Sinful Life of Lucy Burns

by Elizabeth Leiknes

Lucy Burns wants a normal life: friends, love, and a family of her own. And she could have it all if only she could break free from the job she hates. That job? Facilitator to hell, and her boss is a real devil. At the age of eleven, to save her sister's life, Lucy writes a desperate letter "To Whom It May Concern," but when He writes back, Lucy is bound for life. There are perks, sure--she's ageless; she's beautiful; and she can eat as much chocolate as she wants and never get fat--but there are also consequences. She can never see her family again. She can never have a boyfriend. She must spend her life leading sinners to their demise. After nineteen years of doing the devil's dirty work, Lucy wants out, but it all seems hopeless until Teddy Nightingale, her easy listening music idol, gives her the answer: a little-known loophole. If she succeeds, Lucy gets love, happiness, and everything she's ever wanted. But the consequences? They're considerably worse than death. To make it through, Lucy must decide what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong, and if, in the end, there's ever truly a way to know.

• ISBN10: 1610880129
• ISBN13: 9781610880121
• Publish Date: 1 June 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bancroft Press
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 167
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns is the debut novel of author Elizabeth Leiknes. The idea came about when Elizabeth was pregnant and she wrote it through-out her maternity leave. The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns tells the story of Lucy Burns who is a facilitator. After 19 years of being a facilitator Lucy is sick of the life and wants out. With the help of Teddy Nightingale that could become possible…

The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns is a short novel, 167 pages, which makes it an incredibly quick read and one you can finish in one sitting. I read it in two and found it really enjoyable. Elizabeth Leiknes has created a character you love even though she condemns people to hell. To be fair they do deserve it and it is a job a lot of people would love to do – doesn’t the idea of sending bad people away forever appeal to you?

Lucy is a brilliant character and you can totally understand why she wants out of the life: she can’t fall in love, she can’t have a family and she can’t see her family. Sure there are perks to the job: staying 29 forever, eating as much chocolate as she likes without getting fat, having the perfect body but can perfection really cover up not having your family around you?

I also enjoyed Luke’s character and loved how he wasn’t the all-perfect hero of the novel. I also loved Maggie and Finn, Finn being one of my favourite child characters in a novel.

The novel is written in first-person which helps along the story brilliantly and it helps us understand exactly what it was that made Lucy have to become a facilitator – believe me, I was shocked!

The reference to Maury Povich as a facilitator was hilarious. Poor Maury! I felt we could have heard a bit more from Teddy Nightingale but I enjoyed his presence in the story.

Throughout the story you couldn’t help hoping Lucy got the chance to get out of her job as facilitator and I found it hilarious the stages she had to go through and the lengths she went to do the 3 tasks she had to complete to get out of it all. I found the 3rd task completely shocking and did not see it coming.

I loved the ending of the novel. It was written incredibly well and was so fast-paced I wanted to speed-read through the pages to see exactly what happened.

The whole novel was incredibly well-written for a debut author and was an incredibly enjoyable read. The novel also made reference to the whole good vs. evil debate: the two movies and the whole car-wash habit of Lucy’s.

The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns is definitely not your average chick-lit novel, it’s much darker and quirky. I loved the mystery of who Lucy’s boss actually was – he is referred to as “He” throughout the novel.

As Jane Green said it is a great premise for a novel and I sincerely hope Elizabeth Leiknes is writing a second novel – whether it be a sequel of sorts or not. I also hope that if there is to be a second novel from Elizabeth it carries on the whole dark/light, good/evil debate.

It makes for an interesting and brilliant story.

Rating: 5/5

I’d like to thank Elizabeth’s publishers for sending me a copy to review!