I got exactly what I expected from this book: A quick, easy read with plenty of humor and an inventive story. It’s full of famous fictional mystery and horror characters, from “the Great Detective” to “the Count”, with Jack the Ripper as the main protagonist. But the fun comes from the book's POV, which is not of the famous characters themselves, but of their animal familiars. Jack’s companion Snuff makes his daily guard dog rounds, ensuring that the Things (in the mirror, in the attic, in the Circle, etc) don’t escape, spying on the other players, and developing cooperative relationships with their animal familiars. The chapters are short, the battles are fun to read, and the ending was satisfying.

 

Paperback, found in a secondhand bookstore. This was my first Zelazny, but probably won’t be my last.

 

I read this for the 2018 Halloween Bingo square Supernatural: mystery, suspense or horror books which include elements that defy current understanding of the natural world, including magic, witchcraft and/or crypto-zoological aspects.

     The vicar stood before the altar - which I noted to be draped in black - and was reading to his congregation. He squinted through his square spectacles, as the flickering light was not very good, all of it coming from a few black candles. Larry pointed out that the cross was upside down, which I'd already noticed myself. 

     "Do you know what that means?" he asked softly.

     "Religious distress signal?"

 

I'm really just getting started with this one, but I already love how this story is told from the watchdog's POV. 

 

     Made the circuits. The Thing in the Circle changed shapes, finally making itself look like a lady dog of attractive person and very friendly disposition. But I was not fooled into breaking the Circle. It didn't have the smell part down yet. 

     "Nice try," I told it. 

     "You'll get yours, mutt," it said.

 

Poor ole heartbroken Ed. Out night wandering in the small college town of Wilmington. May want to rethink the whole midnight strolling thang. You don’t want to be out after dark in this town with all the night loonies and trolls. You just may get “the works”. And you do not want that. Trust me.

Some authors have a certain ease about their writing and their stories seem to float along with little effort. Laymon is like that. Dark, creepy, atmospheric. I wasn’t sure where this one was going, but it wasn’t about the destination, it was about the journey. 4 Stars and Highly Recommended.

Book – A Night in the Lonesome October
Author – Roger Zelazny
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 280

Cover – Genius!
POV – 1st person, 1 character (Dog!)
Would I read it again – Yes.

Genre – Crime, Mystery, Comedy, Fan-Fiction, Spoof


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


A Night in the Lonesome October is a piece of literary genius. With hints of all the great heavyweights of Literature, it not only includes the characters we've loved for generations, but it offers a new twist on their tales and recreates some of the most inspiring of characters.

The mystery of who-, how- and why-dun-it was reminiscent of the great Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. With humour, skill and visually stunning illustrations, the story is a collection of evil genius and plot twisting special effects. There is always a moment of second-guessing, where I was never quite sure if I knew what I knew or if I would be right.

For the cover, I just want to say how clever it was. At first glance, I thought I knew what I was looking at – the collection of some of literature's biggest criminals, geniuses and sleuths. Then I got further into the story and had to go back to check if the other characters were there – Snuff, Rubo, Nightwind, Quicklime, Graymalk, Cheeter and Tekela.

The attention to detail was also very clear within the story itself. Hidden secrets, like the cover, were littered throughout. But the simplicitiy of a dog's mind as the main character, and the elegant old-world style of the presentation, allowed this to be one of those unwittingly brilliant masterpieces that looked unassuming from afar, but proved more than it's weight in skill up close.