I have not read the book, but I have read "Hell is the Absence of God" in an anthology (a best of the year one, I believe) and I remember being, well, unimpressed by it. I didn't hate it, but it really did nothing for me either. Thus, this review somehow sounds to me like about what I'd expect from more of his work.

Lately, I've read a lot of things with characters that do nothing for me at all. I'm beginning to wonder if it's some sort of odd trend.