Costume Not Included: To Hell and Back, Book 2

Great book, with a lot of humor. If you liked the first book in the series, you will love the second. You get more of the fun with our favorite crime fighter. Just when it looks like he is in over his head, he finds some way to get out of trouble and come to a solution.However, if the fact that the first book poked fun at religion bothered you, be aware that the second book steps it up a notch. People who thought the Harry Potter books were sacrilegious will have a heart attack reading this book. As long as you can read this book with a sense of humor, you will enjoy the writers wit and sense of sarcasm. I look forward to reading the third book in the series.

Our hero Chesney seems to have everything he could want. He continues to work with the demon Xaphan to fight crimes through the use of demonic magic. Melba, the woman he once saved a few times is now his actual girlfriend. And the big evil plot of the first book was pretty much resolved then, and so things are looking a lot better for him. But now the Reverend Hardacre believes that it's his role to write the new Book of Chesney, a new gospel that claims to foretell what will come next. He has written the book with the guidance of a Throne from Heaven, so it has to be correct, right?But Chesney is uncertain if he wants to fulfill Hardacre's prophetic gospel instead of just living his life as a superhero. Melba has her own views on things and might be able to lend some support, but at the end of the day it's still Chesney's decision. And of course there are the greater implications of Hardacre's theory from the first book. If all of Creation is really a book that God is writing that includes multiple drafts and variations on the same thing, then there are some disturbing implications regarding those drafts. And Chesney eventually sets out to figure out what happens then.Now to get things out of the way, these books probably started out as roundabout superhero stories but at they're core they're probably more religious or at least about a guy with some mental challenges taking on some big problems. Chesney was clearly established in this book as being a highly functional autistic with a passion for numbers, hence his whole "pools of light" view of the world. But given his preference to deal with things in a black or white fashion, the increasing moral complexity of things certainly makes things difficult for him.I appreciate the greater role that Lucifer/Satan had to play in this story. Sure, in the first book he got dragged into things since Hell went on strike. This time around he had more to do than merely react to something that a human had inadvertently caused. Instead we had a pretty complex plan that didn't necessarily show he was out to do even more evil. Instead his greater goal was to just regain control of things despite the whole "Creation is a book" theory.I wasn't quite expecting Reverend Hardacre to play such a big role in this book - I was under the impression that his arc was mostly done by the end of the first book. Instead he had quite a significant role this time around that didn't necessarily feel irrational or too out of place. Everything is all part of a bigger plan after all and how it all comes together is what really defines this narrative.But I am seeing that more and more, Chesney has fewer chances to be a superhero since (1) the story has escalated to a larger Theological scale and (2) supposedly the Actionary's first few forays into stopping crime immediately resulted in a drop in crime rates for some reason. Given how his first exploits in the first book often took place faster than the human eye could perceive, I always found this twist in things a little weird.Costume Not Included nicely built on the framework established in the first book with quite the expanded story. It may not be all about being a superhero, but there's still plenty of subject matter that the book nicely explores.

Usually the second book in a series lags. Not this time. In fact, #1- fun though it was- is stronger as the intor to this book than on its own.The charact4ers are great, and they all learn and grow- even ones who really do NOT wish to (like Satan). The whole handling of angels and devils/demons and theology is unique in my experience, very well-thought-out, and a total blast to read.If you read paranormal romances with angels and demons... this isn't it. However, the theology, if you will- or the basic premise behind the supernatural in the book- is much better thought out than in pretty much any other book I've read.I LOVE the way that all the characters have their own agendas, and thus have to reach compromises with others who may or may not have common cause at any particular point.But- this all makes it sound so serious! and it's an extremely fun read, albeit with stuff you can think about if you want to.I love Chesney; he starts out as a high-functioning autistic guy, and uses the tools he's learned to deal with that. .. and pretty successfully, as it turns out. (Although that's changed a bit by the end of this book.)This is a great series, and I am really looking forward to reading #3.

Mathew Hughes should be more popular than this. He's a proper author, unlike the huge mass of kindle authors. A good trilogy to pass the time and tickle the funny bone

unique story, fun, easy read. looking forward to part 3, should be out soon. xxxxxxxx xxxx xxx xxx xx xx x

Don't miss out on this amusing superhero/religious fantasy trilogy as Matthew Hughes takes us for a second trip to Hell and Back. You may think that is an odd combination for a fantasy novel, but Hughes pulls it off with wit and panache. Bring on the book three finale!

I love this series. It's quite modern and innovative, I am an avid reader and yet this still caught me by surprise on a couple of turns. I really enjoy the books over all, and I'll blaze through the next one i'm sure.

this series is the most interesting take on the super hero genre in quite a while cant wait for the next book