Behind the red door

 

The new book is here, the new book is here.  It was more exciting than getting a new phone book!

When I first picked up The Graveyard Shift (Book 1 of the 24/7 Demon Mart series) I was extremely surprised to see how much I liked it.  And now the 4th book in the series (plus the Demon Mart stories, and the Kevin short stories) is out, and the series just keeps getting better and better.

The comedy starts on the very first page, and once again my wife was looking at me weird as I was laughing at what I was reading.  And the jokes just keep coming, at an almost breakneck pace.  But there is also plenty of the scarier stuff as well, monsters and gore and blood and black demon vomit.  Lots of black demon vomit.  (And it is the vomit, not the demons, that is black).

Now a lot of times in comedy that is all you need.   A new situation - simply have your characters find or cause a new problem, and then just let the hijinks ensue as they try to solve it.  Add some tension by failing a few times before the big climax where the heroes win and then everything goes back to normal.  (Wait, isn't that the plot of nearly every 80's cartoon?).  

That doesn't happen here.  Well, it does, but there is a LOT more to the story than just that.  DM Guay makes us care about the characters, both so that we feel the danger they may be in, but also enjoy seeing them actually grow and change (though slowly, you can't turn Lloyd from a fat lazy slob into a brave hero overnight).  But this still isn't the same guy we met in the first book, and he won't be the same one in the next book, because he learns (again slowly) and grows.  Yes, it is a running gag that he refuses to read the employee handbook (which itself is growing into a more interesting character), though he at least wants to use it.

If you are a fan of Bruce Campbell then this entire series is right up your alley.  And while the main series does center on Demon Mart and the portal to hell, the stories books deal with other threats with different origins.  And then the Kevin short stories with the talking cockroach meeting various cryptids are a fun, quick snack to tide us over to the next book.

The more stories that Guay writes in this wonderful, funny, demon infested world only make me want even more and I cannot get enough of them.  There are certain authors that you will buy anything new they put out, and they don't disappoint you.  Right now DM Guay is at the top of that list for me.  I just wish there were a way to make these books last longer - I don't want them to ever end.

(Re)Possessed is available at Amazon in both electronic and dead tree versions.

Because it is all fun and games . . .