The novel is flatly about a war of balance. Imagine if the Taoist balance of yin and yang became misaligned and mixed together thanks to divine interference. The world of mortals and demi-mortals (vampires, devils) would be thrown off a tad, a tad like dropping a spoonful of motor oil into a gallon of pure spring water.
Who likes that?
Focus now on Tyler Hicksman, a shot-caller and made-man from Hellion, who lives on the “top-surface” in 21st century Earth. Before he died and gravitated to an after-life in Hellion, Tyler was a suave gambler based in Vegas. However, due to his Gatsby-like hunger for the good old America dream, he finds himself involved with American gangsters. Poor Hicksman. He was blinded by the need for a large sum of cash in order to make a towering bet on a “sure thing.” Like Han Solo in Star Wars IV, Hicksman found himself on the wrong side of fate when the “sure thing” turned out to be Hicksman’s “last thing.”
Down in Hellion, “the land down under” (which is a misnomer–Hellion is in a parallel spiritual dimension), Hicksman eventually fights his way up the infernal political ladder with his natural charisma. He possesses a silver tongue you see, and his death on Earth taught him to recognize his personal limits. The American dream is just…a dream. He recognizes that like a moth, he flew too close to the fire (literally).
Eventually earning a placement “top-side,” he became a shot-caller enrolled in the infernal House of Aztorath. In due course, Damiana, an infernal assassin, is sent to his side from Hellion. For a while, all was balance. The angelic warriors played on their side of the street, and likewise, the infernals played on their side of the street. But then, due to a cosmic misalignment behind the scenes, the two sides go to war. Overall, Hicksman is a stand-up guy. Not the worst. Not the best. He’s still making bank, using his long experience to guide him. Hicksman has a larger part to play in the sequel.
–end
