Maybe a year ago I read the Comedy Horror novel, John Dies At The End. If you haven’t read it, I can tell you some of the things you can expect when you do (and you should):
– Hamburgers that scream when you eat them
– Angels who fly with farting cockroach jets
– The full character arc of a band of spunky teens skipped over in two sentences.
John Dies At The End is the sort of book you read when you need something to amuse you and blow you away at the same time.
I’ll get it out of the way, I wouldn’t call David Wong (actually Jason Pargin) the strongest author in the world on straight mechanics, but he knows his world, he knows his funny, and he puts it all together in a way that puts other writers to shame.
In this sequel, This Book Is Full Of Spiders, the principle characters all return, David Wong, John, and his lady friend. We are thrust back into their world of insanity in the crapsack town of [Undisclosed], and then the book doesn’t put you down until it has used you like cheap box of tissues.
This, the sequel nature of the book, made me jealous. The way Wong pecks at elements from the previous book, just enough that new readers won’t miss a beat, makes the book a pleasing read for new and old readers of his work. Don’t know who the good Doctor is talking about when he notes a story about a kid going missing? Who cares, the point is that it happened.
The wit is sharp, and the characters are fun. If you need a laugh and to be creeped half to death, then I don’t really know what better choice you have. Either way, it was well worth the read.
The Little Tower 