Lucifer, a benevolent devil if ever there was one, wishes to save an increasingly despoiled Earth. But how will he deal with the planet's most rapacious vermin-namely human(un)kind-who are beginning to encroach upon the sacred precincts of Hell? Lucifer assigns his son Loki, the quintessential trickster, to a top secret mission: to live among the Americans, observe their ways, infiltrate their culture, and get to know them more thoroughly than any devil ever has. Loki immediately incarnates as bon vivant secret MI-5 agent Roger O. Thornhill and is quickly plunged into a series of concentric mysteries and vivid tales. Thornhill, who is gifted with telekinetic powers, a gargantuan ego to accompany a perfectly sculpted body, and an eccentric vocabulary, makes the fatal mistake of falling in love with a mortal woman, Special Agent Margaret Dribble. As he tries to gain an understanding of human ways, Thornhill makes desperate visits to both the past and the future where he encounters heroes, wizards, demons, and ancient gods-each with his or her own tale to tell. Puzzles galore and arcane lore ensue as Thornhill tries to reconcile the love of the seductive Margaret with loyalty to his long-suffering father, Lucifer. 'Brilliantly witty " Apollonius of Tyana 'I never laughed so hard in my life " Asklepios of Epidaurus 'Literally diabolical " Fred of Tuscaloosa