"A masterpiece."
Christie Schuler Smith, The Valdosta Voice

"McDaniel shows real storytelling talent and a penchant for irreverent humor."
Debbie Lee Wesselmann, author of
Trutor & the Balloonist and The Earth and the Sky

"A little gem....I personally found myself laughing out loud far more than is strictly healthy."
Booklore, The Site for Book Lovers

"Wonderful characters and clever situations, laced with a hilarious and occasionally sick and twisted sense of humor....It's funny, exciting, poignant, even scary, with some big surprises and nice twists...."
Brian Cartigan, Bookmuse.com

"There have been many works that play with the ideas of a literal instantiation of Death, guardian angels, and a less-than-perfect heaven.  Some have been good, some not so good, and some just plain bad. This one belongs in the good box....Great fun."
Patrick Shepherd, Amazon Top 500 reviewer

HOW TO SUCCEED IN HEAVEN WITHOUT REALLY DYING is not a self-help book, but a darkly satirical, modern-day urban fairy tale concerning the adventures of a young man coming to terms with life, death, and all their crummy consequences.  It's also the underground novel that prompted a letter of complaint from a member of the Church of Scientology, even though the author wrote enough to offend just about everybody.

When Micah Cohen was five years old, he lost his parents to a horrible accident. He was convinced he would have died himself, had it not been for his guardian angel -- in the form of a little girl he never saw again.

Now, over twenty years later, Micah is living in the frenzy of Manhattan. With Christmas right around the corner and no one to share it with -- add a thankless job, no close family or friends, Micah believes that his life has become too hard, his existence too inconsequential. Sadly, he decides to end it all...but the attempt fails ridiculously.

That's just when Coltan pops up in the middle of Micah's living room. Possessing supernatural powers and a sadistic sense of humor, this bumbling "agent for the afterlife" has come to collect Micah's soul. But there are two slight problems: Micah is still alive, and now has second thoughts about committing suicide. Reluctantly, Coltan must admit defeat.

Rejuvenated by his new lease on life, Micah's determined to set things right. One good thing comes in the form of Christine, a young homeless woman he befriends. But soon Micah learns that she is more than she appears to be: his childhood guardian angel, now grown up. (Naturally, they can't help but risk upsetting the cosmic order of the universe by falling in love.)

Yet this happiness may be fleeting. Just as Micah realizes how wonderful his life has become, Coltan reappears to inform him that his days are now numbered -- for Death Itself is hunting Micah down. And so Christine, ever the dutiful protector, must prepare to do battle over Micah's soul.

Can she save him? What does Death have in store? And who -- or what -- is Coltan? Is he really working for Death as he claims, or a force far, far more terrifying?

The story was first developed as a screenplay titled HEAVEN SPENT, which received some attention in Hollywood in late 2000 thanks to a favorable review from the staff of entertainment website Aint It Cool News, citing it as one of the best "undiscovered" scripts of the year.

Not satisfied in letting his story sit on a shelf because producers deemed the project too offbeat, dark and expensive for a feature film, author Adam McDaniel reworked and rethought the material into a full-length novel.

Following is an email I received from one Micah Cohen, who shares the same name as the lead character of my book. (And yes, this was a geniune email.)

Man, why'd you name the protagonist in your book "Micah Cohen"? You know, now whenever I Google myself, which I don't do often but which other people might do on occasion (hot chicks "google," right?), I come up with your book and it smacks of some born-again propaganda and I don't want to be associated with that. Can you please change the name of the protagonist to something else? You're making me look bad, man.

Thanks!

The Real Micah Cohen
royalfortune@yahoo.com

My response:

Dear Micah,

I must sincerely apologize for the horrible, grievous torment that you must have endured as a result of this unfortunate coincidence.

Alas, it is rather difficult for me to change the character's name within the book, as it has already been in print for the better part of 2 years. And, unlike those companies which produce tainted bottles of aspirin and faulty baby carriers, issuing a worldwide recall of the book is not within my budget at this time. Should I win the lottery and have money to burn, well... I'll think about it as I toss my Franklins into the fire.

With all due respect, I must point out to you that, according to the Yahoo and Google search engines, the name "Micah Cohen" has not placed among the top 1,000 searchable names within their celebrity indexes. It is very likely to assume, then, that the most frequent persons who have performed searches of said name as of late are you and me. (Strike that, actually; I don't think I've EVER searched.)

With these, I hardly doubt the many theoretical/potential/assumed "chicks" in question, of whom you so thoughtfully speak, will be swayed away from your charms in relation to a fictitious character. If anything, perhaps you might use such fame to your advantage. After all, I share the same name with a convicted child molester, and believe me, it's done wonders for my social life.

Kindest regards,

Adam McDaniel

P.S.: Regarding your "born-again propaganda" comment, fear not -- if anything, HOW TO SUCCEED IN HEAVEN WITHOUT REALLY DYING is blatantly offensive to our most popular religions, even sparking a letter of protest from a member of the Church of Scientology! I'm sure this knowledge will give you much peace of mind.

Rest well.