I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan
The end of the world is nigh. Lucifer has been offered an extraordinary proposition: If he can live as a mortal for a month without sin, God will allow him to enter the kingdom of heaven rather than banishing him for eternity. Lucifer, thinking "Why the hell not?!", enters the body of a washed up writer, Declan Gunn, and, in the process, shares his own story about God, creation, and various events described in the bible. He never has any intention of seeking redemption, but, in the process of living as man, gains some new insights into the ways in which temptation, evil, and good function in social relationships.
I'm on the fence with this novel. On the one hand, I enjoyed the angle of telling biblical events from another point of view. (It turns out, for example, that Lucifer was trying to thwart rather than facilitate the crucifixion because he knew the implications of the event for God's plan. Lucifer's insight into Pontius Pilate's struggles and the power of the mob are quite keen.) On the other hand, Lucifer, when placed in human form, turns out to remind me of a drunken, rude bloke at the pub who doesn't know when to go home. I'm not a big fan of exploring the concept of evil as if it has its roots in the carnal. I'd rather consider it as something deliberate; something motivated by choice and reason. I'm agnostic, but I guess I've always imagined that, if something like Lucifer were to exist in human form, he would be charismatic, patient, and subtle in his ways.