This short story for me is a modern day take of the fall of ' EVE', with a small influence of 'Joe Black' to boot. The story is set in Brighton and is told through the eyes of a character called  Geoffrey Cantor who begins with his personal recital of the happenings of a  young lady called 'Lucy', motivated by  his ensuing personal guilt of not doing enough to save her. 
Satan falls to earth and occupies the body of homeless Old Man, who soon finds out that he has an amazing voice, and a capacity to charm. Lucy has an encounter, but seeing only what the eye beholds, a beautiful boy! This one encounter thus begins the fall of 'Eve'. The seductive nature of Lucifer endures and leaves Lucy with a yearning to see, speak, and to be at one with the one who is corruption itself. 
I enjoyed the descriptions in the narrative having been to Brighton , it certainly felt I was there again; the homeless project work, the dishing out of Vegan Breakfasts to those who have 'fallen 'out of the mainstream society, having little hope to change and amend their circumstances.
There are many layers to this story, if one is to scratch the surface; various metaphors are used whether consciously by the author or not; but nevertheless are there and linked to the key events in the narrative. Christopher encapsulates fully in my opinion the capacity of love and hate within the human condition, when he states; 'If it is possible to love so completely that it fills the whole of you, that you feel it in your blood and lungs, your spine and in how it charms the words as they lift your tongue, then perhaps it is possible to hate so completely that it hollows you'.
 An interesting and enjoyable take on a theological topic.

If There Had Been A Cat in the Garden of Eden, We Would Know Exactly What Happened

I have seen this book listed on many sites as "Horror", and I guess that's right so long as you also file Dante's "Inferno", "Paradise Lost", and "Faust" as "Horror". Satan, as a character, just can't get a break.

At the outset of this book you will rightly be a bit confused. It won't exactly be clear who is narrating, and it won't at all be clear which of the characters will become our main focus. Sometimes the narrator addresses "Belinda" in the second person, which I think is both creepy and clever if done well, (as everything in this book is done). Sometimes we just have an omniscient narrator who is clearly telling us a tale about events that have already occurred. The effect is oddly disorienting, which is, I imagine, the point.

Once Lucy, the real heroine, is introduced, you should pause and return to the two epigraphs that open the book. If you are like me you just skimmed them, especially since they are from John Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Baudelaire's "The Cat", and I have never seen anything good come from epigraphs like those. Until now. You will find that those two brief sets of lines will explain everything about the narrator, (you would have figured that out anyway), and cogently and completely summarize the theme, plot, and resolution of the entire novella. (That last insight might otherwise have come only later.)

All of the blurbs, summaries and synopses for this book, at least those I have seen, make this sound vaguely like a Christmas themed Satan/Scrooge tale wherein Satan enchants a social worker and drops off bundles of money at her charity house. That is actually technically correct, but rather misses the larger story. As John Milton tells us, Satan was initially beguiled by Eve, then consumed by self-loathing for giving in to a pleasure he was not allowed, and responded as fit his true nature. That's as close as we need come to a spoiler, but if it whets your interest, great.

I'm not sure if any of this would matter much but for the remarkable writing. Eve and the Serpent is a story that has already been told many times and in many forms. So the real question is, "What do we think of this telling?". Well, on one level the book works as an exercise in creeping dread, with dark hints and promises of doom. Fair enough. On another level, though, almost every page has a memorable line, observation, bit of dialogue or description that is of worth purely on its own. At points I thought we were over-describing things a bit, but the author always backs off at just the right time. The result is that there are hard and precise little scenes that are connected by dreamy and lyrical passages, and emphasized by bright and glittering lines and asides from our narrator. There is a place here for heartbreak, despair, amusement, and rueful wisdom. Indeed, without any story or theme at all beyond what-happens-in-Brighton-before-Christmas I would have been happy with this book and deeply admiring of the author's technical skill and finesse.

As a consequence, I felt this was an especially happy, and admittedly somewhat unexpected, find. (Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were well thought out, and the storyline flowed very well.

I found this short little book a quick and interesting read, full of dark and unsettling imagery. It is very beautifully written – the prose is really outstanding, conjuring up some really powerful scenes. In the beginning I struggled a little to understand what was going on, it is made entirely clear who the narrator is, or who he is telling the story to. I feel if this had been more clearly outlined, I would have enjoyed the story more. The story is in many ways is a modern day take on the fall of Eve, and the seductive nature of Satan.

Interestingly the book is set in Brighton, and having been there a few times, it makes for an interesting read with the familiar location and the tense and unusual story. I did find it a little difficult to connect with the characters, though I found Lucy to be the most interesting. The story has some really wonderful tense scenes – the one where a seagull attempts to break through the skylight window in attempt to reach Lucy, and her first encounter with the Old Man were two particularly fantastic scenes, the writing and pace of the story being absolutely excellent. The style of writing fits extremely well with the story, and flows very easily.

This was a really unique little read, and with it being only around eighty pages, it’s certainly a quick read and one you will easily be absorbed into on a dark winter night like tonight.