Between Two Fires by Christopher Beuhlman

Someone talked about Between Two Fires on Books Unbound and I got the audiobook, which is narrated by Steve West. 

Hm. Let's talk about this book and work out my feelings on the fly, shall we?

It's 1348. Lucifer and other fallen angels (?) have declared war on Heaven by starting the Black Death on Earth? There are going to be a lot of question marks in this recap. Thomas is an excommunicated knight who stumbles upon a priest and a girl named Delphine who can see angels, dream in premonitions, and whose body is occasionally overtaken by God(?). 

Sometimes I read a book and it makes me think that maybe I'm not a good reader. Maybe I don't truly understand things. This was one of those books. 

Look, this is a genre mashup. I guess I was under the impression it was historical fiction, but it really turned out to be a supernatural/horror/historical fiction combo. I was utterly befuddled by the fallen angel framing because it was whiplash to go from those scenes to ones with Thomas and Delphine trying to find something to eat and stumbling upon dead bodies in barns. 

At about two-thirds of the way through, I literally gave up trying to figure out what was going on and just rolled with it. Oh, there's a demon inhabiting the pope? Sure. There's a demon in the clouds? Fine. Delphine is really Jesus? FINE, IT IS SO. 

I mean. Whatever. Creepy book. Lots of straw hats. 2.5/5 stars

Lines of note:

Hucksters of every stripe had tried to profit from the disease, especially in the early days, before they too sickened or grew afraid. (Chapter 18)

I immediately thought of the people hoarding toilet paper at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. 

Thing I looked up:

...Nearly 200 girls in Picardy to be deflowered by the troubadour [there's a name here, but I am not great with French] who was keeping count, if not naming names, in his verses (Chapter 29)

I can't figure out who this is. If I had a paper copy, I could look at the name. Alas, I have only the audio. 

Hat mentions (why hats?): 

straw hat(s) (Chapter 1 x2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 11, Chapter 14, Chapter 16, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 43)

fanning himself with his hat (Chapter 3)

his hat blew off him (Chapter 5)

refined hat (Chapter 9)

hat in his hands (Chapter 9, Chapter 10)

sweating in a hat made from no less than three foxes (Chapter 11)

grumbled from his hat (Chapter 16)

peeked from under the hat (Chapter 16)

replaced the hat (Chapter 16)

took the spoon of ram's horn from his hat (Chapter 20)

mermaid's ribs for a hat (Chapter 22)

wide red hats (Chapter 30)

take his hat (Chapter 30)

not until the hat's off (Chapter 30)

cardinal's hat (Chapter 36)

get your hat (Chapter 37)

cows and mantles and hats of many colors (Chapter 38)

yellow hats (Chapter 38)

removed the hats (Chapter 38)

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Does this sound like something you'd want to read? I'm pretty sure I'm not the audience for this one!