The Devil Made Me Do It

Gary A. Caruso’s Our Souls to Keep is a young adult, horror story of the dark side of all these YA books about demons that have been published over the past couple of years. It’s a compact and exciting story about 17-year-old Wake Reynolds who trades his soul to Satan to prevent his mother (who has committed suicide) from eternal damnation. Naturally, the deal with the devil does not pan out as hoped and Wake finds both he and his mother consigned to Hell with Wake working as a collector of teenage souls.

The story is an exciting race to beat the devil’s minions, break Wake’s contract, and save the soul of a pregnant teenager bearing a child critical to the upcoming showdown between Heaven and Hell. There are elements of horror, suspense, teenage romance, and even some humorous dialogue (especially between Wake and his mentor, Nevin). Ultimately, however, this is a tragedy. I highly recommend reading the short story prequel, The Promised Land, before Our Souls to Keep but even if you don’t, I think you’ll get enough backstory from the glimpses of how Wake got to be where he is as the novel opens to have a very satisfying reading experience.