Soul Enchilada: A Fast-Paced YA Urban Fantasy About a Devil's Bargain and Supernatural Adventure

by David Macinnis Gill

Repossession is 9/10ths of the law!
Girl meets boy at a car wash. And probably this would have been a sweet teen romance . . . except that the girl's grandfather sold his soul for a classic Cadillac and he used her soul as collateral, too. Which the devil has come to collect, along with the car. Now eighteen-year-old Bug Smoot has to fight for both. Good thing she knows how to fight dirty. Good thing nothing frightens Bug not the repo man, not the paranormal creatures, not séances or driving too fast. And good thing that boy from the car wash is actually a supernatural secret agent.
This is one helluva ride.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Humor, Paranormal, Supernatural, Fiction, Teen

384 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

David Macinnis Gill is the author of the award-winning novels Black Hole Sun and Soul Enchilada, both from Greenwillow/Harper Collins. His short stories have appeared in several magazines, including The Crescent Review and Writer’s Forum. His critical biography of young adult author Graham Salisbury, Graham Salisbury: Island Boy, was published by Scarecrow Press. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English/creative writing and a doctorate in education, both from the University of Tennessee.

He is the Past-President of ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) and an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His non-fiction, book reviews, essays, and academic work have appeared in a variety of publications, including The English Journal, Teacher-Librarian, and many others.

David’s teaching career began in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was a high school teacher at Brainerd High School and briefly at the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences. He later joined the English Department at Ohio University as an assistant professor. Currently, he is an associate professor of English education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

David has been a house painter, cafeteria manager, bookstore schleper, high school teacher, and college professor. He now lives on the Carolina coast with his family, plus fourteen fish, two rescued dogs--an airebeagle and a border setter--and a nocturnal marsupial.

Reviews

[Jackie "the Librarian" · Rating 2 out of 5]

A YA version of Faust, set in El Paso, dude. This girl with the nickname Bug is trying to get by delivering pizzas, and the only real asset she has is this vintage Cadillac her dead grandfather left her.

But one day she looks out to see that it's been egged, and there's a demon sitting in it, who tells her he has come to repossess the car, and her soul, which was collateral on the loan her grandfather made.

Yes, it had potential, but it didn't convince me - the characters were flat, the danger felt like fake special effects, and the setting descriptions were sketchy. The only place I could really picture was Bugs' dank and cruddy apartment. And I didn't like Bug much. She was mouthy and all up in my face about having dreads and being biracial, and I was like, whoa, girlfriend, doesn't matter to ME...

Anyhow, Bug has to find a way out of this mess - everyone knows the devil can't resist a wager, right? So we get an exhausting series of encounters with Mr. Beals (Beelzebub), mixed up with Bugs' issues about giving up basketball after losing the championship game (supernatural forces were at work, though), and a totally predictable romance with the cute hispanic guy at the carwash Bugs has had a crush on for years.

Shallow, derivative storytelling with two dimensional characters. Skip this one, and read Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr instead, if you need a fix of dark supernatural creatures invading a resourceful teenaged girl's life.

[The FountainPenDiva, Old school geek chick and lover of teddy bears · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author David Macinnis Gill gets five stars not just for an amazing, hang-on-to-your hats read, but for populating his YA novel with teens of color who get to save the day, and the world. I loved how this novel was set in El Paso, Texas (a city I've been to several times) and Gill captures the sights, sounds and smells of a real place that straddles the line (and the Rio Grande) between the U.S. and Mexico with its strong Native American roots.

By the way, Mr. Gill is CAUCASIAN. I feel the need to point this out to all the lame authors out there who just can't wrap their small minds around writing characters of color, but have NO problems writing about vampires, angels and faeries. Gill writes about real people who just so happen to come from varying ethnic backgrounds who find themselves in an improbable situation.

Eunice "Bug" Smoot is the kind of heroine that is sadly missed in YA. She's on her own, having fallen on hard times. Yes she has attitude, but the attitude is merely a survival mechanism. I like her pride--that she'd rather work for a lousy pizza joint and live in the real life version of a roach motel rather than go on welfare. I also like that the romantic interest isn't made the raison d'etre of the story (unlike a great deal of YA books) Bug has her pride as well as her grandfather's classic 1958 Cadillac. Or does she?

Seems that dear ol' Papa C (as she calls him) made a deal with the devil, using her soul as collateral. Unfortunately, Papa C is dead and his soul out of reach, so guess who's next? When the bureaucratic-looking demon Mr. Beals comes to collect, Bug's hand-to-mouth but still relatively normal existence is thrown completely out of whack. She finds herself in sore need of some serious supernatural assistance, which she finds with her young supervisor, Pesto. Turns out Pesto belongs to a supernatural hunting agency called ISIS and handling demons is their specialty--that is unless said demon has "diplomatic immunity".

From there it's a roller-coaster ride of Faustian proportions as Bug, Pesto, ISIS and a colorful cast of characters do their damndest to save Bug's soul. There's humor, pathos and witty banter between the characters and Bug doesn't always have it all together.

Every character in Soul Enchilada (save for Beals and Old Scratch) come off like living, breathing if slightly left of center individuals. There's something refreshing about how Gill infuses Mexican culture, Native American myths, biblical lore and good ol' fashioned mythology into the narrative. The setting of El Paso works perfectly here, and even the Cadillac takes on a persona of its own. The action is over the top, but that's fine.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

(original review from October 2009 with a few edits)

Soul Enchilada is about Eunice "Bug" Smoot, an eighteen-year-old El Pasoan girl who is struggling to pay her rent and keep a steady job. It seems like things can't get any worse when her landlord pins an eviction notice on her door, but it turns out that Bug's grandfather sold his soul to the Devil in order to buy a car and skipped out on the contract before paying up. Now the devil is out to get Bug, who is the owner of the Cadillac. Bug meets a lot of colorful characters while trying to escape her impeding doom, such as Pesto, the super cute car wash evil fighting boy, and E.Figgs, the tough woman who once had an affair with the devil herself.

This was a book that I picked up based on the cover. I thought it looked interesting, although a bit strange. The book itself was pretty good, and the strongest thing about it for me was the premise. People selling their souls to the devil in order to get baseball tickets? You can't get cooler than that. Also, I enjoyed learning about Hispanic culture, because I had not been exposed to it before. While at times the execution of the premise could've been handled better, I still really enjoyed this book. (by the way, I actually dislike enchiladas. ha.)

(July 2011 update... I guess)

I'm adding a little clarification to the top of this review so that people are aware I'm giving it 3.5 stars instead of 4. The writing was a bit clunky but other than that I still stand by my 4-star rating.

Want to read more of my reviews? Follow me here.

[Cindy Dobrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished the book this weekend and it has everything I love in a book: A kick-ass heroine with an edge and a biting
sense of humor, a bit of the supernatural, basketball, a phenomenal car, a great cultural setting, romance, interesting evil characters, and a few scenes that make me tear up.

Bug's grandpa sold his soul to the devil in order to buy a 1958 Cadillac Biarritz and then died and skipped out on the contract without turning over the car or his soul. The devil's repo man, Mr. Beals, shows up to get the car back from Bug, who says, "No one takes my wheels." Even though she is living hand to mouth unable to pay the rent on time, she threatens to hire a lawyer, to which Mr. Beals replies something along the order of, "No, you won't. You don't have enough money to hire one, and anyway, my boss has them
all on retainer." (sorry, Alex Flinn, but I thought it was funny!) The El Paso setting and Hispanic culture, including a Day of the Dead festival adds to the flavor of the novel and is just fantastic. Even the chapter titles are funny, most riff on clichés and song titles and other things that fit the chapters, but David has given them a funny twist. A two-on-two basketball competition with unlikely players settles the bet for good.

I want a sequel. I want more of Bug and her world (did I tell you about her trip into the Abyss to get help from the NAD patrol? She gets there to find a couple of middle aged men working in the command center full of computers, and sees they are both playing HALO.) HarperCollins, are you listening to me? Make sure this man starts working on book two NOW. I need to follow the budding romance of Bugs and Pesto. Please!

[Karissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ughhhhhh
I was so ready to be done with this book. I listened to the audio book and every time the narrator spoke in Bug's voice I wanted to smack something. The character of Bug drove me bonkers. She was arrogant and loud, which was probably how her character was supposed to be.
Bug is a girl of mixed race - Hispanic and African American - who doesn't do well with people and loves playing basketball. Her mother died when she was young in a fire. She lived with her grandfather, Papa C, who falls in love with a vintage Cadillac. Papa C trades his soul for the Cadillac.
Bug is unaware as to how Papa C acquires the Cadillac. When Papa C died, the Caddie went to Bug, who took care of the car to the extreme. However, a demon by the name of Mr. Beals shows up on a very bad day for Bug. Her rent is past due, she's about to be fired from her job delivering pizzas, and someone egged her car. Mr. Beals arrives to repossess both the car and Bug.
From here on out there is a series of cat and mouse games in order for Bug to hold on to her soul. On her journey she befriends Pesto, a boy working at the car wash she goes to the day all the trouble starts. Pesto also work for a Demon Immigration service and helps Bug to rid herself of Beals - and Satan himself.
I think that if I had maybe actually read the book I may have enjoyed it more. However, listening to the narrator speak in the different voices made me cringe. Especially when she spoke as Bug. Horrible.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to read this novel and thought the premise was awesome, but it failed to draw me in and I ended up not even finishing it. Bug is a down on her luck girl living in El Paso who discover that her car (and her soul) are about to be repossessed by a demon. Enter some supernatural characters, including a demon fighter that Bug just happens to know, and Bug's ready to not go down without a fight.

The writing felt really choppy. Bug narrated the book much the way she spoke (short sentences, filled with slang), and I suppose this was to add character to the narration, but all it ended up doing was making scenes feel clunky and awkward. Nothing felt like it flowed. There were some witty one-liners, but they got lost in the rest of the muddled narration, and I couldn't get into either the story or the characters; it felt like everything was moving really slow, even though it was supposedly happening quickly. I don't know how else to describe it. I never got a real sense of the danger, which felt almost forced, and Bug's attitude grew irritating, so I gave up on the book.

[Jodi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. When Bug Smoot discovers that her grandfather had bargained away HER soul so that he could drive a Cadillac, she has no intention of going to Hell. There had to be a way out. Armed with her boyfriend, who happens to work on the side of the angels, she makes the devil meet her on her terms. But Bug is way too stereotypical. She's a Tejana, but doesn't speak Spanish. However, her English grammar is so poor that I'm not sure what language she speaks. She has a chip on her shoulder the size of Texas and while I understand to a point, it made her do stupid things. The first stupid thing could be forgiven, after that, she didn't seem too bright. The reading was terrific but the story tried to be too many things and succeeded at few.

[Sunny Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I've read in a really long time! This BOOK NEEDS TO BE MADE INTO A MOVIE!!!!!!!!!

[Madyson Barnard]

Bug is a spunky, out-of-the-ordinary character.
She meets the love of her life, delivers pizza to her dead grandfather, loses her soul, and beats the Devil. I loved this book and recommend it to anyone who loves fictional supernatural things.

[Juan Roman · Rating 3 out of 5]

****If you don't want spoilers why are you reading reviews?****
and possible picture that will make you cringe maybe

I guess Bealzlebub and Bugs fates were intertwined from the start. Cause ya know, Beezlebub means lord of the flies, and Flies are bugs. if you didn't know that then shame on you!!! In all seriousness this book was great supernatural book with good humor.

So heres the story: In Elpaso we see the world through the eyes of a girl of mixed race name Eunice "Bug" Smoot, who is poor, needs to pay rent, and is too proud to get on welfare. She wakes up to a man by the name of Mr. Payne, who incidentally, is a huge "pain" to Bug since he's there to collect rent. Moving on, Bug goes to see her car "egged" and with a side of coyote piss, she is obviously mad and goes into her vehicle to find a guy named Beals, who happens to be the demon Beezlebub, who in his human form looks like a man in his forties with really nerdy glasses. But in his true form he looks like this:



And that is where our adventure with Bug Smoot begins....

I liked the way the author smashed in a joke about lawyers working for the devil
at least i thought it was funny
The main character was tolerable at best. she didn't get on my nerves like some characters might [excessive action that makes me want to flip a table cause it was never completed, like biting nails, or main character making a completley foolish action that wants me to physically harm them to get a point across that it made no sense, like saying "HELLO?!" as loud as possible if they hear a noise or something of the sort in a horror themed book.] the only thing that semi annoyed me with bug is how she talks at first, but it grows on you till its basically valid since its commonplace during the whole book.

I was surprised when i found out Beals was Beezlebub. I honestly had no idea he was Beezlebub at first. What also surprised me was when the way to freeze a demon was a can of hair spray.
I understood who the coyote was even though the book doesn't directly tell you who it is, but made it clear enough to understand who it is by the end of the book.

In the end, i rate this book 3 Cans of "Super Hold" hair spray out of 5.
though i loved the book, there was still some minor flaws to deal with like convenient things being around and people being stupid when they were warned.
I would recommend this book for those that want a fresh idea for a plot, as this book is a unique gem to be found. Don't Judge this book by its cover, i was glad i didn't.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Eunice "Bug" Smoot is threatened with eviction, loses her job and has her last pay check bounce, she doesn't think life could get any worse. Then it does. Not only is there a demon repossesing her prized 1958 Cadillac Biarritz, but she learns that her deceased grandfather, Papa C, sold his soul to the devil for that car! Then the situation goes beyond worse as she learns that Papa C traded HER soul as well. Many people would just give up but Bug is made of stronger stuff and she fights back. Aided by that fine boy Pesto, his witch mama and the boys from the Abyss, Bug bring her best game with nail-biting yet hilarious results.

I am extremely fond of Faustian tales and this one is terrific. Bug is one tough heroine with just enough vulnerability to steal the reader's heart if not their souls. Sharp funny dialog, memorable characters and a plot twistier than an El Paso mountain road make this first novel pure gold!

[Joeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

the reason why I chose this book is because when my reading teacher tolled us about this book it sounded interasting so I started reading the book and I found that this book is quite interasting. The genre of this book is pairnormal or fantisy but Im thinking more pairnormal. The setting where the book take plase is in "Bug" (the mean character) apartment and the apartment is two hundred sqare foot roach motel with half bath, no phone, no cadle, and no air conditioner. the mean character name is Bug Smoot how is eighteen year olded how is a black Tejanos. the hole book is about how bugs is going to get her soul back and along the way she meets the demon that has her soul they resolv the problom by getting her soul back. This book was quite good and I do reacamend people read this book.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

i was so engrossed in soul enchilada by david gill, that i very nearly missed my train stop while whizzing through the english countryside. this book was a surprise to me in a fantastic way on all counts. i loved the characters gill created, he pegged bug's voice so well, i'd suspect him of being a sassy teenaged girl if i didn't know any better. she's smart, she's funny, she's fearless. and you have to be, if you've got the devil chasing after your soul.

the book has it all, fantastic myth, scary moments, romantic moments, tender and soul-searching moments. it's everything a teenager (or any reader, really) would enjoy. i recommend whole-heartedly or better yet, with all my soul. =)

[Jerm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Language, too much going on, not great diaglog, and then well...demons.


I thought I would like this one. I've been waiting on it, and finally got it on cd. Yay! or not. Ok, so the girl is 1) mixed race 2) dirt poor 3) no family, and 4) in hock to the devil. So I put this one in the same category as the Part Time Indian book. Too much going on. I think a book about a dirt poor girl in El Paso might fly, but add the supernatural to it and it never really leaves the ground. Disappointing, and on top of that, I don't know who I would even recommend it to.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Macinnis Gill is purely brilliant in his debut novel. From the first pages, you can't help but fall in love with Bug Smoot. She's feisty, independent, and just found out her dearly departed grandfather sold his soul to Old Scratch and used her soul as collateral. Only problem is Papa C skipped out on his part of the agreement, leaving Bug holding the bill. Soul Enchilada is packed full of wit, charm, and demon-fighting-soul-betting fun.

[Ariana Deralte · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of a teen dealing with her grandfather selling her soul to the devil to buy a car was excellent. In execution, I expected more humour and less horror and got the reverse, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing but perhaps gave you more time to focus on the book's weak points. I loved things like the lawyer, old Stan's appearances, and the glimpses of El Paso's culture, but found the language rather repetitive, and Bug's characterization could be a bit off putting.

[Michelle Rebar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is FRIGGIN GREAT! A hilarious, paranormal riot! When a Demon comes to collect the soul (and car) of a feisty girl named Bug, he gets a lot more than he bargained for. She and her friend Pesto, who is way more than he seems, take on the whole underworld to reclaim what is hers.

If you are a fan of Christopher Moore, I recommend this one!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I heard really good things about this book but I was unimpressed. I just never got into the story. It took me about 3 weeks to finish reading it and I ended up skimming the last quarter of the book.

[Monica Edinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is tremendous fun. Bug is such a feisty heroine! I love the Faustian storyline, the setting, and the fresh storyline. Extremely entertaining.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the premise of the book more than its execution, but the premise is so awesome it hardly matters.

[Barry]

Good fun...spanish flavored demon action, cocky heroine, a bit of romance. Worked for me!

[Rowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story's premise was wacky and sounded fun. The reality was way over the top, and as someone who has spent time in El Paso, didn't feel genuine. Sure, the author got the statistics and layout correct, so he clearly at least Googled the city to get info, but the character interactions and the slang used doesn't feel quite right. I also wanted to like Bug, but if felt like she was just never sitting still-I couldn't get a good bead on her feelings, attitudes, her self as a character, because we were constantly being inundated with contradictory and rapidly changing input about her.

There were some really random references, as with Castor and Pollux, and I wasn't sure if the author was trying to pull from myths and folklore about deals with the devil or what, since the word djinn kept getting thrown around, making it kind of seem like the idea was that all spirits are one type of being, then sub-classified within that 'djinn' descriptor. But then the word nephilim also got tossed in, and I never could quite figure out what the author wanted to mean with that, considering he wasn't using the classical definition.

Overall, the book felt like a poorly made magazine collage-pieces here and there just glued next to each other, but the ragged seams are still visible and it doesn't come together into a cohesive whole.

[Carol Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the title implies, this st0ry relies on Latino culture, especially Dias de la Muertos (Day of the Dead), with all of its religious overtones. It is set in southern Texas (El Paso, I think). "Bug," the main character has had a rough life. Both of her parents died and she was raised by her grandpa until he also died, leaving her an inheritance of his classic Cadillac. She has no high school diploma and is in dire straits, unable to pay the rent for her sub-standard efficiency apartment. (It seems more like an old motel room.) Grandpa had made a deal with the devil himself to get that Cadillac, and it hadn't been repaid by the time he died. Now, Bug finds the deal also included her soul and she has to go up against the devil himself. Pesto, who already works for an anti-demon group, teams up with Bug, eventually becoming more than a sidekick. When Bug was in school, she was a star of the basketball team, until she was cheated by a girl who has also, as you will find out, made a deal with a devil. The action gets a little crazy at one point. Several times te author refers to the Book of Hebrews in the Bible, and also the Book of Solomon (Song of Solomon or Song of Songs?)

[Oracle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want this book to be better. I really do. I used to love it back in middle school, but now looking at it, it really needed some work, especially in the prose department. The imagery is fine, but the major issue is that a lot of the prose and words used are very bland. A bit of a slog to get through. Bugs romance also felt really strange, and I feel that the Pesto plot and the Beals plot could've been woven together a bit more so that it doesn't feel like two books smashed together.

But then again, these were one of the few books that I picked up that inspired me to keep reading, so I guess I do have rose-colored glasses. Should I be harsher on this book? Maybe. But one factor allows this book to have a few stars: Beals. Beals is still the best part of this book, hands down. If a sequel is ever written, Beals better damn well be in it. Hell, give him a movie.

If you're a young teen, you may enjoy this book. Idk about anyone else however.

[Rebecca Vogelezang · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book but not a lot to love. A large part of this is simply due to the fact that Bug, our main character, is insufferable and pretty unlikeable throughout most of the book. And not in a morally gray, at least they're intriguing kind of way. She's just downright annoying and has such a huge chip on her shoulder that we get to hear about over and over and over. The world-building also left something to be desired. I wish it had been fleshed out just a tiiiiny bit more - it was almost like the author had clearly thought through things but then neglected to let us in on the secrets.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book. I found the plot amusing. This could have been a great book and I admit I was amused for part of it. Then, I began to get annoyed by the language. The words "dog" & "dude" were used way too much and started to irritate me. I found myself putting the book down and wanting to watch tv instead (I don't watch much tv because I prefer books instead). It was an ok book but could have been better since the plot was such a great idea.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fun book opens with Bug Smoot about to be evicted from her apartment. Her only possession is a classic 1958 Cadillac Biarritz from her deceased grandfather. To make matters worse, a demon is sitting in her car to collect her soul as collateral due to a deal her grandfather made. She has 48 hours to figure out what to do, and Pesto to help her. This fun romp has you rooting for Bug and Pesto, and laughing while you're reading.

[David G · Rating 3 out of 5]

sorta wore thin for me.

[Vivek]

Good book.

[Brady Grasmanis]

HE DIES