To the Devil - a Diva!

by Paul Magrs

Karla Sorensen used to be big in horror films. In the 60s and 70s no B-movie cult horror movie was complete without the Queen of the Vampires presiding over it. She was well qualified for it, after all--at the age of ten she sold her soul to the devil. Now, although spookily ageless, Karla is getting on in years. Her royalties are drying up and she needs some cash, so she decides to return to the north of England, to Manchester, to appear in Menswear, Britain’s riskiest television soap opera.

Not everyone’s happy about her return to the fame game. The current star of the late-night show is renowned actor Lance Randall and he is furious to hear that Karla is about to become his co-star. He hates her, he fears her, and he’s convinced that she’s coming to steal his very soul.

Dark clouds are massing around Manchester and deep, dark, devilish secrets are about to be unleashed that will wreak havoc on all around…

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Horror

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2004

Reviews

[Wiebke (1book1review) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one weird book that lacked a compelling story and gripping characters. It is well written, which is the most redeeming part of it, although I have to admit towards the end I didn't really want to read anymore but just be done with it.

[Arnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pirms vēl To the Devil – a Diva! var nokļūt pie tās premisē piesolītā sižeta, grāmatas pirmā daļa iepazīstina ar divām deviņgadīgām meitenēm Otrā pasaules kara laikā, kuras, kā daudzi citi, tiek evakuētas prom no Londonas. Ne viena no meitenēm nenāk no izteikti turīgām ģimenēm, bet, kamēr Sallijai vēl ir gādīga un mīloša māte, tad Keitijai tā vis nav paveicies. Abas nav gluži svešinieces pirms evakuācijas dienas, bet par labākajām draudzenēm arī viņas nenosauksi.

https://poseidons99.com/2024/12/08/pa...

[Erika Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

To The Devil a Diva - Book Review

“To The Devil - A Diva” is a novel written by Paul Magrs, and the story is split into 4 parts. 1st part! Two girls being evacuated out of Manchester in WWII, and living with new strange, somewhat satanic parents. Second part! Complete time shift into modern Manchester following the struggles of a closeted adult star, Lance Randall and his new co-star, the lustrous and sinister Karla Sorensen. Third Part! A look into a moment in a famous writer’s life where he participated in a satanic cult ritual with his fiance. Fourth part! Where all the strings are tied together, and the devilish Karla meets her fate for what she has done to this world. It’s a wild and risque ride into humanity’s absolute worst with this one, fellas. Be warned, and if your next cast has that famous lesbian vampire, hail a cab and run. It’s a book all about survival in Hollywood, love, and from the devil himself.
Ah, where do I begin? How about this book was incredibly sloppy and confused. Grammatically sloppy too! UUGH! The characters were not enough to keep me going at times. Because every time I rooted for one, they turned and did something horrible! For example, there’s a scene where Lance is grieving over his dead mother in his room; staring at her portrait longingly. Then a bartender walks in on him and Lance gets angry. Last sentence of the chapter then just...makes them make out! Hehehergijsrtgihoe tylgjiWHAT
sigh… did I mention this book has a lot of gay guys “doing it”?
Karla is kind of interesting, but I’ve seen many versions of this character that are so much better! The bartender’s two friends Raf, a Karla superfan, and Vicki… a gremlin, are both horrible people. No, seriously. I hated them from the beginning. I knew why they existed, but….UuUghhH
Even though I stayed around for the creepy stuff - cause I love me a good horror book - due to this book’s ineptitude, sloppiness, and zero charm, I’m giving it a 2.5/5. It’s not the worst, but it’s still a rubbish read.

[Clare Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am genuinely surprised at all the negative reviews of this book and can't help but wonder if people just didn't 'get it.'

It starts with two refugee children and ends in the present day where one of those refugee children-Karla- is trying to resurrect her career as a movie star and her path crosses with the son-Lance- of a blast from her past who hates her for.... Well reasons we find out. How is Karla so ageless? What went on when they were children? What were those weird rituals? Why does Lance fear her the way many people fear the devil?

A very funny tale this is a B movie in book form. It's silly, it's OTT, it makes you cringe, it makes you laugh and it doesn't take itself too seriously. If you are a fan of Shlocky horror movies then you will probably love this book.

[Jeroen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Appalling, disjointed, humorless, at times contradictory and slow, not a single one of the characters is remotely relatable and it lacks a proper ending. It is to a good story as a concrete block is to a good story. I had to struggle to make it through the last 150 pages. Will be giving this writer a wide berth from now on.

[Nina]

Prvi deo sam proletela, mnogo mi je interesantno delovalo i obecavalo je. Ali vec drugi deo je krenuo u nekom (meni barem) potpuno bizarnom pravcu, tako da sam odustala.

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely boring except for the ending.

[SolangeMaria Vandamme · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stupid book . Hard to read and follow the plot . Waist of my time

[Shamsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lost interest after the frist part

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review first appeared on Narratess.com.

I often go to book fairs where old, rejected, unsellable books are. They’re cheap and the variety is great. Stephen King will be surrounded by many unknown writers, cookbooks next to science books, books about crafts, children’s books, but most of them are Dutch. The last time there was only one long table of English books, with mostly unknown authors, unknown to me at least. I picked up a few books, and To The Devil - A Diva by Paul Magrs was one of them. I thought it would be a good book to read on a stormy evening.

Later I found out that Paul Magrs is a well-known name in the Dr. Who circles. He’s written, novels, short stories, and radio plays for the Dr. Who universe. After two pages I knew that I did well in picking up this book. I couldn’t stop reading it and it’s very well written.

[Warning: books contains explicit language, sex, and occult rituals.]

I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I bought the book. I thought it was a horror book with an adult edge, but it was more adult with a little bit of horror. I do think that lust and gore go well together when written adequately. Even on their own, a sex or horror scene is only as good as its writing. Detailed, but not laden with adverbs. It should push the boundaries of what you can handle, enough to make you feel something.

That’s what Magrs did. Everything was well written with just enough spice. He never crosses the line (at least for me) and he lets the character engage in sex, but skips over the scene itself. We don’t need to read the whole act of lovemaking, or lust carnage, because just saying it’s happening and what the aftermath is, is enough.

There is one part that confused me: the story of Fox and Magda Soames. It’s being told by Fox as you get a tour around the house. Fox is telling you his story about his family and he explains why certain things happened. But in this chapter, it feels as if there are two different voices: the one talking to you and the flashback to the days of old. It doesn’t match and even feels a little awkward.

The one thing that I didn’t like was the seemingly rushed ending. The whole point of the book is to bring the company together, all of the characters. What happens then is quite tame. I was expecting a bigger climax, mostly due to what happened before. Satanic rites, ecstasy, vile happenings, death, lust. And the end, it barely has anything like that. And it’s a missed opportunity.

I give To The Devil - A Diva by Paul Magrs three stars. The anticlimactic ending and the wrongly build expectations are the reason. I liked the characters, the story is good, it’s well written, but it’s not enough. I wanted more and I felt I would be given more. Now I need to read something else to fill my void.

[Ezza Syuhada]

My first impression of the book was that I honest-to-God thought it was going to be a chick-lit. Apparently after I went into part two of the book it was not so. It was so different from what I had initially thought it would be. SO.VERY.DIFFERENT.

The book as a whole confused me where I thought it would be a chick-lit where Karla (although older than the presumed hero) would be the love interest of Lance Randall. Yes the synopsis at the back said he was scared if her and whatnot but I just assumed it was a love-hate thing and in the end they would end up together. But as I read on I realized that Lance really did hate Karla with the intensity of a thousand suns and that Karla literally did sell her soul to the devil in return for super stardom.

Not only that the hero turned out to be gay that made me confused (Mind you the synopsis at the back of the book was quite different from the Goodreads summary), it was also the side characters which doesn’t seem to add much to the plot except to give the the main characters something to do which reminds me. I have no idea who the main character is in this book. Is it Colin? Grandson to Sally? Or Sally? An old frenemy of Karla? Or is it Lance Randall? Or Karla herself?

I feel this way because the narration keeps jumping around to all this ridiculous plots and sub-plots and characters that I end up questioning what is the purpose of this type of narration?

Also, in the book the author did not give answers to a few crucial things such as (spoiler alert) when Karla claimed to be Lance Randalls’ biological mother. The author did not bother to explain how this was so.

In conlusion, this book was really bizarre in terms of its narration, the characters which I felt was half-formed so you can’t really emphathize with any one characters and the plot itself which I felt did not have a purpose to either complete the whole story nor give answers or explanations for said story. Maybe if I read other works by Paul Magrs, I would understand his style more and in turn like this book more.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb on the back, and the synopsis here, give away a detail that is not explicit in the book until quite near the end. While it isn't exactly hidden, the uncertainty might have given a little more suspense. I'm not sure enough was made of Karla's pact - the advantages it has brought her are almost incidental to what she has gained through her own determination. She, along with the other characters, was not particularly well-rounded and the motives of some of them were obscure or tangled in a 'just-not-well-explained' rather than a 'real-life-is-complicated' way. A more minor annoyance was the curse put on Professor Cleavis: anyone who was going to understand the parallel would have got it from the earlier references, the last link was explaining the punchline and merely served to weaken the joke. So, overall, disappointing: fun enough to read, but not one I'll go back to.

[Kay D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't quite what I was expecting ... I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, mind. From the blurb it read like a dark comedy, but I thought it would be quite a light-hearted read.

I actually found it hilarious and laughed out loud quite a bit while I was reading it, sometime when I wasn't sure I should have done. It was full of outrageous characters that were all well portrayed and memorable. The humour was brilliant.

The story was quite interesting and had a lot of depth to it, and the shifting points of view were never confusing as they can be sometimes. I think the ending was a little abrupt though. This, and the fact I think a bit more careful editing was needed, prevented me from giving it more than 3 stars. But overall I really enjoyed this and will look out for more by this author.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul Magrs is always an excellent read, and this addition is highly entertaining with strong echoes of Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes (another favourite author of mine).
The story jumps about between different periods of time, and picks up on some characters appearing in the Brenda & Effie series, as well as introducing new figures. The humour is as good as ever, and the plot cracks along at a fair pace exploring the schemes of a faded actress to get back on screen and the ramifications for the people around her.
The gay characters are well portrayed, and reminded me of people I have known. The only real criticism is that the ending felt a little rushed ~ though clearly set up to lead on to sequels.

[Kate Millin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Paul Magrs, this time the satanic forces are more shocking than in the Brenda and Effie books. It all starts in the evacuations of 2 girls from Manchester to the Lake District and them couple who take them in who have regular supplies of chocolate despite the rationing. They both change because of the way they respond to the satanic forces that they are introduced to - it is a book that shows it isn't just what you are shown, but the way you react to the influences in your life. But mainly it is a great read with a good plot and interesting characters.

[Plum-crazy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This the first book I've read by this author & overall it was an entertaining read. The characters were amusing enough, not the kind I got to know or particularly care about but for this type of tale I don't think that was a neccessity anyhow. While I like the way the story was divided up, I did keep feeling that I was missing bits of info/ background or maybe I'm just no good at reading between the lines! Either way I'm left with a few loose ends that I can't get to tie up.

[Rachel Nowakowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked this but not as much as Brenda and Effie.The characters are still quite charming, particularly the gay grandson.But I don't think Karla Sorenson is as interesting a character as Brenda. She is a pretty face and thats really about it. She's not really likeable either. If you are a die hard Magrs/Brenda and Effie fan then have a bash at it.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comic but underwhelming tale of an aging Elvira-type, and the people whose lives she has an influence on, that starts off well but peters out to a rather lacklustre ending.

[Michel Gerrits · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of his better works, I think.

[Ezza Dee · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointment. I finished reading but boy, do I keep hoping for something to happen, and nothing did.

[Selene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this at all, so didn't finish it.