An Agreement with Hell

Construction workers at California Hills University uncover a graveyard of human bones. After the police remove a sacred seal from the grave site, giant serpents from the void of heaven and hell burst through the earth, terrorizing the campus. Christian "magickian" Jack Langthorn and his partner, professor and retired priest Andy Markham, are joined by the mysterious Walker Between the Worlds and the demon Amon as they try to figure out where the serpents come from and how to stop them from bringing about the apocalypse. Meanwhile, irritatingly obtuse students rally together to kill the monsters. While Pagliassotti clearly knows a lot about Christian mysticism, the mythology of the book remains unclear. Add an excess of unnecessary and sometimes unlikable characters, and what would have otherwise been an engaging story becomes too convoluted to enjoy. (Jan.)