Fun, inventive and borderline-grotesque, “Damned” takes the reader on a journey through hell quite unlike most literary interpretations. Prepare to encounter a sea of insects and mountains of dandruff as 13-year-old Madison Spencer navigates her way through the underworld in search of Satan. In true Palahniuk fashion, nothing is quite what it seems...

If you’re like me you’ve been a Chuck Palahniuk fan for years. You own all his books and maybe even ventured to a stop on one of his book tours.

If you’re like me, you probably didn’t get “Pygmy.” You may have tried to read “Tell All” but found you just couldn’t get into it.

You may be wondering what happened to the Chuck you knew and loved, the Chuck who made you try to wrap your brain around what a model might look like with half her face blown off or the concept of a landfill containing discarded pornography. Or even the Chuck who forced your brain to conceptualize a 600-person gangbang.

Fear not -- dare I say it? -- Old Chuck is back.

“Damned” is a welcome change of scenery, literally taking place in hell. Palahniuk’s imagination creates a landscape filled with things cast away on Earth: mountains of finger and toe nail clippings, a sea of insects, plains full of broken glass and old razor blades. Discarded candy litters the underworld.

The story follows intelligent and plump 13-year-old Madison Spencer, daughter of a famous movie star. When she finds herself in hell, she’s convinced she died of a marijuana overdose. We tag along on her quest to find Satan with her team of misfits -- a beaten-over-the-head take on The Breakfast Club.

Despite our main character and first-person narrator being a 13-year-old girl, her voice is all Chuck. The references to the various celebrities and public figures Madison comes across in hell or the various acts that humans do to damn themselves to hell (which, according to the book, is quite easy to do) are interesting and entertaining.

According to the book, nearly 100 percent of journalists and redheads end up in hell. Um, help?

You get some of Chuck’s trademark repetition: each chapter begins with the up-front Judy Blume ripoff “Are you there, Satan? It’s me, Madison” and she also repeatedly assures us that even though she’s 13, she knows the meaning of the high caliber vocabulary she uses.

But, really, I’m not here to talk to you about the plot or the structure of the book -- you’ll find plenty of reviews and summaries that will give you that. I’m here to tell you, other fans like me who have perhaps been a little disappointed with an author once held dear, that this book is worth reading and is, in fact, pretty good.

So if you’ve thought about giving up on Chuck, don’t. “Damned” isn’t ground-breaking, but it’s a good, solid read and hopefully a sign that the “Fight Club” author’s gotten his groove back.

"Damned" hits bookstores nationwide Tuesday.