way it once was. Angela is trapped in the middle devising her own methods of how to make things right again. When you think you finally have a sense of what this family is going through, go several levels lower then you’ll begin to understand the immense despair they are trying to overcome.
Become a personal eyewitness to the vivid scenery and events detailed of the glorious and marvelous heaven above as well as the dark and fiery beast laden pits of the hell below us. In addition to the great storyline taking place within the Branch family, this is one of the best books about death and the afterlife experience. The propulsive narrative of “The Nicest Guy In Hell” makes this absorbing read hard to stop turning the pages. Hang on tight because you’ll be surprised by what takes place in the story just around the bend. Everything you think you know will be blindsided by the one thing you didn’t see coming. You’ll soon realize that it gets harder and harder to put down as the book races to its unexpected ending.
You’ll need to dive in spoiler free before picking up this highly addictive novel. Just know that in the end, all secrets carried in the dark will one day be regretfully revealed in the light. Everyone will ultimately come to realize they must now live forever with the consequences of choices made. Good or bad…. .
Why Read This Book?
Plot twist and dramatic storyline will keep you engaged.
You’ll be turning pages thinking, I can’t believe what I just read!
Entertaining, powerful, and thought provoking dialogue will force you to stop and think.
Indulge your senses in a well-paced novel sprinting to an unexpected ending.
The Nicest Guy In Hell is truly a unique must read book to experience in
"For anyone expecting a humourous book, particularly given the cover and blurb, you will be very disappointed. I certainly was. Riddled with spelling, grammar, and formatting errors."
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
For anyone expecting a humourous book, particularly given the cover and blurb, you will be very disappointed. I certainly was.
This follows the Branch family, Paul, his wife, and their two children. Paul is a former rock star and philanthropist, but when he dies he finds out that good works are not enough to save his soul.
This book is screaming for an editor. Tense and point of view change throughout, even in the same paragraph. The early paragraphs are written in present tense, which threw me slightly, and then it begins to switch past and present. Then Chapter 11 switches to first person, Paul, and from then on it switches first and third point of view and point of view characters throughout. Chapter 16 starts with a paragraph where the first sentence is Paul third-person and then switches to Paul first-person.
The speech punctuation is not good. Speech does not always start on a new line, first words are not capitalised and commas at the end of speech are erratic. Also numbers are in numerals, not written. There are basic grammar errors e.g. your and you're. These are all minor things, but they add up, and anything that makes a book less readable isn't good.
Characterisation is flimsy at best, and the atheist and pastor debates are painful reading with strawmen on both sides. The atheists keep referring to the Bible as a work of fiction, which I don't know any atheists who believe (there is historical fact behind the events - the attribution of actions to God is what they question, given the superstitious nature of the populace at the time) and the Pastor refers to the earth spinning perfectly upright in mid-air, which it doesn't - most Christians know how seasons work i.e. axial tilt and that space is a vacuum since the Bible refers to earth at first existing "without form and void" (KJV Genesis 1). There are substantial plot holes, and the ending? Well, no surprise, the philanthropist goes to hell and the murderess who damned her children goes to heaven...
It could potentially offend both Christians and other religions, including atheists and agnostics, but it is so badly written that it is unlikely people will read it that far. There are so many issues that taking pot shots is unfair, and I'd be here all night e.g. I could take issue with the book's portrayal of Islam and terrorism, but it is as two dimensional as everything else. I suspect it is less deliberately offensive than just plainly not well-written or thought through because it gets very close to being a checklist of stereotypes. I could mention that the author limits the Christian god's mercy, or quotes Leviticus instead of the new testament, but these are issues for religious scholars not book reviewers. Likewise the hard questions, such as the issue of evil and the morality of a god that allows people to be tortured when he could prevent it, are never asked.
From the point of view of this reviewer, ignoring religious issues and focusing purely on presentation, writing, and plot, it is my firm opinion that this is not a good book. It has spelling, grammar, and formatting errors, the characterisation is poor and the supporting cast two-dimensional. The plot has issues, and the ending is predictable.
(I don't like giving bad reviews, so I did ask a second reader to check my rating. He got through two chapters before validating my rating and adding his own DNF.) Rating:1
Misplaced optimism: I kept hoping it would improve. By halfway I wanted to know what would happen next and that was not a good thing. Believe me, my review was the kindest one it would have got, as the others wanted to give it DNF.
This one sounds really interesting. It sounds like one of those transcendent like stories, or the nice guy finishes last like classic stories that always seems to capture my attention. I am intrigued by this one.
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