The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

Title: The Stupidest Angel

Author: Christopher Moore

Publisher: William Morrow 2005

Genre: Zombie

Pages: 320

Rating: 5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Zombie; Support Your Local Library; A to Z - M

How I Got It: Library loan

'Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.
But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn't run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.
But hold on! There's an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It's none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel's not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he's botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.

Okay, this is my kind of Christmas novel (albeit one read in February). We have murder, mayhem, homicidal Santas, angels on miracle missions, sword-wielding schizophrenics, stoners, rats, dogs, sex, and bats. I think I covered it all. And it's all topped off with Moore snarky writing. I love it! His vampire trilogy started to wear on me after while. This one definitely does not. I loved it from start to finish. The characters are incredibly fun. I especially liked the Tucker Case and his bat, Roberto. The story is fast-paced and yet filled with character development. The horror is there wrapped up in a glowing angel and talking zombies. And the writing is superb. Supposedly the characters appear in other books. Now I must go to the library and pick those up as wel..

Pine Cove

#1 Practical Demonkeeping
#2 The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove
#3 The Stupidest Angel

A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Title: A Dirty Job

Author: Christopher Moore

Publisher: William Morrow (HarperCollins) 2006

Genre: Fantasy; Humor

Pages: 384

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Support Your Local Library; Fantasy; A to Z Titles: D

Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy with a normal life, married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. They're even about to have their first child. Yes, Charlie's doing okay—until people start dropping dead around him, and everywhere he goes a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Charlie Asher, it seems, has been recruited for a new position: as Death.
It's a dirty job. But, hey! Somebody's gotta do it.

A few weeks ago I picked up Moore's vampire love story trilogy (Bloodsucking Fiends, You Suck, and Bite Me) and loved the mix of humor and paranormal. I had to check out some of his other work. So I picked this volume up at the library and finally got to it this week.

And it was definitely worth it! This novel, set in the same San Francisco universe, as the trilogy, centered on a Beta-Male, Charlie Asher, recently widowed with an infant daughter and he just found out he's death (the person, not the concept). So what's a skinny guy who runs a thrift shop to do? Freak out, of course. In his path to finding his new place in the world, we meet some other interesting characters: Charlie's androgynous sister Jane, fellow Death Merchant Minty Fresh (yes that's his name), shopworker and possibly serial killer Ray Macy, detective Rivera (crossover from the trilogy), Buddhist monk Audrey, the Emperor of San Francisco (crossover from trilogy), shopkeeper Lily (best friend of Abby Normal from the trilogy), Hellhounds Alvin and Mohammad, and a bunch of squirrel people (must read the book to figure those out). Every character as odd as Charlie, but so endearing. I loved them, quirks and all.

I don't want to give away an plot details, but I must say I loved all the twists and turns and strange occurrences. A very enjoyable read (especially while suffering from this horrible sore throat and head cold). Christopher Moore has definitely earned a place on my favorite authors list.

Bite Me by Christopher Moore

Title: Bite Me

Author: Christopher Moore

Publisher: HarperCollins 2010

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 309

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires; Local Library

The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge shaved vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency back-up mistress of the great Bay Area night, and my mangahaired love monkey, Foo Dog, stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public.
Whoa. And this is a love story? Yup. See, while some lovers were born to run, Jody and Tommy were born to bite. Well, reborn, that is, now that they're vampires. Good thing theirs is an undying love, since they're imprisoned in a bronze statue. Their Goth Girl Friday, Abby Normal, wants to be a bloodsucking fiend, too, but right now she's really busy with other stuff like Chet, who's getting bigger and smarter—and thirstier—by the minute.
Before you can say "OMG! WTF?" Tommy and Jody are sprung from captivity, and join forces with Abby and the entire crew to hunt big cat and save the city. And that's when the fun really begins.

Another fun vampire story from Moore. This time told mainly from the perspective of Abby Normal (minion to Jody and Tommy in You Suck) and involved the threat of vampire cats (yes, you read that right, vampire cats). Interesting twist to the traditional vampire stories. Vampire cats roam the streets of San Francisco eating the homeless population and generally creating a scary threat. I am no fan of cats myself and can see the general horror if the population of feral cats were turned into vampire kitties. I would be screaming my way out of town in a hurry. Even with the creep out factor, the book was hilarious. I thoroghly enjoyed the romp.

The only downside: the voice of Abby Normal got very annoying after a while. I felt like I was back to reading back student papers with all the text language and "kayso"s thrown in. It was a cute gimmick in You Suck, but after awhile I longed for an adult (or even semi adult) voice to take over. Thankfully Abby's wasn't the only voice. Moore did allow some of the other characters to narrate chapaters and sections of chapters. For this slight annoyance, I had to knock off a point. I just didn't devour this book like I did the other two. But still, a great read!

Love Story

You Suck by Christopher Moore

Title: You Suck (Love Story #2)

Author: Christopher Moore

Publisher: HarperCollins 2007

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 328

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires; Support Your Local Library; A to Z Titles: Y

Being undead sucks. Literally.
Just ask C. Thomas Flood. Waking up after a fantastic night unlike anything he's ever experienced, he discovers that his girlfriend, Jody, is a vampire. And surprise! Now he's one, too. For some couples, the whole biting-and-blood thing would have been a deal breaker. But Tommy and Jody are in love, and they vow to work through their issues.
But word has it that the vampire who initially nibbled on Jody wasn't supposed to be recruiting. Even worse, Tommy's erstwhile turkey-bowling pals are out to get him, at the urging of a blue-dyed Las Vegas call girl named (duh) Blue.
And that really sucks.

Finished the sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends in one day (adding the 30 minutes spent reading the first 50 page the other day before realizing it was a sequel and the time spent yesterday reading the rest of the book). Very enjoyable followup to a great, funny, and awkward vampire love story.

The plot and characters got more complicated with the addition of a blue hooker (yes you read that right), two Goth teens, and a homeless man and his cat. Sounds absolutely crazy, but it really does make sense with the story.

Moore is a genius when it comes to great dialogue. Funny, sincere, and yet still sarcastic all rolled into one. His Abby Normal (teen Goth) journal entries: freaking amazing! Laughed out loud at so many parts. The people at Firefly probably thought I was crazy. Oh well, that's pretty on par for me.

Worst part: a cliffhanger ending

Best part: a new book in the series was published and I got it from the library... Hopefully there's an ending to Jody and C. Thomas Flood's love story. I would hate to leave them encased in bronze (oops, spoiler alert)

Love Story

Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

Title: Bloodsucking Fiends (Love Story #1)

Author: Christopher Moore

Publisher: Simon and Schuster 1995

Genre: Vampires

Pages: 290

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Vampires; Support Your Local Library; A to Z Titles: B

Jody never asked to become a vampire. But when she wakes up under an alley Dumpster with a badly burned arm, an aching back, superhuman strength, and a distinctly Nosferatuan thirst, she realizes the decision has been made for her. Making the transition from the nine-to-five grind to an eternity of nocturnal prowlings is going to take some doing, however, and that's where C. Thomas Flood fits in. A would-be Kerouac from Incontinence, Indiana, Tommy (to his friends) is biding his time night-clerking and frozen-turkey bowling in a San Francisco Safeway. But all that changes when a beautiful undead redhead walks through the door...and proceeds to rock Tommy's life -- and afterlife -- in ways he never thought possible.

Funny story: I started reading a vampire book by Christopher Moore entitled You Suck. About 50 pages into it, I realized that it was a sequel. The characters kept referring to people and events that I should already know. Well I didn't know them because I hadn't read the book. Thankfully I had checked the first book out from the library. So 50 pages into the sequel, I put it down and picked up the first book.

After reading some pretty serious books (The Monsters of Templeton and A Girls Guide to Vampires) it was refreshing to read a light, funny vampire book. The main character, Jody, gets turned into a vampire, but is left alone to navigate this new condition. Hilarity and awkward situations abound. I imagine that it would be weird to one day wake up a vampire, not knowing what you can and can not do, what special powers you have, what kills you, etc. Of course Jody's first mission is to find a minion (because who doesn't want a minion?). Enter C. Thomas Flood, Jody's new minion and boyfriend (mortal of course). The relationship between the two seemed very real, complete with stupid arguments and plenty of awkward moments.

The plot consisted of colorful side characters, an ancient vampire playing a game of cat and mouse, and plenty of highjinks. I won't give away any spoilers, but you know there's a sorta cliffhanger at the end, because I accidentally started reading the sequel. A must read for lovers of funny vampire stories.

Now off to restart You Suck. I have high hopes for the sequel, please don't disappoint me.

Love Story

Bloodsucking Fiends
You Suck
Bite Me