I've read other books by this author and enjoy his sharp witted dialogue and quirky characters. In this novel, the hero, a Beta-Male named Charles Asher, is given the job of Death Merchant, responsible for collecting the souls of the recently departed. The absurd and zany adventures was a great escape for a few nights of reading. There's a sub-text of how we deal with the loss of loved ones and our fear of death.
Quotes:
"[Talking about his Mom dying with his sister] You're doing the same thing, trying to reconcile all the moms that Mom ever was - the one you wanted, the one she was when you needed her and she was there, the one she was when she didn't understand. Most of us don't live our lives with one, integrated self that meets the world, we're a whole bunch of selves. When someone dies, they all integrate into the soul - the essence of who we are, beyond the different face we wear throughout our lives."
"I've seen it again and again, said Charlie, more with men than women...a wife or husband dies, and it's like the survivor is roped to him like a mountain climber who's fallen into a crevasse. If the survivor can't let go--cut them loose, I guess--the dead will drag them right into the grave."
Published: 2006 Read: December 2022 Genre: Fiction
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