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{{infobox
|title=Breaking The Devil's Heart: A Logic of Demons Novel
|author=H A Goodman
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Fantasy
|summary=A follow-up ride around Goodman's afterlife universe. We enjoyed it as much as we did [[Logic of Demons : The Quest for Nadine's Soul by H A Goodman|Logic of Demons]] and were pleased to see dialogue and structure improved. Hell as a corporation has some miles to go yet. Looking forward to book three!
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=352
|publisher=Outskirts Press
|date=April 2012
|isbn=143279079X
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>143279079XB007T0BDVE</amazonuk>|amazonus=<amazonus>143279079XB007T0BDVE</amazonus>
|video=
}}
We enjoyed this follow-up ride around Goodman's afterlife universe as much as we did the [[Logic of Demons: The Quest for Nadine's Soul by H A Goodman|first one]] and actually, we were pleased to see some improvements. Hal likes a big plot - massive, actually - and ''Breaking the Devil's Heart'' felt tighter and more focused through sticking to one narrator (Stewart's) rather than the mutliple viewpoints he used in the previous novel. It was much easier to keep up with the plot's twists and turns. Dialogue has also had a fine-tune and feels much more direct and energetic now it's been stripped of overblown tags.
You could just take the book at face value and enjoy the fully-fleshed cast of characters, the dark comedy and the gloss of the plot. I liked the plain talking Layla, who tells it just as she sees it. And of course Franklin, the snobby British demon. I don't care who won the Revolutionary War - American War of Indpendence Independence this side of the pond, by the way - a posh demon with a plum in his mouth just has to be British. Loved Franklin. Very funny. Once engaged with the cast, it's easy to enjoy Stewart's attempts to show that the end will justify the means. And the depiction of hell as a corporation with dodgy sales techniques and stultifying bureaucracy remains as fresh and as funny as ever.
But you can also enjoy the book on a deeper level. Goodman isn't shy of sharing his political and cultural opinions and these are legion. But they're all there for a reason - to show and show again that the line between good and evil is blurred. Can the end really justify all and any means? Really? Can you make use of evil or will such an alliance always prove unholy in the end? Can we really blame others for our situations? Or is it time to start taking personal responsibility?
You might also enjoy [[One More Bite (Jaz Parks) by Jennifer Rardin]] which features an undead vampire CIA assassin, no less, and [[Everlost by Neal Shusterman]], which provides an equally energetic journey around the afterlife. It's written for teenagers but no adult should be ashamed to read it.
{{interviewtext|author=Dan AbnettH A Goodman}}
{{amazontext|amazon=143279079XB007T0BDVE}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=9202913B007T0BDVE}}
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