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Hell Heist
Letta Starchild is the daughter of one of the most infamous cult leaders and serial killers in American history. After her mother's execution in the nineties, Letta went on to found one of the biggest multi-level marketing empires in the world, all while running from her mother's dark legacy.
Meanwhile, an ancient sorcerer, Matthias, oversees a lethal guild of killers, a cadre of ghouls, monsters, dream-masters, and hell-lords that keep Hell stocked with enough fresh souls to maintain balance across the universe. But the death of one of these killers triggers an ancient rite that will force Matthias to hand over control of this guild to none other than Letta herself. In order to prove her mettle, Letta must replenish the ranks of the guild by breaking into Hell itself to free a damned Her mother.
To complete this rite, Letta must recruit a team whose members include her estranged former cult members, as well as a selection of supernatural creatures who'd be at home in any slasher a dream-master, an infernal cartographer, a hulking brute ... and a toy bear that carries a serial killer's cursed soul. Together, they must steal enchanted keys, break into supernatural vaults, and hijack an express train to Hades, all while avoiding heaven's brutal police forces. Along the way, Letta and her old friends will have to mend fences and overcome old grudges
PRAISE FOR HELL HEIST
"Peterson delivers a campy and creative adventure filled with heist-like hijinks that keep the reader excited (and maybe a little scared) to turn the pages. Around every corner is a special kind of horror—a bloody, brutal, humorous kind of horror—that is wholly unique and titillating (...) Peterson’s tale is both heartfelt and heinous, sincere and stomach-turning. Each character is more bizarre than the last; each incident more insane than what came previously. Fans of thrillers, heist narratives, and horror fiction will delight in this rollercoaster-ride through hell.A wildly entertaining trek through hell itself with a bizarre cast of characters."
—Kirkus
"A relentless and over-the-top supernatural thriller. (...) Plot twists, side quests, unfolding backstories, and wild cosmology keep the pages turning on the way to a brutal climax. Fans of self-aware meta-horror will want to check this out."
—Publishers Weekly
"Written with insane energy and packed with conceptual fireworks, HELL HEIST reminds me of Stephen King at his most freewheeling. Very rare for a horror and thriller novel."
—Imraan Coovadia, author of A SPY IN TIME and TALES OF THE METRIC SYSTEM
“A delightful romp through comedy, horror, and hell that will leave you grossed out, chuckling, and uplifted. The novel boasts a menagerie of characters that spit sparks off the page. Peterson ensures every moment is bubbling, popping, zinging, alive!”
—L.C. Barlow, Author of the Jack Harper Trilogy
“Picture a night spent playing Lovecraftian RPGs and marathoning all the Ocean's Eleven and Mission Impossible movies with Clive Barker, Kathryn Bigelow, James Gunn, and Wes Craven. Robert J. Peterson channels that same thrilling energy into HELL HEIST. and I couldn't get enough of it."
—Dale Halvorsen, author of GIRLS OF LITTLE HOPE
"HELL HEIST is a hell of a ride. Dark, campy, and witty through-and-through, this is a great pick for fans of classic heists or the good old slasher film. I couldn’t put it down."
—Quinlan Grim, author of THE GHOST OF DANNY MCGEE
Meanwhile, an ancient sorcerer, Matthias, oversees a lethal guild of killers, a cadre of ghouls, monsters, dream-masters, and hell-lords that keep Hell stocked with enough fresh souls to maintain balance across the universe. But the death of one of these killers triggers an ancient rite that will force Matthias to hand over control of this guild to none other than Letta herself. In order to prove her mettle, Letta must replenish the ranks of the guild by breaking into Hell itself to free a damned Her mother.
To complete this rite, Letta must recruit a team whose members include her estranged former cult members, as well as a selection of supernatural creatures who'd be at home in any slasher a dream-master, an infernal cartographer, a hulking brute ... and a toy bear that carries a serial killer's cursed soul. Together, they must steal enchanted keys, break into supernatural vaults, and hijack an express train to Hades, all while avoiding heaven's brutal police forces. Along the way, Letta and her old friends will have to mend fences and overcome old grudges
PRAISE FOR HELL HEIST
"Peterson delivers a campy and creative adventure filled with heist-like hijinks that keep the reader excited (and maybe a little scared) to turn the pages. Around every corner is a special kind of horror—a bloody, brutal, humorous kind of horror—that is wholly unique and titillating (...) Peterson’s tale is both heartfelt and heinous, sincere and stomach-turning. Each character is more bizarre than the last; each incident more insane than what came previously. Fans of thrillers, heist narratives, and horror fiction will delight in this rollercoaster-ride through hell.A wildly entertaining trek through hell itself with a bizarre cast of characters."
—Kirkus
"A relentless and over-the-top supernatural thriller. (...) Plot twists, side quests, unfolding backstories, and wild cosmology keep the pages turning on the way to a brutal climax. Fans of self-aware meta-horror will want to check this out."
—Publishers Weekly
"Written with insane energy and packed with conceptual fireworks, HELL HEIST reminds me of Stephen King at his most freewheeling. Very rare for a horror and thriller novel."
—Imraan Coovadia, author of A SPY IN TIME and TALES OF THE METRIC SYSTEM
“A delightful romp through comedy, horror, and hell that will leave you grossed out, chuckling, and uplifted. The novel boasts a menagerie of characters that spit sparks off the page. Peterson ensures every moment is bubbling, popping, zinging, alive!”
—L.C. Barlow, Author of the Jack Harper Trilogy
“Picture a night spent playing Lovecraftian RPGs and marathoning all the Ocean's Eleven and Mission Impossible movies with Clive Barker, Kathryn Bigelow, James Gunn, and Wes Craven. Robert J. Peterson channels that same thrilling energy into HELL HEIST. and I couldn't get enough of it."
—Dale Halvorsen, author of GIRLS OF LITTLE HOPE
"HELL HEIST is a hell of a ride. Dark, campy, and witty through-and-through, this is a great pick for fans of classic heists or the good old slasher film. I couldn’t put it down."
—Quinlan Grim, author of THE GHOST OF DANNY MCGEE
- GenresHorror
408 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 21, 2025
6 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Robert J. Peterson
7 books46 followersRobert J. Peterson is writer and programmer living in Nevada City, Calif. His works include The Odds, The Remnants, and Strong Bones.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 11, 2025
What a great homage to heist movies! It references them often, and executes the tropes in a very satisfying way, but in Hell, with cult leaders, demons and serial killers.
It's funny, full of action and doesn't takes itself too seriously.
Overall it was very entertaining and I had a good time.
It's funny, full of action and doesn't takes itself too seriously.
Overall it was very entertaining and I had a good time.
November 8, 2025
Millions upon millions of disintegrating souls exploded back into the station in a gushy gout of gore. It was like a dam the height of the sun had given way, releasing the pressure of a century’s flooding all at once.
October 12, 2025
ARC Review — Hell Heist
This one is hard to rate! The premise hooked me immediately — the concept of a heist set in the different levels of Hell is super creative and had me excited from the beginning. The plot is definitely ambitious and complex, which I appreciated.
However, as the story went on (around 80–85% in), I found my interest coming and going. I was invested early on, but later I mostly just wanted to push through and finish it. There were a few writing errors, and sometimes the wording made certain scenes difficult to follow. I haven’t read Dante’s Inferno, so maybe that background knowledge would’ve helped, since I felt a little lost during some of the deeper lore sections.
Overall, I’d say this book has a really unique concept and strong imagination behind it, but the execution wasn’t always as smooth as it could be. Still, I’m glad I read it — it definitely stands out for originality.
This one is hard to rate! The premise hooked me immediately — the concept of a heist set in the different levels of Hell is super creative and had me excited from the beginning. The plot is definitely ambitious and complex, which I appreciated.
However, as the story went on (around 80–85% in), I found my interest coming and going. I was invested early on, but later I mostly just wanted to push through and finish it. There were a few writing errors, and sometimes the wording made certain scenes difficult to follow. I haven’t read Dante’s Inferno, so maybe that background knowledge would’ve helped, since I felt a little lost during some of the deeper lore sections.
Overall, I’d say this book has a really unique concept and strong imagination behind it, but the execution wasn’t always as smooth as it could be. Still, I’m glad I read it — it definitely stands out for originality.
October 28, 2025
My kindle version of this advanced reader copy was provided to me via NetGalley.
Hell Heist is a wonderful concept that brings together horror, the supernatural, and comedy. Beings from all dimensions and walks of life have to come together to break into Hell before the universe crumbles out from under them. I was hooked by the premise, but I, unfortunately, lost interest about halfway through. The author, Robert J Peterson, builds an incredible world that takes you, in some spaces, very quickly through the different planes of existence and drops you on your head.
And what a drop it is. The pacing in the beginning is slow, we as readers, are given significant world building and history. We learn a lot in a short time which definitely helps get the reader through huge chapters that are seemingly just dialogue, telling them what is happening. It was overwhelming at times. However, and thankfully, because we’d had the beginning descriptions, it was at least navigable. But that quickly disappears in some chapters as it is all the characters talking to each other in a room, and the reader gets lost in who is saying what when.
Combine that with a specific character who is apparently in the existence of the novel to only disrupt the experience of reading it. They do everything, but speak directly to the reader. Other characters will be making plans to get this Heist on the road, and this character just starts talking about a movie they saw or how they find one of the monsters so attractive that they’re already pregnant with their babies. It was like high school in the early 2000s when “lol I’m so random and quirky” was a personality trait (thank god most of us outgrew it). It happens throughout the text, and when it happened, I would put it down and roll my eyes until I’d mustered enough to continue reading (and then it would happen again less than a page later).
This book isn’t divided up into what would be considered ‘traditional’ chapters either, but gives us snapshots from the recent past (if you can count the 90s as recent), the very far past (the 1300s), and then the present. Some of it feels like it could have benefited from being an epistolary. As someone who has an appreciation for non-traditional chapter formats, I did enjoy that. That being said, several of these chapters could have been cut or shortened (on Kindle one chapter could be a 4-minute read and another a 2-hour read).
The author says in the beginning that the Heist was inspired by a robbery in the 1300s, and two chapters are dedicated to that backstory. Two of our main characters were responsible for that heist and ended up as the hellish monstrosities that they are because of it. But I have not felt that it added to the story in the least. The content of those chapters could have been integrated into the chapters where their purpose comes into effect instead of throwing them in randomly. More than once, I thought to myself that this would be a better movie than a book in the way it is written.
That brings me to the more technical parts of this novel, where… it feels to me that this book was not thoroughly edited. It absolutely could have been and hiring an editor can be an expensive process, but this book is slated to run around about 17.00$ in the United States. For that price it needs a good edit, that’s asking a lot in my opinion. It isn’t as though this is riddled with spelling or grammatical errors, but with developmental issues. There is a part where, on the same page, it says that a girl checked herself voluntarily into a mental hospital, and not even a page later says that her parents made her go.
There are also issues with speech patterns and accents that were quite distracting for me. I once had a professor tell me that “if you’re going to write an accent, it needs to be subtle and consistent. Having heavy accented writing can boggle a reading experience.” and between the accent of the french/cajun Channing Tatum playing Gambit monster and the fact that our two hell beasts speak in the present day like mediveal lords and then in 1303 speak like the contemporary characters took me out of the reading experience. These are issues that could be/would be resolved with a professional edit. Too many good stories with good bones fall short when the writer has a personal relationship with their editor or has no editor at all.
However, I will say, that once we are no longer shown things by the characters, the fact that it’s all just talking likely pays off without the editing. If there is no scenery, there is nothing that can be inconsistent.
I think this book is perfect for people who only read dialogue, prefer books with less inline descriptions so they get the pow pow pow as soon as possible, or who prefer their book-reading experiences to mirror those of movie watching. I also think people who like anime or play a lot of DnD focused on storytelling would enjoy this book. No hate either, everyone gets their own thing out of reading. Despite its premise and how hooked I was, I lost interest a little over 50% through the book, and I pushed through the end of it just to make sure I wasn’t wrong about my not liking it. There are a lot of ‘final episode’ reveals in the last 10% (kindle) of the book, but I did not feel like it paid off for me at all.
If there is anything that is delectable in this book, it is the descriptions of the demons/monsters/beasts. Peterson does wonders in the land of make-believe with these creatures, taking common elements we’ve seen in horror over the years and rounding them out into something new, fresh, and fleshy.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
Hell Heist is a wonderful concept that brings together horror, the supernatural, and comedy. Beings from all dimensions and walks of life have to come together to break into Hell before the universe crumbles out from under them. I was hooked by the premise, but I, unfortunately, lost interest about halfway through. The author, Robert J Peterson, builds an incredible world that takes you, in some spaces, very quickly through the different planes of existence and drops you on your head.
And what a drop it is. The pacing in the beginning is slow, we as readers, are given significant world building and history. We learn a lot in a short time which definitely helps get the reader through huge chapters that are seemingly just dialogue, telling them what is happening. It was overwhelming at times. However, and thankfully, because we’d had the beginning descriptions, it was at least navigable. But that quickly disappears in some chapters as it is all the characters talking to each other in a room, and the reader gets lost in who is saying what when.
Combine that with a specific character who is apparently in the existence of the novel to only disrupt the experience of reading it. They do everything, but speak directly to the reader. Other characters will be making plans to get this Heist on the road, and this character just starts talking about a movie they saw or how they find one of the monsters so attractive that they’re already pregnant with their babies. It was like high school in the early 2000s when “lol I’m so random and quirky” was a personality trait (thank god most of us outgrew it). It happens throughout the text, and when it happened, I would put it down and roll my eyes until I’d mustered enough to continue reading (and then it would happen again less than a page later).
This book isn’t divided up into what would be considered ‘traditional’ chapters either, but gives us snapshots from the recent past (if you can count the 90s as recent), the very far past (the 1300s), and then the present. Some of it feels like it could have benefited from being an epistolary. As someone who has an appreciation for non-traditional chapter formats, I did enjoy that. That being said, several of these chapters could have been cut or shortened (on Kindle one chapter could be a 4-minute read and another a 2-hour read).
The author says in the beginning that the Heist was inspired by a robbery in the 1300s, and two chapters are dedicated to that backstory. Two of our main characters were responsible for that heist and ended up as the hellish monstrosities that they are because of it. But I have not felt that it added to the story in the least. The content of those chapters could have been integrated into the chapters where their purpose comes into effect instead of throwing them in randomly. More than once, I thought to myself that this would be a better movie than a book in the way it is written.
That brings me to the more technical parts of this novel, where… it feels to me that this book was not thoroughly edited. It absolutely could have been and hiring an editor can be an expensive process, but this book is slated to run around about 17.00$ in the United States. For that price it needs a good edit, that’s asking a lot in my opinion. It isn’t as though this is riddled with spelling or grammatical errors, but with developmental issues. There is a part where, on the same page, it says that a girl checked herself voluntarily into a mental hospital, and not even a page later says that her parents made her go.
There are also issues with speech patterns and accents that were quite distracting for me. I once had a professor tell me that “if you’re going to write an accent, it needs to be subtle and consistent. Having heavy accented writing can boggle a reading experience.” and between the accent of the french/cajun Channing Tatum playing Gambit monster and the fact that our two hell beasts speak in the present day like mediveal lords and then in 1303 speak like the contemporary characters took me out of the reading experience. These are issues that could be/would be resolved with a professional edit. Too many good stories with good bones fall short when the writer has a personal relationship with their editor or has no editor at all.
However, I will say, that once we are no longer shown things by the characters, the fact that it’s all just talking likely pays off without the editing. If there is no scenery, there is nothing that can be inconsistent.
I think this book is perfect for people who only read dialogue, prefer books with less inline descriptions so they get the pow pow pow as soon as possible, or who prefer their book-reading experiences to mirror those of movie watching. I also think people who like anime or play a lot of DnD focused on storytelling would enjoy this book. No hate either, everyone gets their own thing out of reading. Despite its premise and how hooked I was, I lost interest a little over 50% through the book, and I pushed through the end of it just to make sure I wasn’t wrong about my not liking it. There are a lot of ‘final episode’ reveals in the last 10% (kindle) of the book, but I did not feel like it paid off for me at all.
If there is anything that is delectable in this book, it is the descriptions of the demons/monsters/beasts. Peterson does wonders in the land of make-believe with these creatures, taking common elements we’ve seen in horror over the years and rounding them out into something new, fresh, and fleshy.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.
October 13, 2025
I'm not sure how to review this book. Similar to another reviewer, I was hooked by the premise. I love a good heist, I love urban fantasy...this should have been right up my alley. And I did like it...I just didn't love it.
The description on NetGalley starts with "Letta Starchild is the daughter of one of the most infamous cult leaders and serial killers in American history. After her mother's execution in the nineties, Letta went on to found one of the biggest multi-level marketing empires in the world, all while running from her mother's dark legacy." Sounds great, right? But I feel like we don't get enough of that part of the story (or the right parts of that part of the story) to really understand why Letta's mother was so infamous. Honestly, reading the description again AFTER reading the book I feel really let down. Maybe I haven't read the right books to understand the lore this is built on.
The first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book I was all in...despite A LOT of dense information/world building and frequently changing POVs and time settings (which I normally hate) I felt that the author did an excellent job of keeping everything on track and I was able to follow. But about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through I found myself less and less interested and it just felt really long. I was reading an ebook version which did not have page numbers or page count and I could not find that information on Good Reads or NetGalley (where I received this eARC copy) but it just felt really long. I don't know if it was ACTUALLY long or if it just felt that way because I was losing interest. There were even two characters introduced in that last 1/2 to 1/3 that were pretty important but I'm not entirely sure where they came from.
ETA: I just found the page count on NetGalley - 310 pages. It felt WAY longer than that. I would have guessed 500 pages. I took me 19 days to read this book, which is a really long time for me. I should have been able to read this in about a week.
I'm an 80s kid and parts of the book are set in 1993 (and a bit in 1991) so I did enjoy the many Gen X pop culture references. I enjoyed the humor. I liked all of the characters. Basically, it was fine. I didn't hate it, but I'm not sure I would have finished it if I hadn't felt obligated due to receiving an ARC for review.
Also, not sure if this will be a big deal for anyone else or if it will even be an issue in the published ebook, but I did not like the way the "chapters" were broken down in my digital copy. I read at night just before bed and I keep my "time remaining in chapter" on so I can decide whether to continue to the next chapter or not. This book did not have "chapters." It had "Parts," (nine of them) plus a prologue and 22 other sections that were like flashbacks or asides. And then within the "Parts" there were breaks marked by a letter J, but they were not digital breaks in the ebook formatting. It worked out okay most of the time because the asides/flashbacks were fairly short. But one part had a 45 minute reading time and another part (at the 65% mark) had a 2.5 HOUR reading time which I think contributed to my feeling that the book was so long and dragging. It took me 3-4 nights to get through that part and I ended up staying up to late each of those nights because I didn't have any way to know how long each section was. I realize this is a luxury problem, but if someone reads the way I do I feel like this is important information to know.
The description on NetGalley starts with "Letta Starchild is the daughter of one of the most infamous cult leaders and serial killers in American history. After her mother's execution in the nineties, Letta went on to found one of the biggest multi-level marketing empires in the world, all while running from her mother's dark legacy." Sounds great, right? But I feel like we don't get enough of that part of the story (or the right parts of that part of the story) to really understand why Letta's mother was so infamous. Honestly, reading the description again AFTER reading the book I feel really let down. Maybe I haven't read the right books to understand the lore this is built on.
The first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book I was all in...despite A LOT of dense information/world building and frequently changing POVs and time settings (which I normally hate) I felt that the author did an excellent job of keeping everything on track and I was able to follow. But about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through I found myself less and less interested and it just felt really long. I was reading an ebook version which did not have page numbers or page count and I could not find that information on Good Reads or NetGalley (where I received this eARC copy) but it just felt really long. I don't know if it was ACTUALLY long or if it just felt that way because I was losing interest. There were even two characters introduced in that last 1/2 to 1/3 that were pretty important but I'm not entirely sure where they came from.
ETA: I just found the page count on NetGalley - 310 pages. It felt WAY longer than that. I would have guessed 500 pages. I took me 19 days to read this book, which is a really long time for me. I should have been able to read this in about a week.
I'm an 80s kid and parts of the book are set in 1993 (and a bit in 1991) so I did enjoy the many Gen X pop culture references. I enjoyed the humor. I liked all of the characters. Basically, it was fine. I didn't hate it, but I'm not sure I would have finished it if I hadn't felt obligated due to receiving an ARC for review.
Also, not sure if this will be a big deal for anyone else or if it will even be an issue in the published ebook, but I did not like the way the "chapters" were broken down in my digital copy. I read at night just before bed and I keep my "time remaining in chapter" on so I can decide whether to continue to the next chapter or not. This book did not have "chapters." It had "Parts," (nine of them) plus a prologue and 22 other sections that were like flashbacks or asides. And then within the "Parts" there were breaks marked by a letter J, but they were not digital breaks in the ebook formatting. It worked out okay most of the time because the asides/flashbacks were fairly short. But one part had a 45 minute reading time and another part (at the 65% mark) had a 2.5 HOUR reading time which I think contributed to my feeling that the book was so long and dragging. It took me 3-4 nights to get through that part and I ended up staying up to late each of those nights because I didn't have any way to know how long each section was. I realize this is a luxury problem, but if someone reads the way I do I feel like this is important information to know.
December 10, 2025
I’ll admit, I struggled with this book. It’s not that the time jumps — backwards, forwards, and sideways — were difficult to follow, it’s just that I found it really hard to care. The characters treat ever event, every moment the same as the one before, which is to say with absolute indifference. Kill a woman, go to hell, meet a demon, sit down for a drink, it’s all the same lack of reaction and lack of interest, and if they’re not interested … why should I be?
And that’s … fine. Not everyone reads the way I do; a lot of people don’t mind a focus on action over emotion, which would make them a better audience for this book. But even if I just focus on the plot, it’s a meandering muddle with an equally meandering pace. With so many time jumps, any and all momentum is broken up into small, jerky moments; there’s not enough sense either of wonder or horror to the story beats and while the idea itself isn’t bad, I found the overall execution to be overly familiar and a bit bland.
Personally, this wasn’t for me. The heist elements were abrupt, with no time or buildup for me to appreciate the cleverness; the hell elements were neither horrifying nor overly imaginative. They were just there, and the characters treated them with a flat indifference. The characters themselves were stiff and static with limited personalities, relying more on heist tropes than any actual characterization.
However, all that said, it’s not a bad book. It’s just … not for me. Not to my taste, not written in a way I found engaging. The writing is solid, though, and I’d be willing to pick up another book by this author in the future. I’m just not a fan of this one.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
And that’s … fine. Not everyone reads the way I do; a lot of people don’t mind a focus on action over emotion, which would make them a better audience for this book. But even if I just focus on the plot, it’s a meandering muddle with an equally meandering pace. With so many time jumps, any and all momentum is broken up into small, jerky moments; there’s not enough sense either of wonder or horror to the story beats and while the idea itself isn’t bad, I found the overall execution to be overly familiar and a bit bland.
Personally, this wasn’t for me. The heist elements were abrupt, with no time or buildup for me to appreciate the cleverness; the hell elements were neither horrifying nor overly imaginative. They were just there, and the characters treated them with a flat indifference. The characters themselves were stiff and static with limited personalities, relying more on heist tropes than any actual characterization.
However, all that said, it’s not a bad book. It’s just … not for me. Not to my taste, not written in a way I found engaging. The writing is solid, though, and I’d be willing to pick up another book by this author in the future. I’m just not a fan of this one.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.
November 18, 2025
In Hell Heist we follow Letta Starchild, daughter of cult leader and serial killer, Athena, as she assembles a group of beings who may actually be insane to participate in a heist in literal hell. The bounty? Her mother’s soul.
Hell Heist is a dark comedy horror that begins slowly, giving the reader plenty of information about Letta’s world. This worldbuilding is solid without feeling overwhelming, though it does draw out the beginning of the story. The later part of the book is dialogue heavy, and it was difficult to keep track of which character was talking at times. What would be fun banter and snappy conversation in a film didn’t quite translate on paper, though it feels like that was the intent. Where the dialogue lacked flow, the narrative never did.
Hell Heist takes place over multiple chaos filled timelines and is definitely a plot driven story with character development taking a backseat, as it often does in horror flicks. The pacing starts slow, revs up and slows down again. It’s a fun read and doesn’t take itself too seriously plus I enjoyed the nostalgia evoked by some of the references to the 80’s/90’s. The story would benefit from another edit, purely to even out some contradictions and consistency issues.
Overall, I enjoyed Hell Heist, though it felt longer than it was. It’s one of the rare instances where a book would make a better movie or RPG. The premise hooked me, and while it wasn’t exactly what I hoped for it was entertaining.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Hell Heist is a dark comedy horror that begins slowly, giving the reader plenty of information about Letta’s world. This worldbuilding is solid without feeling overwhelming, though it does draw out the beginning of the story. The later part of the book is dialogue heavy, and it was difficult to keep track of which character was talking at times. What would be fun banter and snappy conversation in a film didn’t quite translate on paper, though it feels like that was the intent. Where the dialogue lacked flow, the narrative never did.
Hell Heist takes place over multiple chaos filled timelines and is definitely a plot driven story with character development taking a backseat, as it often does in horror flicks. The pacing starts slow, revs up and slows down again. It’s a fun read and doesn’t take itself too seriously plus I enjoyed the nostalgia evoked by some of the references to the 80’s/90’s. The story would benefit from another edit, purely to even out some contradictions and consistency issues.
Overall, I enjoyed Hell Heist, though it felt longer than it was. It’s one of the rare instances where a book would make a better movie or RPG. The premise hooked me, and while it wasn’t exactly what I hoped for it was entertaining.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
October 23, 2025
Thank you California Coldblood Books and NetGalley for the ARC!
Hell Heist follows several characters across multiple timelines. Letta Starchild is running from her mother's dark legacy - an infamous cult leader and serial killer. Matthias is an ancient sorcerer who oversees a lethal guide of killers. When one them is killed, Matthias needs to hand over the guild to Letta - but she's going to have to prove herself. Strap in guys, we're going to Hell.
The premise of this book drew me in and I wasn't disappointed. The story shifts between different timelines and you see the characters at different points in their life, yet it feels constantly action packed. I really found myself drawn to the chapters that took place in 1993 with the Starchild cult. I really love horror that is seeped in reality, and what's better than a classic cult storyline? However this book does a great job of mixing reality with the supernatural.
Hell Heist follows several characters across multiple timelines. Letta Starchild is running from her mother's dark legacy - an infamous cult leader and serial killer. Matthias is an ancient sorcerer who oversees a lethal guide of killers. When one them is killed, Matthias needs to hand over the guild to Letta - but she's going to have to prove herself. Strap in guys, we're going to Hell.
"The overall mission has several steps, starting with this tiny hell. We have to figure out whose hell this is, then break into, and-"
"Waitaminute! Is this a heist?!"
The premise of this book drew me in and I wasn't disappointed. The story shifts between different timelines and you see the characters at different points in their life, yet it feels constantly action packed. I really found myself drawn to the chapters that took place in 1993 with the Starchild cult. I really love horror that is seeped in reality, and what's better than a classic cult storyline? However this book does a great job of mixing reality with the supernatural.
"Memories are curious cousins and strange bedfellows. We live our lives one moment at a time but remember them in totality. Sometimes, past and future can whisper to each other."
October 30, 2025
Thanks to California Coldblood Books and Net Galley for a copy if this arc.
Oh boy
Where to start with this one. First of all the page count is off its 447 pages not 310.
It probably should have been 310 pages.
The story seems bloated and we waist a lot if time naming things and then almost at once doling out code names or nicknames of both. It gets confusing fast and is not helped by how information dense much of the book is.
There are to many characters who aren’t quite charming enough to generate interest in them solely based on their dialog and not quite developed enough to be interesting in their back stories.
The core three characters get a little more than the others and had we focussed on. Them more I think this book could have worked a lot better for me.
Theres a good story in the core I think but it needs a few more rounds of editing to be accessible. One example and maybe this is just in the arc but the spacing between words was wildly unpredictable for no decreeable reason.
This book is a stylistically string flavor and if you like that flavor it might work for you.
If you liked this but want something a little more polished you might like Cassandra Khaws work.
I probably would not pick up more from this author BUT if someone told me her was their favorite I would also believe them
Oh boy
Where to start with this one. First of all the page count is off its 447 pages not 310.
It probably should have been 310 pages.
The story seems bloated and we waist a lot if time naming things and then almost at once doling out code names or nicknames of both. It gets confusing fast and is not helped by how information dense much of the book is.
There are to many characters who aren’t quite charming enough to generate interest in them solely based on their dialog and not quite developed enough to be interesting in their back stories.
The core three characters get a little more than the others and had we focussed on. Them more I think this book could have worked a lot better for me.
Theres a good story in the core I think but it needs a few more rounds of editing to be accessible. One example and maybe this is just in the arc but the spacing between words was wildly unpredictable for no decreeable reason.
This book is a stylistically string flavor and if you like that flavor it might work for you.
If you liked this but want something a little more polished you might like Cassandra Khaws work.
I probably would not pick up more from this author BUT if someone told me her was their favorite I would also believe them
November 18, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Honestly, I'm not sure where to start with this one - the premise hooked me, like it did to many others.
This is also the part where I must admit, that in a way, I had a really hard time with this book. I'm still not sure if that was me, or "Hell Heist" itself, but the amount of informations it thrown at my face along with the constant jumping between the POV's and time settings itself? At some point, I just got so confused and lost, that I had absolutely no idea who is who (beside the main character).
There are three moments where the chapters get longer (two that have about 50 pages and one that's over 100 pages long) and combined with what I wrote above? I kept spacing out, a lot.
There were humorous parts, but none that really made me smile, but it do gave the old horror vibes, so that's one of the pros.
Beside, the whole concept of a toy bear that carries a serial killer's soul? It gave me so much Chucky vibes and that was one of the parts I enjoyed the most (if you read the book, I you will get it).
Overall, despite at some point having absolutely no idea what's going on for a good few minutes, I enjoyed this one, mostly for it's uniqueness.
Honestly, I'm not sure where to start with this one - the premise hooked me, like it did to many others.
This is also the part where I must admit, that in a way, I had a really hard time with this book. I'm still not sure if that was me, or "Hell Heist" itself, but the amount of informations it thrown at my face along with the constant jumping between the POV's and time settings itself? At some point, I just got so confused and lost, that I had absolutely no idea who is who (beside the main character).
There are three moments where the chapters get longer (two that have about 50 pages and one that's over 100 pages long) and combined with what I wrote above? I kept spacing out, a lot.
There were humorous parts, but none that really made me smile, but it do gave the old horror vibes, so that's one of the pros.
Beside, the whole concept of a toy bear that carries a serial killer's soul? It gave me so much Chucky vibes and that was one of the parts I enjoyed the most (if you read the book, I you will get it).
Overall, despite at some point having absolutely no idea what's going on for a good few minutes, I enjoyed this one, mostly for it's uniqueness.
October 21, 2025
If there were justice in the world, Peterson would be a beloved cult author by now. Maybe he will someday. His books are all packed chockful of energy, humor, heart, world-building, and a Stephen King-like bear hug of genre.
"Hell Heist" is exactly what you'd want out of a book of that title. It is about a team pulling off a heist in Hell. Peterson doesn't skimp on the Hell he promises. They don't get to Hell in the last chapter--we're talking a full menu of vividly imagined levels of Hell.
This book is heaven, too--for horror movie fans. The heroes of the book need to team up with a cadre of demigod villains right out of Saw, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Like you'd expect from Peterson, this literal murderer's row are all uniquely-rendered characters with their own quirks and voices. I'm not even a big horror guy, but I loved his versions of Goldberg and Freddy Kreuger.
Oh yeah, and there is also a cult. The cult--and its history--are where the novel's heart comes from. It's not all helfire and bloody murder--not by a long shot.
Highly recommend! See you in Hell!
"Hell Heist" is exactly what you'd want out of a book of that title. It is about a team pulling off a heist in Hell. Peterson doesn't skimp on the Hell he promises. They don't get to Hell in the last chapter--we're talking a full menu of vividly imagined levels of Hell.
This book is heaven, too--for horror movie fans. The heroes of the book need to team up with a cadre of demigod villains right out of Saw, Friday the 13th, and Nightmare on Elm Street. Like you'd expect from Peterson, this literal murderer's row are all uniquely-rendered characters with their own quirks and voices. I'm not even a big horror guy, but I loved his versions of Goldberg and Freddy Kreuger.
Oh yeah, and there is also a cult. The cult--and its history--are where the novel's heart comes from. It's not all helfire and bloody murder--not by a long shot.
Highly recommend! See you in Hell!
November 20, 2025
Hell Heist is one of those rare books that swings for the fences in every direction and somehow pulls it off. It’s weird, wild, and absolutely packed with imagination. Robert J. Peterson takes the heist genre, smashes it into supernatural horror, and loads it with a cast that’s equal parts disturbing and endearing.
Letta Starchild is a fascinating protagonist caught between her mother’s monstrous legacy and her own empire of glossy, corporate reinvention. Watching her try to lead a team of ex-cult members, cursed objects, and nightmare creatures is both hilarious and unexpectedly heartfelt. The worldbuilding is bonkers in the best way: dream-masters, infernal maps, trains to Hades, and heaven’s police force all woven into a story that never slows down.
Despite the gleefully unhinged premise, there’s real emotional meat here, grudges, regrets, warped loyalties, and the question of whether someone shaped by horror can ever fully escape it. It’s clever, chaotic, and genuinely fun. Fans of self aware horror, heists, and anything unapologetically bizarre will have a blast.
Letta Starchild is a fascinating protagonist caught between her mother’s monstrous legacy and her own empire of glossy, corporate reinvention. Watching her try to lead a team of ex-cult members, cursed objects, and nightmare creatures is both hilarious and unexpectedly heartfelt. The worldbuilding is bonkers in the best way: dream-masters, infernal maps, trains to Hades, and heaven’s police force all woven into a story that never slows down.
Despite the gleefully unhinged premise, there’s real emotional meat here, grudges, regrets, warped loyalties, and the question of whether someone shaped by horror can ever fully escape it. It’s clever, chaotic, and genuinely fun. Fans of self aware horror, heists, and anything unapologetically bizarre will have a blast.
November 9, 2025
ARC Review - thank you Netgalley for the arc!
The first thing I noticed was the cover and premise, something that caught my attention to be interested in this story.
A heist setting with different levels of Hell sounded like such a creative and exciting storyline that is different than other concepts.
I would say however as I read onto the first 100 pages, it felt a little challenging to get into reading with how some of the sentences were phrased.
I love the 80s and love the references, and the timelines to show us the different characters introductions. However I just felt the pacing was slow and sometimes a bit awkward in the sentence flows, so it becoming distracting for me to read through faster. It took me much longer to digest because I felt execution structure in the writing was hard for me to process. It also felt way longer than necessary.
Overall I really did appreciate the overall concept of the book.
The first thing I noticed was the cover and premise, something that caught my attention to be interested in this story.
A heist setting with different levels of Hell sounded like such a creative and exciting storyline that is different than other concepts.
I would say however as I read onto the first 100 pages, it felt a little challenging to get into reading with how some of the sentences were phrased.
I love the 80s and love the references, and the timelines to show us the different characters introductions. However I just felt the pacing was slow and sometimes a bit awkward in the sentence flows, so it becoming distracting for me to read through faster. It took me much longer to digest because I felt execution structure in the writing was hard for me to process. It also felt way longer than necessary.
Overall I really did appreciate the overall concept of the book.
November 1, 2025
Great plot, when reading the description, good execution. It starts off strong, then it slows down, then builds back up. My major gripe isn't even a big gripe, but it isn't good for short reading sessions...the chapters are long. My interest in this book as I read it went up and down, but I am glad I stuck through everything. There is a lot of story to this book, a lot of plot, character backstory, character development, and of course comedy in there as well. Had me thinking throughout the book a little of Dante's Inferno, some of these 1970's - 90's cults, and popular supernatural stories.
Character development was good. Characters have a great backstory, feelings, past traumas that made them the person they are today, and as the book went on, they did change.
Overall, I found it to be a pretty entertaining read, especially when I was in the right mood.
Character development was good. Characters have a great backstory, feelings, past traumas that made them the person they are today, and as the book went on, they did change.
Overall, I found it to be a pretty entertaining read, especially when I was in the right mood.
December 7, 2025
A very fun and “doesn’t take it self too seriously” heist adventure. When it’s great it feels almost like a DnD campaign set in Hell or an 80s sci-fi/horror cult classic. The characters are all pretty interesting and the actual story is really inventive. I’d say though the last third became a bit of a messy chore to get through, but before that it’s great fun. Would definitely check out the author’s back catalogue as his voice/style was intriguing!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
October 29, 2025
Hell Heist is a wild, fast-paced ride blending horror, fantasy, and a heist thriller with dark humor. Letta Starchild leads a ragtag supernatural crew into Hell itself to pull off an audacious heist, and the story never slows down. While character depth sometimes takes a backseat to the chaotic fun, the inventive premise, over-the-top action, and genre-bending energy make it an entertaining and unforgettable read.
November 30, 2025
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!
This was an undoubtedly enjoyable heist story, and I liked it, I just didn’t love it. The premise is phenomenal but the story itself just seemed a little dragged out. There’s a lot of info dumping within a short timeframe. The setting is fun, and the story is very dialogue heavy if you’re a fan of that. Sometimes I felt like I was in the middle of a wild DND campaign and I enjoyed that a lot, too.
This was an undoubtedly enjoyable heist story, and I liked it, I just didn’t love it. The premise is phenomenal but the story itself just seemed a little dragged out. There’s a lot of info dumping within a short timeframe. The setting is fun, and the story is very dialogue heavy if you’re a fan of that. Sometimes I felt like I was in the middle of a wild DND campaign and I enjoyed that a lot, too.
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