Six Steps to Salvation is a satirical novel by P.J. Murphy. It was first published in April 2025. This review is intended to be free of spoilers, but none of us are perfect. Consider yourself warned! A review copy was provided by the publisher. There are affiliate links at the end of this review.
Blurb
How did Trent Argent – once a celebrated entrepreneur and self-proclaimed “Community Troubleshooter” – end up here?
After his shady dealings with charities are exposed, Trent is forced to flee England in disgrace. Now broke and bitter, he’s sleeping under a Geneva bridge alongside a group of idealistic, unpaid interns. Determined to turn over a new leaf, Trent sets out to help the city’s overwhelmed nonprofits — using the only tools he knows: charm, manipulation, and a flair for bending the rules.
But when his campmates uncover the location of a hidden stash of jewels, Trent faces a choice: seize the treasure and return to his old ways, or finally take a step toward redemption?
Review
Six Steps to Salvation follows Trent Argent, once a high-flying entrepreneur, now sleeping rough under Geneva’s Pont Butin Bridge alongside a ragtag crew of idealistic interns. Determined to atone for his scandal-tainted past by lending his entrepreneurial flair to struggling nonprofits, Trent embarks on a series of well-intentioned schemes that often teeter between heartfelt and half-baked. The premise – watching a fallen mogul stumble through redemption – has genuine charm and sparkles with clever observations on the charity “business,” but it never quite soars beyond its self-aware cleverness.
Murphy’s writing is at its best in quieter moments: watching Trent struggle to grasp grassroots activism, or sharing a late-night campfire confession that reveals both vulnerability and vanity. A handful of set pieces inject brisk momentum and sly humour, and the supporting trio – Hobbs, Bong, and Amara – bring enough warmth to buoy the novel’s edges.
Yet the narrative’s ambition occasionally works against it. Midway, the book bogs down in repeated jokes about hustle culture and overly detailed backstory flashbacks that dilute its satirical bite. Trent himself, compelling in theory, sometimes feels like a vessel for one-liner commentary rather than a fully rounded protagonist. And when the novel attempts emotional payoff, it can ring a little too contrived, as if redemption must be boxed in neat narrative steps rather than lived in messy human moments.
In the end, Six Steps to Salvation is an agreeable, occasionally insightful satire that entertains more than it resonates. Readers seeking light social commentary with a dose of redemption arc will find enough here to enjoy, but those craving deeper character work or sharper narrative propulsion may feel the book falls a step short of true salvation.
Rating: 2/5
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