I acquired a assessment copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my assessment and all opinions are my very own.

Colin Will get Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark Waddell

Mogsy’s Ranking: 3 of 5 stars

Style: Horror

Collection: Stand Alone

Writer: Ace (October 7, 2025)

Size: 384 pages

Writer Info: Web site

Generally a ebook’s title alone is sufficient to make me cease and take discover, and that’s precisely what occurred with Colin Will get Promoted and Dooms the World by Mark Waddell. From the beginning, I knew I used to be going to be in for one thing offbeat—perhaps one thing bizarre, humorous, and hopefully even a little bit good. However ultimately, what I bought wasn’t fairly as balanced. Whereas the story idea was actually intelligent, and right here and there have been flashes of leisure and potential, total the execution was messy and didn’t all the time ship on the promise of its distinctive premise.

The novel’s titular protagonist is Colin, who’s about as common as they arrive. When the story opens, he’s a low-level worker trudging by an unrewarding job that appears to thrive on employee distress and monotony. Even worse, his supervisor is a vindictive creep who has clearly bought it out for him, and after one too many unfavourable efficiency studies, Colin finds himself on the point of termination. Besides his firm, Darkish Enterprises, isn’t like different corporations. Right here, being terminated is literal. Darkish Enterprises offers in shady, otherworldly companies for highly effective purchasers, and failure usually comes with lethal penalties. Annoyed by the supernatural paperwork and dealing with doable execution, Colin does what any determined workplace drone would possibly do in his place: he makes a Faustian cut price with an eldritch being.

Not surprisingly, it’s a deal that comes at a steep value. In change for a promotion, Colin unknowingly units in movement forces which are far past his understanding or management. In a single day, he’s catapulted right into a place with much more authority than he’s ready for and thrust into the higher echelons of Darkish Enterprises the place the true horrors of what the corporate does start to return to gentle. The entity he has unleashed is insatiably hungry, and it calls for human souls—starting in Colin’s dwelling of New York Metropolis. Whereas Colin is relieved to be alive and thrilled by his new energy and the prospect of a burgeoning relationship with somebody he genuinely likes, the creeping realization that he’s instantly chargeable for numerous disappearances casts a shadow over his happiness. The upper he climbs up the company ladder, the nearer the world edges in the direction of full-blown apocalypse.

So, the early chapters are genuinely humorous, with intelligent satire woven into the absurdity of Colin’s scenario, the place failing at work can fairly actually get you killed. Waddell has a transparent knack for macabre comedy as this premise is performed for each laughs and pressure. The introduction to Darkish Enterprises and its inner politics are the ebook’s undisputed excessive factors, filled with ingenious worldbuilding and sharp, witty commentary poking enjoyable at company tradition and cranking it as much as grotesque extremes.

The place the ebook begins to falter, nevertheless, is in its characters. Colin himself is fairly entertaining—meek, self-loathing, and infrequently sociopathic in methods make for some eyebrow-raising moments. However he’s additionally tremendous off-putting for all these causes. The remainder of the solid fares even worse, along with his roommate Amira and his love curiosity Eric primarily coming throughout as cookie-cutter characters. Their assist of Colin usually feels arbitrary, exacerbating his unlikability, and their total flatness merely makes it onerous to spend money on the stakes surrounding the approaching apocalypse.

The result’s a narrative that, regardless of its killer premise, usually feels predictable, with a lot of the stress undercut by its one-dimensional options. As I discussed earlier, my favourite elements of the novel have been the demonic and paranormal components of Darkish Enterprises itself. The corporate’s diabolical machinations, its morally doubtful employees, and the terrifying entity that wishes to devour the world are what initially drew me in, making me marvel what else is subsequent. However because the plot stretched on, the novelty started to fade. At this level, even the world-building couldn’t overcome the characters’ grating personalities or the more and more predictable developments.

That stated, for all its hiccups there are nonetheless some highlights to take pleasure in, and because of this, Colin Will get Promoted and Dooms the World lands squarely within the center for me. It’s humorous, intelligent, and boasts moments of imaginative horror, with the caveat that they battle to maintain the power for the entire novel. For readers who take pleasure in satirical horror, weird company eventualities, and a pacy if uneven romp, it’s price a glance. I simply wasn’t fully happy.