Review: Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish

Death, the Devil, and the Goldfish by Andrew Buckley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy/Humorous
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Those who enjoy their humor silly

My Thoughts: After my complaints about the bad editing in the last Curiosity Quills book I read, I was absolutely delighted to find this one very well edited; I only noticed three editing mistakes in the whole book! Nicely done.

This book was an absolute hoot, just hilarious. It reminded me in some ways of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett, although maybe not quite as silly. For example: “Part of Hell's policy clearly stated that everyone had to stand in line for at least five years before entering.” Then there is the start to Death's little adventure, which went a little something like this:

“Death had stopped for a quick drink. The Irish made good beer, and Ireland was on the way to Greece, which happened to be his next stop. A quick drink turned into a couple of quick drinks, and then a couple of slower drinks, and continued to escalate until two hours later when Death found himself outside that same pub screaming mindless obscenities at the lamppost.”

This quote made me laugh, too:

“Religious fanatics around the world, believing that the Second Coming was upon them, went wild. Many of them formed study groups, other danced in the street, ministers began scheduling church meetings, and somebody woke up the Pope.”

One more and then I promise to stop:

“God was always in the mood for a practical joke; Death fondly remembered when He had created the platypus: half duck, half beaver, laid eggs. God thought that was hilarious.”

At any rate, this was an excellent and very fun story and I highly recommend it if you like silly British humor and fun stories. Check it out.

Disclosure: I received a copy from Curiosity Quills via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: From the Bahamas to Heathrow airport, to the rain soaked streets of London the dead have ceased dying. 

This is inconvenient for a number of reasons but what’s the real reason behind the chaos?

In London we find Nigel Reinhardt, a disgraced, confused, and gifted London police constable who owns a prophetic goldfish. In Ireland the Angel of Death questions the value and position of his current employment. At Majestic Technologies Celina McMannis works diligently on a top secret project. At the South Pole there lives a very unhappy penguin.

When the Devil hatches a nefarious plot to take over the world by possessing a cute little kitty and seizing a factory of robotic Christmas elves it’s up to Nigel and his group of unlikely companions to save the world or die trying… or both.



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