PSYCH: A MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO READ by William Rabkin
Obsidian, 2009, 274 pages, 978-0-451-22635-8, Mass Market Paperback, $6.99

Genre: Mystery/Detective Fiction

I’m a hopeless Psych fan, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I’ve also been reading TV tie-ins since I was in elementary school, so, you know, one-plus-one is two and all that.

Still, I was a little apprehensive about reading this book only because I’d previously read one of the Monk novels (Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse) and hated it. Not only did I find Natalie’s point-of-view completely insipid and annoying (which is absolutely not an opinion of her that I have when watching the show), but I felt like the story was just a rewrite of the firehouse episode with a few alterations thrown in for kicks. As if the writer thought that no one would notice and passed it along to his editor with a shrug and a smile.

Regardless of my worries, I bought the book (in a flurry of excitement, actually) and sat down to read it pretty much immediately. I was, shall we say, quite pleased. Like I said, I’ve been reading TV-tie-ins for a very long time, and I’ve been rather spoiled by the ones that turn out well. This one, I’m satisfied to say, didn’t disappoint.

As usual, Gus finds himself in a bit of trouble thanks to Shawn’s habit of annoying the people in authority. When they go to pick up his recently impounded car and find themselves staring down the barrel of a shotgun, his luck takes a turn for the worse. The following car accident does nothing to improve his spirits, nor does the sudden obsession that the driver of the car in said accident has for Shawn. In fact, he’s pretty sure she’s up to no good right from the beginning. Meanwhile, the man with the shotgun turns up dead and an old school buddy shows up suddenly to ask for their help. It’s a very busy week for Gus, and he only wishes Shawn would start taking things a little more seriously.

I have to say, I didn’t expect this book to come from Gus’s point of view, but I liked that it did. Somehow I imagine that Shawn’s character would lose something if the reader were privy to his every thought. Gus was the perfect alternative. He’s always present for the action, always nearby Shawn, and always has very amusing reactions to what’s going on around him. As a POV character goes, he’s a great choice.

In terms of the story, I liked it a lot, and it moved along pretty quickly. There was a moment or two when I fussed a little about wanting to get to the conclusion already, but that was probably just me being impatient. Rabkin handles his multiple plot threads rather deftly, and I was satisfied that nothing especially important got left out by the end.

Equally satisfying was that everyone was in character. Rarely (or possibly never, come to that, but see how I’m not using absolutes?) did I see anyone say something that I felt was unlike his or her portrayal in the show (and you’d know if I had – talk about a pet peeve). Possibly Lassiter was a little too accommodating but, as far as that goes, he and Juliet weren’t in the story all that much, so it’s hardly something I’d go so far as to classify as “out of character.”

Probably my favorite aspect of this book was the dialogue between Shawn and Gus. Rabkin keeps it consistently like the interaction that I’m used to seeing while watching Psych. Since this interaction is part of what makes the show as entertaining as it is, I’m glad he put so much effort into making that happen. Likewise with the running joke involving Shawn and his obsession with Coke Blak. There always has to be something….

So, sure, it’s not epic fiction, but as far as Psych episodes go, I’d say it was good stuff. Fans of the show will likely enjoy it. And, hey, I’ll admit it. I didn’t see the end coming until it was upon me. This either means that Rabkin did a good job with the mystery plot or that I’m just a really terrible detective. I’ll let you decide.

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THE DEMON AND THE CITY by Liz Williams
Night Shade Books, 2008, 374 pages, 978-1-59780-111-9, Mass Market Paperback, $7.99

Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Detective Fiction

All right, I admit it. As soon as I was halfway through Snake Agent, I pulled up amazon.com and ordered The Demon and the City. What can I say? I’m a sucker for series novels. I mean, you get to know the characters, the universe, and everything else. It becomes like a second home….

Well, sort of.

In any case, I began the second novel in this series immediately after the first. While it did hold some charm, I’m sorry to say that I just didn’t like it quite as much.

Which isn’t to say that I hated it. I didn’t. But there were a number of moments when I put the book down, groaning, because I had to sit through another chapter featuring characters I just couldn’t bring myself to care about. And there were spots where the minor nitpicks of Snake Agent became legitimate problems that I just couldn’t overlook without actually skipping paragraphs.

But before I go on, the premise is this: Detective Inspector Chen has gone on vacation with his wife, which leaves his partner, Zhu Irzh, alone to deal with things by himself. As he begins investigating the murder of an unidentified young woman, he becomes involved with the owner of a powerful pharmaceuticals company. His investigation leads him to find out what she’s up to; but, as time goes on, he begins experiencing a number of strange episodes that call into question the safety of those around him.

Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that—apparently everyone has a plot against Heaven. It’s the running theme in the series so far, but that’s hardly surprising. Heaven is, after all, supposed to be untouchable, which makes it a tempting target for invasion by other supernatural forces.

Continue Reading….

SNAKE AGENT by Liz Williams
Night Shade Books, 2008, 375 pages, 978-1-59780-107-2, Mass Market Paperback, $7.99

Genre: Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Detective Fiction

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up this book over the last three months. It seems like every time I wandered into the fantasy/science fiction section of Borders, I would find myself staring quizzically at the back cover and thinking: Why does this sound familiar? The answer, of course, was that I’d read the blurb at least three times before.

Well, I finally broke down and purchased it. Overall, on a scale of Hate It to Love It, I’d rate this book Pretty Darn Enjoyable. When I say the words escapist fantasy, this is the kind of story I’m talking about. It has a good enough plot to keep me interested, characters who are fun to read about, and it’s satisfactorily suspenseful, but it’s not incredibly heavy with layers upon layers theme. Just the kind of thing you want to pass the time during a three day holiday.

In Snake Agent, Detective Inspector Chen is put on a case involving the daughter of a well-to-do family. Turns out her ghost was snatched and, in the process of discovering what happened to her, Chen finds himself involved in a larger plot concerning Hell and Heaven.

Yes, Hell and Heaven. Gods, goddesses, demons, ghosts, otherworldly planes, and magic in general are stuffed into this novel. It’s all handled in a very fun way. The author doesn’t make any of it too serious; in fact, the quirks and intricacies of the various supernatural locales are some of the most interesting parts of the book. Hell is entertaining with all the political backstabbing going on down there, Earth is pretty much what you would expect, and Heaven is…well, it’s Heaven, of course. But keep in mind that the author makes a point of connecting these otherworldly aspects to China and not to the Western world. The mythology is a little different (and thank goodness for the Asian art course I took, because it made reading about the various deities and magical-doings even more fun).

Actually, we don’t get to see a lot of the Celestial Shores or Heaven itself in book one, considering the storyline (which I’ll refrain from revealing). But there are goddesses showing up on Earth, including Chen’s patron deity, Kuan Yin, and then there’s the plane jumping between Earth, Hell, and the Night Harbor. Quite a bit of activity there, as a matter of fact, so there’s not a chance to get bored.

Chen is an interesting character. He works for the Singapore Three police force and he’s apparently on the outs with his patron deity. Which means he doesn’t really have a place anywhere, considering she won’t speak to him and the other members of the police force are generally very wary around him (considering he’s the one heading up the supernatural cases, and he has a license to visit Hell on assignment).

Of course my favorite character during this novel was Zhu Irzh, a demon from Hell’s Vice division (which I found a pretty amusing idea, I admit). I can’t quite put my finger on what makes him my favorite–maybe it’s because he’s a demon with a conscience, or maybe it’s the way he interacts with Chen. Or it could be his irreverent and sometimes impulsive attitude. Either way, I found myself looking forward to the chapters that included Zhu Irzh (I even rushed to the read the second novel in this series because he would be featured in it).

So, the short version is: I like this novel. It was easy to read and pretty entertaining. I’d recommend it to anyone who might enjoy an urban fantasy detective story. It wasn’t perfect, of course. I have a few nitpicks, mostly concerning the repetitive use of some names and phrases here and there when a pronoun could have been easily substituted. But they weren’t so glaringly obvious that I couldn’t enjoy the book, so you’ll excuse me if I sort of pass over them and focus on what I liked.

Finally–check out that cover art. Isn’t it great?

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