They say you can't judge a book by its cover; apparently that is not entirely true. Demon’s Regret is an excellent book, however I must admit that the cover left me wondering what I would find inside. The cover style did not catch my interest, but after reading the book its inner meaning speaks to me, which is a really positive achievement for Michael Golden.

Have you ever chosen sides in an argument against a friend, gone through with it, and then realized you were on the wrong side? Imagine doing that against God. Now you have some idea of what the protagonist in this book is dealing with. He is the once Angel now Demon, Asmodeus followed the Morning Star Lucifer, and boy does he feel that he got the sharp end of the stick so to speak. He now spends his unending days using people with evil in their hearts to upend greater evil. This way, he feels like he is doing his part, and Lucifer is still happy.

It is interesting that the writer has chosen the name Asmodeus for his demon, given that the name shows up throughout religious and historical texts. However, there are no direct references I have been able to find where he performs anything remotely close to how he is described in the book. In most stories he is depicted as a demon of death and murder, usually related to lust and carnal desires. These themes occur in the book of Tobit, the Talmud and Dictionnaire Infernal. Nearest I can find is that in the Dictionnaire Infernal, Asmodeus is related to revenge, which seems to be the aspect of the personality that he preys upon to get humans to perform the heinous acts that he believes will one day bring about his own redemption. As a result, I think with the exception of the passing relation to the Kevin Smith movie Dogma, this is quite an original work of fiction that has been created by Mitch Brown, for that alone he should be commended.

The art itself is really beautiful, with Wilfredo Torres using excellent pencil strokes to create an intriguing interpretation of demons with them being largely unchanged from the Angels of heaven, but they live with some ugly folks in some pretty dank surroundings. He does a great job of conveying facial expressions, and in particular the pain and anguish of the lost soul recruited by Asmodeus. The coloring by Mike Kilgore does a great job of feeling warm in the light of Heaven, and dank and dingy in Hell.

Overall, this book was a pleasant surprise. It tells an interesting story, and executes that story well.

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