Monsterby A. Lee Martinez
Synopsis: Judy works the night shift at the local Food Plus Mart. Not the most glamorous life, but Judy is happy. No one bothers her and if she has to spell things out for the night-manager every now and again, so be it. But when Judy finds a Yeti in the freezer aisle eating all the Rocky Road, her life collides with Monster's in a rather alarming fashion. Monster runs a pest control agency, but he doesn't catch raccoons; he catches the things that go bump in the night. Things like ogres, trolls, and dragons.
This was the first book of Martinez's that I've read and I was quite pleased with it. His sense of humor and style would probably easily compare to Douglas Adams I think. It's very inventive, fun and just silly at times, but the pace is quick and the characters are intriguing.
He paints a world where magic abounds, but most people still aren't able to see it. There are a lot of mythological monsters of fantasy, from dragons to yeti, mixed into an otherwise normal world and it makes for some funny and entertaining situations, leading to a decent (if not a bit predictable) climax.
My only real complaint is that the book doesn't do much in the way of character development and the 2 main characters are especially shallow and sort of hard to like. The lead character, Monster, is more of an anti-hero than hero and it's almost overdone a bit how little he cares.
Overall though it's a pretty quick, fun, light read if you enjoy the sort of thing Christopher Moore or Douglas Adams writes. It's creative, humorous and quite entertaining. I'll look for more books by Mr. Martinez. Who knew yetis liked ice cream so much?
7.5/10
