Our Frail Disordered Lives by Mary M. Schmidt

Larry Kavanaugh is an ordinary kind of guy. He’s got a nagging wife and two kids, both annoyingly gifted. No matter what he does, there is no end to what his family needs. What’s a regular, everyday guy to do? Well, he cuts a few corners, obviously – one very big corner. He sells his soul to the Devil.

Maybe it’s not the actual Devil, but Larry is ready to make a deal with one of the Devil’s minions. He meets some demon whose name he can’t remember. Funny, it was right on the tip of his tongue, a name of something you step on. Roach the Demon has sort of good intentions. He just wants a re-write of Dante’s Inferno with himself as the star.
Roach goes after Larry as a rogue operation. He needs to make a point to his boss, Satan, so he uses the body of a human to follow Larry around and stir up trouble. He offers Larry an airtight guarantee that nothing could possibly go wrong. After all, Larry does not feel like he has much to lose – or does he? Even Roach might be in over his head this time.

Format: print
Narrator: n/a
Performance: n/a
Story: 🌑🌑🌑🌑

I like reading books that portray heaven and hell as a sort of bureaucracy because they do seem like bureaucracies to me. Our Frail Disordered Lives introduces us to Roach, a frustrated, low ranking demon who wanted to be the star of the Divine Comedy but missed his moment when his boss, Satan, didn't allow him to talk to Dante and Virgil. Roach held his grudge for centuries and Divine Comedy was always a sore spot for him. He went to the mortal plane to show Satan he can do better than him. 

Now, I wouldn't say Roach was likable. He was true to his demonic nature, petty, vindictive and just downright nasty. I was pretty amused with his shenanigans and was looking forward to everything blowing up in his face but at the same time, I was low-key rooting for him to show Satan up. As for the adult humans, I also didn't like most of them even Kathleen, but only at the start. When she threw Larry out and became a stronger person, I started warming up to her. Her sister Grace was the cool aunt to her kids and I liked how the sisters had each other's backs. Their nemesis, Dorothy was the kind of close-minded zealot I love to hate and she and Larry deserved each other. Although, I felt a bit of pity towards her at the end.

Our Frail Disordered Lives  is a really fun horror book to read. It is written in multiple POVs, that of a demon and the humans, which makes it more interesting. The humorous tone made reading a breeze. All the comedic gloss almost made me forget how terrifying everything actually was. It's like, I know it's scary, terrible things are happening, I'm just not thinking about it too much. I really enjoyed this back-of-my-mind scare quality and how the book subtly unsettled me. It also closed with a touching moment that, in contrast to all the past ugliness in their lives, was pure and beautiful.

If you are looking for an enjoyable book about a dark subject, I recommend Our Frail Disordered Lives . 

P.S.

Thank you to the author, Mary M. Schmidt, for sending a copy in exchange for an honest review.

SOUNDTRACK

Demons Are Real
Guided by Voices
Bee Thousand

[Verse]
Deliver this message to the one I love the most
I've lost all my money to a three-hundred-pound ghost
Squeaky was a sad child, the product of neglect
Got stung by a jellyfish demanding her respect

[Chorus]
Demons are real
They are standing still
Demons are real
They are standing still