Soul Fraud

Debt Collection #1

by Andrew Givler

Matthew Carver has a terrible life. Seriously - it's awful. It is so bad that Dan the Demon is shocked when Matt turns down his infernal offer: ten years of a blissful life in exchange for his soul.

But Dan is a salesman behind on his quota and his demonic managers are running out of patience. He forges Matt's signature on the dotted line, stealing his soul and thrusting him into a supernatural world he never knew existed.

Now Matt must figure out how to get his soul back and stop a war before it is too late...

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Humor, Dark Fantasy, Supernatural

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 30, 2022

About the author

Andrew is the author of the Debt Collection and Ironbound series and also a gaming YouTuber known as Sigils. He loves making people laugh, video games, and food. (Not always in that order.) He lives in LA.

To learn more about him you can go to his website: http://andrewgivler.com

Social Media
BookTube: http://youtube.com/@GivReads
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sigils
Instagram: http://instagram.com/sigils
TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@GivReads

Reviews

[Library of a Viking · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book a year ago and forgot to post a review 😅

It's fun, fast-paced and weird!

I have a full spoiler free review on my channel!

[Nathan Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

My two sons watch Givler's YouTube channel, so I bought this to pre-screen it in anticipation of them asking to read it. I write the following as a father, a professor who reads constantly, a (non-fiction) author, and a co-owner of a small, indie publishing company. I may not be the world's greatest expert, but I'm approaching this book from a variety of different angles.

First, the story is entertaining. I would have never conceived of the basic premise, but as soon as I heard what it was, I thought it was clever and catchy. I wasn't sure where it would go after that, but I enjoyed the journey along the way. In general, it's a good book and fun to read. For a debut novel, it's excellent.

Second, the book is kid-friendly without being a kid's book. Givler's YouTube channel is family-friendly and that tone continues into this medium as well—though pushes it from, say, PG to PG-13 in the transition from YouTube to SOUL FRAUD. Even so, it is something I am comfortable letting my kids read, which I thoroughly appreciate. In a culture where a G-rating means a death sentence and PG is nearly as bad, we need more examples of why it doesn't have to be R to be top-notch and sell well. Moral questions aside, vulgarity (verbal or otherwise) is frequently a poor mask for a small vocabulary and an unimaginative mind, neither of which are a millstone around Givler's neck.

[Caleb Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soul Fraud isn’t a fall down a rabbit hole. The main character was actually thrown into the hole, by a demon bad at sales. This book is a peek at just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Character is a strong point with this novel. Each character feels distinct and comes off the page in a unique way to make the story even more colorful and with added depth. The main character brings an awkward sarcasm to the story which balances out the danger around him and leaving me laughing throughout.

The plot gives the sense of organized chaos, underscoring the MC’s perspective of a whole new world underpinning our own while not taking away from the author’s control of the story. It kept me guessing at every turn without leaving me lost and confused.

The world-building is excellent, sharing an urban fantasy style that fans of the Dresden Files or Iron Druid will instantly enjoy.

My one complaint about the story is the ending. It left me wanting more from this world, and I can’t wait for the next iteration.

[Ian Kirkpatrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you think this book is about Dan the Demon and soul fraud, you'd be wrong.
You do get like 8 meal scenes, a bunch of thoughts on sleeping/waking up, and a billion pop-culture references and pointless tangents.
I'm unbelievably disappointed. :\

[Kaden Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty fun with humor that lands so well. This has the same addicting chemical as DCC and I am continuing immediately.

[Preacher Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review incoming. Book was a blast.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not familiar with this author, but he posted a self promo in the Facebook group Fans Of Urban Fantasy and l gave him a try.

An interesting dynamic, Matt Carver was feeling sorry for himself, so he went alone to the movies on his birthday with a bottle of tequila. He soon has a demon seated next to him offering "the deal of a lifetime". Somehow, despite his self pity Matt turns down the deal.

The demon, frustrated with his inability to seal the deal forges Matt's signature on the contract.

Now Matt finds himself with impending Hell in 10 years and in a deal he never agreed to. Demons, demigods, dragons and other supernatural beings Matt never knew existed are now part of his life, and he has no clue if there's any way out of it.

A fun book, and I will at the very least be trying the next book.

[Ronie Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know about that ending. Yet everything leading up to that boss fight. Was...pretty...cool

[Aaron M. Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

RTC 🦾

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was provided for review by The Write Reads as part of the BBNYA. Thank you!

Matthew Carver is having the worst possible birthday ever. Sitting alone in a movie theater, he is approached by a demon named Dan. Dan has an offer he believes Matt can’t possibly refuse. The perfect life, the girl of his dreams, everything he has ever wanted for a full ten years. The cost? Only his soul.

When Matt refuses, Dan is shocked. But a demon is a demon, and Dan forges Matt’s signature. Now that perfect life Dan promised is very real, much to Matt’s chagrin. He’s going to have to avoid numerous denizens of the supernatural world, along with his dream girl -who just happens to be his best friend’s fiance – if he’s to have a chance in Hell of getting his soul back.

Soul Fraud by Andrew Givler is the first novel of the Debt Collection series. It follows Matt Carver, a down on his luck 20-something, who is trying to get his soul back after it was fraudulently taken away. Along the way he meets a variety of supernatural characters, some more human (or at least human appearing) than others.

Soul Fraud gives what I feel to be a unique twist on the “sell one’s soul to the Devil” trope. Generally, the one who sells their soul has buyer’s remorse and spends the rest of the book/movie/series trying to get their soul back. Matt did not want to sell his soul, his was taken away and he wants to get it back.

The variety of characters in Soul Fraud are a varied lot. This is especially true of the supernatural characters. The author does not stick to one religion/belief system/mythology. There is a wide variety referenced – from Christianity to Judaism to Greek Mythology and more. I certainly had an entertaining time trying to see if I could figure out who new characters were before they were named. And I am pleased to say I got one right.

The overall writing for Soul Fraud was well done and nicely coherent. For every action scene there were moment of introspection. Moments where Matt had to wonder if all this trouble was worth the end result.

All while I was reading Soul Fraud I found myself thinking how good of a series this would make. As I had not looked very much into the book, I didn’t realize it was the first of a series. So one can imagine my surprise and delight when I learned that it was one and there were already several more books available.

As someone who enjoyed reading supernatural styled series like The Dresden Files, Time Marked Warlock, and Iron Druid, I greatly enjoyed reading Soul Fraud. I can easily recommend this one to my readers. Once again, many thanks to The Write Reads for the book and the opportunity to read and review it!

[Thomas Tackett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was overall a fairly enjoyable book. The plot was very intriguing and new, at least for me, and the humor was my kind of humor. However, it was also noticeable that this was Givler’s first book (not saying I could do better; just stating a fact). The plot got a little slow, in that the continual escalation was a bit overbearing. I also thought Matt had a little too thick of plot armor. In every situation, he seemed too calm or to get over things too quickly. It kept saying he was scared, but I couldn’t feel it because the next second would be super lighthearted. In other words, the tensions and releases were too quick and too frequent.

That said, he does know how to leave a compelling cliffhanger; while the escalation was tiring, it did make me want to read Dandelion Audit, so I’m sure I’ll be back for more Soul Fraud

[GirlLovesto Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soul Fraud by Andrew Givler was a finalist in BBNYA 2025 (the Book Bloggers Novel of the Year Award) and it absolutely deserves to be. If anything Think it could have finished even higher in the contest.

Givler really hits the perfect mix of heart, humour and action and Matt makes for a fantastic mess of a protagonist. The prose is really sharp and the world building is excellent. This is not a book I'm going to be giving much negative feedback on lol. And I have to give a nod to the author's sense of humour too. I find that so often indie books take themselves too seriously and end up being a little dull as a result, but that is not the case here. This one will both grip you and make you chuckle.

Easy 5 stars

[Lucas B Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the originality in the book and how the story unfolds with a revelation and cliffhangers in each chapter. Really hard to put down till it was finished!

[Poda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am DNF-ing this book at 130 pages.

I wanted to love this book, my brother bought it for me hoping I would love it. Unfortunately that didn't happen.

This book has so much potential. There were some aspects I really like. But I couldn't get over my frustration with the Writing and the Main character. The more I read the more I hated the main character and got sick of him.

Lets start with the major issue for me which is the inclusion of some problematic language. Multiple times throughout the book there are displays of male friendship. However these get promptly followed by comments about them being within bro code or being man-to-man things that obviously only men would do, such as profane hand gestures at each other as a joke (only men will understand). There are also multiple times where the main character brings up his height in comparison to other people. He says other characters must be very tall because they are taller than him and he's 6ft like it's a badge of honour. It just felt very toxic. It's perpetuating this idea of intimacy between men is wrong, and that men need to be a certain height to have value. I don't think the comments are malicious but they are there, and they are unnecessary and they made me sigh in frustration and roll my eyes every time. 2 guys hug because one of them has just lost his sister and it has to be clarified as a "Bro-hug". Why? A friend looking out for his friend does not need to be clarified, I didn't think it was anything more than a friend comforting his distressed friend. A sign of a good friendship. what is the worry that it needs to be clarified?

The most problematic thing that I read is when the author uses a metaphor comparing clearing smashed glass away to removing mines from Western Germany After world war 2. Which was unnecessary, strange and not similar in any way at all. But to top it off he calls the acts, and says that clearing away dangerous weapons from a war zone that could kill someone as a "waste of time". At that point it was just a ticking clock when I called this book over. That metaphor is insensitive and uncalled for.

Now the main character, Matt. He's a dick. He imagines his friend dying so he can then get with his Fiancé. He imagines his best friend dying in detail at night so he can have his partner because he can't have her. em...excuse me? A best friend he calls brother. I can't. Then he asks us not to judge him, he's just sad. Em... I'm gonna judge you mate. And you can't put this down to teenage angst cause the character is 21. And even if he was a teenager imagining your best friend dying so you can bone his future wife just makes you an awful human being.
He also says at one point that seeing his friends enjoying a meal he couldn't enjoy made him want to kill them. Now this could be his dry humour (which isn't very humourous) but to me it didn't come across like that. At this point I wondered if he actually liked his friends and family at all?

I really wish this book was good. The premise sounded amazing and there are parts of the book where you could see it could have been amazing and then the main character is a twat, with some internalised toxic masculinity and just generally being an awful friend.

[Santiago Martinez Vara · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 52% - The dialogue and inner thoughts sound cardboardy. There's 2 paragraph recaps every couple of pages of 'how crazy everything is'. Overuses similes and then explains them so you know how 'smart' they are. Some interesting concepts but a lot of other books that explore them better/more deeply.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 1 out of 5]

There HAVE to be better fantasy books than this. Not only does it have a childish protagonist without interesting characteristics (silly me, I thought it might be more like Buffy), it was it episodic, mostly filler. Worse still. but it turns out not to have an ending, save “See volume 2.” A bit Dickensian. And not “Tale of Two Cities” Dickens either.

Light (excuse me, Lite®️) beer has to disclose its calorie content right there on the can, so you know before opening it has no taste (not, you understand that it’s tasteless; I might have liked it better were it tasteless). Why isn’t there a similar rule for fiction, on the order of: “Danger Will Robinson; Quicksand!”?

The only idea I liked was that there are two types of people in the world: people who need 20 minutes of silence after they wake up, and (the main character’s “mortal enemy”), morning people. Yet even that was wrong. Everyone knows there’s three types of people in the world: those who can do math, and those who can’t.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars. This book had a good start, but the wonky prose, outrageous similes/metaphors, and slight deus machina were too much to excuse. There were also inconsistencies in the character's backstories. Did I mention the outrageous similes? One memorable one was something like "They were dusky, like college students coming back from spring break." Ummm, what does that mean? And the prose was weak and strained. I felt like I was reading a book on an 8th grade reading level. Overall, the books plot is awesome, but the execution was not good.

[Kyrilson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was hoping to like this, it had a lot going for it, supernatural characters, Hell and Heaven elements, etc. but unfortunately there’s a lot I didn’t like here. Moronic protagonist that can’t connect obvious clues together, flippant comments that tried a little too hard to be humorous, Early 20’s guy that doesn’t appear to have progressed past 12 when it comes to the opposite sex.

[Suraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve ever had a bad day at the office, just remember that it could be worse: you could accidentally have your soul sold by a literal demon named Dan.

I just inhaled Soul Fraud in a single sitting, and honestly, it was the most "refreshing" existential crisis I’ve had all year. The premise is delightfully simple but execution-wise? Pure chaos. While I usually stick to a different lane of fiction, this was the pivot I didn't know I needed.

Our protagonist is currently navigating the ultimate "New Year, New Me" vibe—mostly because "Old Him" was technically defrauded out of his very essence by a supernatural con artist. The first book does a brilliant job of dealing with the immediate aftermath of Dan’s "soul bomb" going off. Watching the main character try to maintain his sanity while the literal fabric of his reality unravels is both tragic and incredibly entertaining.The characters are surprisingly well-fleshed out (which is ironic, considering the whole "missing soul" thing) and very easy to root for. There is so much potential here for wide-reaching ramifications in the sequels, and I am 100% buckled in to see where this spiraling turmoil leads.

I’m giving this a 4-star rating for its genuinely fresh take on supernatural contracts and for making me feel slightly better about my own life choices. If you’re looking for a fast-paced romp through a bureaucratic nightmare involving demons and destiny, pick this up. I’m officially ready for the next one—mostly to make sure Dan doesn't try to sell my data next.

[Oscar Zayas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 5 stars. This book was very good and interesting. It kept you wondering at every turn, had shocking surprises, and was overall a very enjoyable read. Here are 3 things I liked about the book. I liked how there were not too many characters. There were a handful of characters and they were all enjoyable. With there not being many characters, the story was easy to follow. Even when there was chaos, there was still a clear story to follow. The second thing I liked in this book was the story. The author has confirmed that the story was based off an interaction that he had. A coworker had forged their signatures and took thousands from them. It's cool how the author was able to put this real life story and twist it to fit an urban fantasy novel. The amount of detail you get while reading is insane. You can imagine yourself in Matt’s shoes and it feels awesome. The last thing I liked about this book is the main character. Matt is really trying his best. But with life kicking him down, it seems hopeless. Even with Dan the Demon offering him 10 years of bliss, he says no. He might not like the majority of his life, but he has people who make him happy and vice versa. Overall it’s really cool when we see him grow in this book. In conclusion, this book is awesome. I would recommend it to anyone who like the supernatural and an awesome adventure.

[Reid Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up! Looking forward to the next one. This one ended a bit abruptly for me without as much resolution as I’d like BUT the world Givler has setup is very fun.

Very fast read, lots of humor, lots of heart.

[JoesFantasyBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read or listened to a lot of urban fantasy over the years and I found Soul Fraud to be an excellent entry in this fantasy sub-genre. Interesting characters, story, and tons of action. Excited to continue the series!

[Adam Opie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over all the book was well written and sucked me in and made me want to keep reading.
The author did a great job because he made it easy to follow the story and visualize in your head
I am excited to read the next book Dandelion Audit

[Aneta · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5

[Benji Fenwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites though some parts of the story can be a bit iffy it’s the first book of the series and improvement must come eventually and I can honestly say it did I’ve read Dandelion Audit through an ARC giveaway and it took a big step up but it wouldn’t have gotten there without this wonderful foundation Soul Fraud is in my top four only second to Dandelion Audit.

[Aki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m working on my second read through of this book, and I just love it. The human characters are relatable, and even the non-human or part-human characters find ways to to wiggle in to your heart.

This story is a really fun exploration into the idea of “what if myths were real.” Normal people live alongside of demigods and supernatural creatures without even realizing it, until reality smacks them in the face. It’s fun, engaging, well-paced, and thought provoking.

It feels like it is written for adults, but I would let a kid read it too. The difficult content is handled in a nuanced way that makes it very readable for a young teen or older child. I would say that the story is too complex for a young child.

I first read this book digitally, and I am now listening through the audio book. I am somewhat picky when it comes to narrators, and this narrator is really quite good. His voice and accent suit the main character very well, and he does an excellent job of creating distinguishable voices for all the side characters.

You’re in for such a treat! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have.

[A Voracious Reader (a.k.a. Carol) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
Book source ~ BBNYA

Matthew Carver has had some awful things happen and he’s wallowing in self-pity. So much so that a demon named Dan (really? Dan?) mosies up to him and makes him a deal - 10 years of the best life he can imagine in exchange for his soul. But while Matt is miserable, he’s not stupid. So he says no. This is where things go south. Literally. Like far far South, i.e. Hell. Dan forges Matt’s signature on the paperwork and high tails it out of there before Matt realizes wtf just happened. Oh, no, he did not! Now Matt is on a mission to reclaim his soul. And maybe beat the piss out of Dan while he’s at it.

The author grabbed me by the shirt collar and pulled me straight the fuck into the story. My attention was all in like I had the winning hand at a high stakes poker game. I just had to know how regular guy Matt was going to find a demon and get his soul back. I mean, you can’t just pull up the BBB and file a complaint, right? Leave a bad review on Google? How and where in the world do you even start?!

This is a fast-paced well-written tale with great characters, and an intriguing problem. I can’t wait to read book 2.

[Nathan Seals · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewing after I have finished book 3: I was really compelled by Givler’s ability to write convincing conversation between characters and also the way Matt narrates is a very natural conversational tone that really draws you in and it doesn’t let up. Matt develops very real feeling relationships with banter that I’m not accustomed to in a book. It’s no doubt that the author’s age being close to mine has a big influence on this for me personally but Givler has truly mastered the formula for me. Every character is believable and while not every character is dynamic, not everyone learns lessons in real life either. The world building is protracted at times but I like how things tie into the real world in a way that makes the consequences feel more real. I’m a Givler stan now. Can’t wait to see what else they do. Only gave 4 stars because book 3 is so great by comparison to 1 and 2.

[Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read

I absolutely loved this book! It flows beautifully, start to finish. It's very well written and full of excitement and laughs. I'm looking forward to reading the next one. Well done Andrew Givler.

[Mickey Kowbel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Recommended to me by my 11y/o brother, who is a fan of the YouTuber. The book has a good plot, but was very wordy. I personally feel it lacked a flow to the story. I usually read a book this size in 2 days, but it took me a week to finish this one. The writing isn’t my style.