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Satan and the Adventure of the Blue-Eyed Freak
Satan and the Adventure of the Blue-Eyed Freak
Sportswriter Nick Brooks is covering yet another boring baseball game when he inadvertently encounters Sarah Rypien, an extraordinary young woman who immediately spins his existence downside up and cattywampus. Before he knows it, the prerequisite chaos/hilarity ensues, dragging him into one of those absurd irregular-Joe-meets-possible-psycho-and-saves-the-world brand of adventures, replete with action, intrigue, mysterious men in Volvos, a very special FBI special agent, 1.5 romances, and a healthy dash of the LOLs. (You know, like Mom used to make.)
Oh, and on a semi-unrelated Nick just happens to be sharing his life with an incarnation of the entity commonly beloved as "Satan."
In this fun, satiric sci-fi romp—packed with enough pop culture references to give the intrawebz a nosebleed—Ray Bendici vaults readers through an entertaining jaunt that bends brains, time, reality, and genres. On the plus side, no one gets turned into a newt.
Sportswriter Nick Brooks is covering yet another boring baseball game when he inadvertently encounters Sarah Rypien, an extraordinary young woman who immediately spins his existence downside up and cattywampus. Before he knows it, the prerequisite chaos/hilarity ensues, dragging him into one of those absurd irregular-Joe-meets-possible-psycho-and-saves-the-world brand of adventures, replete with action, intrigue, mysterious men in Volvos, a very special FBI special agent, 1.5 romances, and a healthy dash of the LOLs. (You know, like Mom used to make.)
Oh, and on a semi-unrelated Nick just happens to be sharing his life with an incarnation of the entity commonly beloved as "Satan."
In this fun, satiric sci-fi romp—packed with enough pop culture references to give the intrawebz a nosebleed—Ray Bendici vaults readers through an entertaining jaunt that bends brains, time, reality, and genres. On the plus side, no one gets turned into a newt.
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2022
About the author
Ray Bendici
8 books9 followersRay Bendici writes and edits stuff, both for fun and for a living. He is the author/editor of multiple books, including Speaking Ill of the Dead: Connecticut Jerks, Connecticut Curiosities: 3rd Edition, and Stones and Bones of New England: A Guide to Unusual, Historic, and Otherwise Notable Cemeteries. Satan and The Adventure of the (Other) Other God is the sequel to his debut novel, Satan and The Adventure of The Blue-Eyed Freak.
He has been a writer/editor at multiple print and digital publications, including Tech & Learning, District Administration, and Connecticut Magazine, at which his work earned multiple awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists. He also founded Damned Connecticut, a website dedicated to everything unusual, weird, and extraordinary in his home state of Connecticut.
If all this isn’t enough (and really it should be), take a deeper dive into ‘rayality’ at raybendici.com.
He has been a writer/editor at multiple print and digital publications, including Tech & Learning, District Administration, and Connecticut Magazine, at which his work earned multiple awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists. He also founded Damned Connecticut, a website dedicated to everything unusual, weird, and extraordinary in his home state of Connecticut.
If all this isn’t enough (and really it should be), take a deeper dive into ‘rayality’ at raybendici.com.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 4, 2024
By far one of my favorite reads of the year. A master work in writing. Sarcastically funny, witty, and chock full of more pop culture references than I previously thought possible. It was like reading an entry in the diary of the Lord of Darkness with the asides, random tangents and the occasional bad dad joke. There were many moments of quite literally laughing out loud.
I loved it!
As a side note: if you are someone of faith who is uncomfortable with that faith being called into question, don’t read it. If not, then I recommend the heck out of this book!
I loved it!
As a side note: if you are someone of faith who is uncomfortable with that faith being called into question, don’t read it. If not, then I recommend the heck out of this book!
October 29, 2024
This book is a thoroughly enjoyable romp through the improbable adventures a trio of improbable beings, suffering through improbable dangers and bad jokes. Laughing out loud at the devilish humor is right out of an Aeschylus performance, improbably.
Why not a five? As entertaining as Ray is, the novel might suffer the ravages of time, with so many references to some not-up-to-date bad TV sitcoms. Some younger folks might miss that humor. I didn’t, by Al, so maybe I’ll up my rating to a 4.5.
Read it…you won’t regret it!
Why not a five? As entertaining as Ray is, the novel might suffer the ravages of time, with so many references to some not-up-to-date bad TV sitcoms. Some younger folks might miss that humor. I didn’t, by Al, so maybe I’ll up my rating to a 4.5.
Read it…you won’t regret it!
November 6, 2024
Well... That was different.
I bought this on some whacky Instagram poster's recommendation, and, boy! Was it a mistake? No. Not a mistake, but not the best book ever either.
A very interesting story line with good characters! It runs at a good pace and there are only a few plot holes.
The writer is sometimes a bit precious, using too many $10 words where one $2 word would do. I guess it makes the characters quirky, but I could have done with a bit less of it.
I *think* I got most of the obscure references to things from popular culture of the past, but I'm not sure. Some were funny.
Go ahead & read it! You likely won't be disappointed.
I bought this on some whacky Instagram poster's recommendation, and, boy! Was it a mistake? No. Not a mistake, but not the best book ever either.
A very interesting story line with good characters! It runs at a good pace and there are only a few plot holes.
The writer is sometimes a bit precious, using too many $10 words where one $2 word would do. I guess it makes the characters quirky, but I could have done with a bit less of it.
I *think* I got most of the obscure references to things from popular culture of the past, but I'm not sure. Some were funny.
Go ahead & read it! You likely won't be disappointed.
May 29, 2025
I was not the right reader for this book. Which is weird, as a supernatural comedy should be right up my alley. But I hated almost everything about it. Satan was incredibly… boring. The most bland vanilla sport reporter(??!) you can possibly imagine and absolutely no help whatsoever with the whole effing plot aside from getting his ass kicked in an epic way. Several times. For what exactly? By whom exactly? Generic conspiracy dudes plotting an epically moronic plan capturing Sarah, the majorly annoying super villain. If the characters and plot wasn’t enough to give me a belly ache, the inane dialogue might do the trick. I mean, grown men should not make kissy noises at each other just because one of them happens to interact with a woman… they should also refrain from phrases like “cross my heart and hope to die”. I’d think this was written by a precocious high school girl if it wasn’t for the two lifetimes’ worth of pop culture references that puts the age of the writer generously over 50. I got through the whole lot out of sheer stubbornness. I gave 2 stars because it was mildly amusing at times and because it said God is a woman named Al.
November 8, 2024
Wow, what a great story/adventure!
This tale will take the reader along a very unexpected adventure. I absolutely loved the two main characters, the Devil and Sarah. As I read this in public places I often was looked at rather suspiciously as I would laugh out loud, not 'lol' laughing, but deal laughing out loud.you
I am not sure how Mr Bendici could follow this up with a sequel or two, but certainly would appreciate it if he does. I will look forward to reading his next novels.
This tale will take the reader along a very unexpected adventure. I absolutely loved the two main characters, the Devil and Sarah. As I read this in public places I often was looked at rather suspiciously as I would laugh out loud, not 'lol' laughing, but deal laughing out loud.you
I am not sure how Mr Bendici could follow this up with a sequel or two, but certainly would appreciate it if he does. I will look forward to reading his next novels.
December 28, 2024
I loved this book!! So witty, engaging and original. Really really recommend!
May 14, 2026
…if I wasn’t Satan already, some days I’d swear I was out to get me.
Amongst the highlights of Ray Bendici's "Satan and the Adventure of the Blue-Eyed Freak" are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms - Oh damn! That's not it at all. However, I will go ahead and say up front that Bendici shows an acute and hopefully very contagious respect for the lore of Monty Python as well as a heap of other popular culture, um, things, all of which fell under the purview of my advancing late Baby Boomer years… meaning I was born at the tail end of that generation (trust me: the opinions on the internet are as consistent as a politician's promises) and can quote TV shows from the 60s and 70s (but still forget my own kids' birthdays, my home phone number, etc.). Anyway, the whole "insert Flip Wilson anecdote here" skill set exhibited was already worth at least 5 stars for my rating, which is a good thing as I was starting somewhere around negative 42. Which as we know has nothing at all to do with the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
I had stumbled into something . . . interesting. And interesting is why I’m here.
Can I start again, please? Look, this was a really fun book in the kind of way that someone, somehow got Deadpool to go back in time and rewrite all of those dreadfully dull modern history books we made our way through in high school. You know where for 36 weeks you covered World War II and then the last 4 days before the Final everything else that's ever happened on this planet. Yeah, just like that. In fact, the hero of our story aka Nick Brooks aka Satan in his current incarnation aka as Nick Brooks (the math works!) who is essentially - no, I mean, (f)actually "Apollyon parading around inside of human skin" - does tend to approach life and all the squishy bits around us very much like the Merc with the Mouth. It's often quite witty, regularly a tad overly glib, too, and sometimes just too much to take in large doses, which is, I think, the whole gosh-gee-williker's charm of Ryan Reynolds in a nutshell ("…it was bordering on fart-in-church awkward."). You have been warned accordingly.
Yes, that’s right. Under this affable veneer, I am Satan.
But stopping "for a quick moment to address the pachyderm in the punchbowl", we quickly learn that Nick is in effect "one of the two essential Entities in this Existence", with the other being more or less (seems less tbh) the good side of the equation… and her name is Al, thankyouverymuch. Fortunately, speaking of sides, on the other side of the repeatedly broken two-way mirror that is the 4th Wall in this tome, Bendici does have ol' Nick aka the Prince of It's Not Quite Dark Yet But Turn on Your Lights Anyway surrounded by a pretty good story that helps us, well, digest some of his more flippantly run-on prattling sarcasm and irony (e.g. "…the Boston Celtics were disbanded, Tiger Woods is pregnant by aliens…"), seasoning it just so in order to be much more digestible (gods, I'm as hungry as Sarah now). Which naturally leads to the decision to ensure that one of our "Team Good Guys" party goes and pukes every time she kills someone - which is, like, HER JOB! Sheesh… - and that all goes out the window. But seriously, we're subjected to what turns out to be an interesting story because wouldn't you know it, a mutant who can kill people with her mind, read their minds (before killing them obviously), and, like, totally read auras has come onto the scene. Patrick Stewart eat your heart out!
You’re so . . . normal. You could be an altar boy. It’s bonkers.
So naturally, who do you call? That's right, your small-town newspaper's best sportswriter! Who, um, again is Beelzebub in real life and refers to his human incarnation in the third person. Yeah, I think that's more or less right (you'll have to read it to uncover ALL my lies, he laughed maniacally)[*Insert your own punchline, preferably not involving shellfish*]. This is the kind of story though that you can enjoy if you're a fantasy fan, a fan of historical fiction, or even superhero, mystery, and spy-thriller stuff-ses. We get a little bit of all of it and yet, it somehow still works for the majority of the time. Sure, one could argue (and one could be wrong) that it's blasphemous as hell (pun?) but this set-up is as convincing as any of the other religious fables that have been plagiarized over the years and combined into one happy Hallmark Movie of Joy and Togetherness and Appropriate Representation. Remember the barfing from earlier? Yeah, makes sense now, doesn't it?
The request didn’t seem extravagant, or even regular-vagant.
But if it's not clear yet, this was all-in-all a very fun time, even if we're forced almost at gun-point to tolerate the NY Mets for a few pages (aka a few pages too many). The book is well-executed except for the thousands of spelling errors… no wait, that was my thesis, my bad. It's actually well-executed and moves at a good pace, even though I did have to pause the Wade Wilson schtick on occasion which I've already hinted at. The characters are who(m) make this though even if we're not immediately sure of everyone's motivations and Nick is fun to be around simply because he's so human (work that one out!). Sarah and Tanya and, heck, even Helen are real hoots, too. No, not literal owls though I'm sure Nick spent at least one incarnation as a hooter. Heck, he may have even taken the form of the full boobage with tantalizinig cleavage come to think of it. Or can I use titillate here - even withOUT giggling - after the author stopped himself from any repetition of same?
He feigned amusement, or passed gas—the look is often the same.
But to be honest (maaaaaybe), I'll never complain about kickass female co-leads kicking, well, ass as often as they can, particularly as who the "super patriotic villains" they go up against made so, so much sense! Plus, the ending was kind of sweet in a "no, the Universe didn't end, we didn't actually meet Al, but everyone hugged and 2/3s of them promised to have hot steamy sex in the near future" kind of way. I kidded earlier but the editing was really good, too (granted "surrendered" only has one "u"!), even if I know at some point an editor or even beloved beta-reader had to have said something about Nicky's tendency at monologuing the crap out of everything (kind of his words, not mine, but not really). And with that, I retire for the evening, my dad jokes and other flippancies left by the wayside. P.S. Wait: dolphins don't shave? Huh, who'd a thunk it?
Amongst the highlights of Ray Bendici's "Satan and the Adventure of the Blue-Eyed Freak" are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms - Oh damn! That's not it at all. However, I will go ahead and say up front that Bendici shows an acute and hopefully very contagious respect for the lore of Monty Python as well as a heap of other popular culture, um, things, all of which fell under the purview of my advancing late Baby Boomer years… meaning I was born at the tail end of that generation (trust me: the opinions on the internet are as consistent as a politician's promises) and can quote TV shows from the 60s and 70s (but still forget my own kids' birthdays, my home phone number, etc.). Anyway, the whole "insert Flip Wilson anecdote here" skill set exhibited was already worth at least 5 stars for my rating, which is a good thing as I was starting somewhere around negative 42. Which as we know has nothing at all to do with the answer to life, the universe, and everything.
I had stumbled into something . . . interesting. And interesting is why I’m here.
Can I start again, please? Look, this was a really fun book in the kind of way that someone, somehow got Deadpool to go back in time and rewrite all of those dreadfully dull modern history books we made our way through in high school. You know where for 36 weeks you covered World War II and then the last 4 days before the Final everything else that's ever happened on this planet. Yeah, just like that. In fact, the hero of our story aka Nick Brooks aka Satan in his current incarnation aka as Nick Brooks (the math works!) who is essentially - no, I mean, (f)actually "Apollyon parading around inside of human skin" - does tend to approach life and all the squishy bits around us very much like the Merc with the Mouth. It's often quite witty, regularly a tad overly glib, too, and sometimes just too much to take in large doses, which is, I think, the whole gosh-gee-williker's charm of Ryan Reynolds in a nutshell ("…it was bordering on fart-in-church awkward."). You have been warned accordingly.
Yes, that’s right. Under this affable veneer, I am Satan.
But stopping "for a quick moment to address the pachyderm in the punchbowl", we quickly learn that Nick is in effect "one of the two essential Entities in this Existence", with the other being more or less (seems less tbh) the good side of the equation… and her name is Al, thankyouverymuch. Fortunately, speaking of sides, on the other side of the repeatedly broken two-way mirror that is the 4th Wall in this tome, Bendici does have ol' Nick aka the Prince of It's Not Quite Dark Yet But Turn on Your Lights Anyway surrounded by a pretty good story that helps us, well, digest some of his more flippantly run-on prattling sarcasm and irony (e.g. "…the Boston Celtics were disbanded, Tiger Woods is pregnant by aliens…"), seasoning it just so in order to be much more digestible (gods, I'm as hungry as Sarah now). Which naturally leads to the decision to ensure that one of our "Team Good Guys" party goes and pukes every time she kills someone - which is, like, HER JOB! Sheesh… - and that all goes out the window. But seriously, we're subjected to what turns out to be an interesting story because wouldn't you know it, a mutant who can kill people with her mind, read their minds (before killing them obviously), and, like, totally read auras has come onto the scene. Patrick Stewart eat your heart out!
You’re so . . . normal. You could be an altar boy. It’s bonkers.
So naturally, who do you call? That's right, your small-town newspaper's best sportswriter! Who, um, again is Beelzebub in real life and refers to his human incarnation in the third person. Yeah, I think that's more or less right (you'll have to read it to uncover ALL my lies, he laughed maniacally)[*Insert your own punchline, preferably not involving shellfish*]. This is the kind of story though that you can enjoy if you're a fantasy fan, a fan of historical fiction, or even superhero, mystery, and spy-thriller stuff-ses. We get a little bit of all of it and yet, it somehow still works for the majority of the time. Sure, one could argue (and one could be wrong) that it's blasphemous as hell (pun?) but this set-up is as convincing as any of the other religious fables that have been plagiarized over the years and combined into one happy Hallmark Movie of Joy and Togetherness and Appropriate Representation. Remember the barfing from earlier? Yeah, makes sense now, doesn't it?
The request didn’t seem extravagant, or even regular-vagant.
But if it's not clear yet, this was all-in-all a very fun time, even if we're forced almost at gun-point to tolerate the NY Mets for a few pages (aka a few pages too many). The book is well-executed except for the thousands of spelling errors… no wait, that was my thesis, my bad. It's actually well-executed and moves at a good pace, even though I did have to pause the Wade Wilson schtick on occasion which I've already hinted at. The characters are who(m) make this though even if we're not immediately sure of everyone's motivations and Nick is fun to be around simply because he's so human (work that one out!). Sarah and Tanya and, heck, even Helen are real hoots, too. No, not literal owls though I'm sure Nick spent at least one incarnation as a hooter. Heck, he may have even taken the form of the full boobage with tantalizinig cleavage come to think of it. Or can I use titillate here - even withOUT giggling - after the author stopped himself from any repetition of same?
He feigned amusement, or passed gas—the look is often the same.
But to be honest (maaaaaybe), I'll never complain about kickass female co-leads kicking, well, ass as often as they can, particularly as who the "super patriotic villains" they go up against made so, so much sense! Plus, the ending was kind of sweet in a "no, the Universe didn't end, we didn't actually meet Al, but everyone hugged and 2/3s of them promised to have hot steamy sex in the near future" kind of way. I kidded earlier but the editing was really good, too (granted "surrendered" only has one "u"!), even if I know at some point an editor or even beloved beta-reader had to have said something about Nicky's tendency at monologuing the crap out of everything (kind of his words, not mine, but not really). And with that, I retire for the evening, my dad jokes and other flippancies left by the wayside. P.S. Wait: dolphins don't shave? Huh, who'd a thunk it?
April 10, 2026
The premise drew me in, but was left sadly bored.
The story goes no where and the zany conspiracy is underwhelming. Much of the character development feels rushed right at the end so I just felt I really didn't care for the side characters, or really even properly know them.
The pop-culture references are abundant. At times they make you giggle or smirk, but a lot of times they feel forced or poorly timed. A heads up that if you are not across all the references then some just fall so flat (of course not the writer's fault technically).
Must be said though when the main character goes reminiscing or ranting about his experiences as the devil it went up a notch in enjoyment.
Just can't recommend this book sadly.
The story goes no where and the zany conspiracy is underwhelming. Much of the character development feels rushed right at the end so I just felt I really didn't care for the side characters, or really even properly know them.
The pop-culture references are abundant. At times they make you giggle or smirk, but a lot of times they feel forced or poorly timed. A heads up that if you are not across all the references then some just fall so flat (of course not the writer's fault technically).
Must be said though when the main character goes reminiscing or ranting about his experiences as the devil it went up a notch in enjoyment.
Just can't recommend this book sadly.
January 8, 2025
A Devilishly Good Read
This book was recommended by a semi famous Instagram person and I was at a loss for what to read.
I very much enjoyed the book, the characters are engaging and the Devil is quite funny.
There is quite a lot of pop culture references, a lot from Monty Python.
My only grip, is that some times other languages are used with no definition of the words and even context doesn't help. I spent a good half an hour trying to get words translated.
This book was recommended by a semi famous Instagram person and I was at a loss for what to read.
I very much enjoyed the book, the characters are engaging and the Devil is quite funny.
There is quite a lot of pop culture references, a lot from Monty Python.
My only grip, is that some times other languages are used with no definition of the words and even context doesn't help. I spent a good half an hour trying to get words translated.
October 13, 2024
This is why I have no respect and/or use of Big Publishing. A novel this good, the funny, this well-written should have been snapped up by any publisher with a half a brain cell. Bendici is on par with Christoper Moore in writing talent and story telling. Read this and enjoyed the Hell out of it.
December 1, 2024
DNF
Bought this based on a recommendation from Tik Tok
I’ll never do that again
Grammar errors, long sentences, 4th wall breaks, tiny font - very much a self published book
IMHO - needed a professional edit
Bought this based on a recommendation from Tik Tok
I’ll never do that again
Grammar errors, long sentences, 4th wall breaks, tiny font - very much a self published book
IMHO - needed a professional edit
January 14, 2025
Loved the premise of the book and the story. I am one who prefers less detail so I admit I did skip over some of his comedic repartee, but, overall I would recommend to others.
February 17, 2025
3.5 ⭐. This book is very sarcastic and the three main characters are great. I felt at times it got a little long winded but oddly enough even saying that I think it would have made a great audio.
May 23, 2025
This book was sooooo good. I love the characters, writing style, and lore behind it. It’s fun, fast paced, and brutal. Don’t sleep on this one. All hail our dark lord!
February 4, 2026
Fantastic. Three great characters that you fall in love with. This is truly an adventure offering twists and turns and filled with humor and heart.
May 5, 2026
What a slog to get through. Felt like the author was Temu Christopher Moore. He's not as funny as he thinks he is.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews