Scan barcode
dennis_j's review against another edition
2.0
Story was thin and a bit bland. Not cliché, just not very original. I thought the main character Web was pretty sympathetic despite his a-holery. Wasn't surprised by any plot twists, but it wasn't a complete yawn. OK is the verdict. There were a few enjoyable characters like Jaime and L.L. but overall, OK.
kraley's review
2.0
I got to about 80% and I just couldn’t do it any more. The main character was so snarky and not in a funny way. He was annoying and weak and not even clever. The premise of the book wandered all over. The dialogue at some parts was great and then other parts I felt we were getting a lecture. Skip it.
emilyegallagher's review
4.0
Perfectly preposterous, but poignant at the same time. If you can't handle blood and guts, not for you. I loved it.
beastreader's review
2.0
It takes a lot to be part of Los Angeles’s crime scene time, in other words a strong stomach. This is one thing that new to the crime team, Web Goodhue doesn’t have. Web tries to tough it out as he really needs the job. Web gets approached by a woman who needs Web’s help to clean up a mess.
I so wanted to read The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death after reading the summary. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with this book. I didn’t even finish the book. In fact I started it and after only about twenty pages into the story, I put it down and read a few other books. I just came back to this book and tried reading it again and my first impression of it did not change. It was for lack of trying that I didn’t like this book. It was just that the story moved too slowly for me and the dialogic between the characters was too wordy. Yes, I enjoyed knowing details about the job and the crime scene but I didn’t need a step by step manual on every little detail both big and small. Who knows maybe some day I might pick this book up again and try finishing it.
I so wanted to read The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death after reading the summary. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with this book. I didn’t even finish the book. In fact I started it and after only about twenty pages into the story, I put it down and read a few other books. I just came back to this book and tried reading it again and my first impression of it did not change. It was for lack of trying that I didn’t like this book. It was just that the story moved too slowly for me and the dialogic between the characters was too wordy. Yes, I enjoyed knowing details about the job and the crime scene but I didn’t need a step by step manual on every little detail both big and small. Who knows maybe some day I might pick this book up again and try finishing it.
pierceinverarity's review
5.0
This would be a great companion to "Beat the Reaper." Each book provides a macabre, sardonic spin on professions familiar (medicine) and less so ("trauma site work," a euphemism for cleaning death scenes).
This is one of those rare page-turning guilty pleasures that, without being self-consciously literary, has real heart. It's just as compelling as risible as the best pulp, but its humane intelligence offers a great third shoe to drop.
This is one of those rare page-turning guilty pleasures that, without being self-consciously literary, has real heart. It's just as compelling as risible as the best pulp, but its humane intelligence offers a great third shoe to drop.
joelkarpowitz's review against another edition
4.0
So, really this book is not for the little ones, or the mom ones, but I have to say I really enjoyed it. Sure, every other word is one of George Carlin's seven dirty words, and yes, there's a whole lot of blood and viscera (after all, the main character's job is cleaning up crime scenes), but I really grew to like these characters over the course of the novel. Like the best black humor (think Catch 22 or the film version of MASH) there's a sense of desperation and raging against the cold universe going on underneath the comedy. I'm not saying the book is up to the level of those classics, but there is unexpected depth underneath the very R-rated (but very funny) dialogue and ridiculous events. It's not for the faint of stomach or the easily offended, but I will definitely read more Charlie Huston in the future.
0rph3us's review against another edition
1.0
Terrible. Wasted days of my life reading about an unlikable main character, with a cast of side characters which are ALSO unlikable. And all are unlikable in very irredeemable ways. Or in any case not ways that come to fruition during the story. Also, what even is the storyline? Traumatised elementary school teacher becomes a crime scene cleaner and through the girl he's after gets involved with the almond maffia? What?? Additionally, the entire book is written in a completely incomprehensible way. It's almost like a script, but I don't know if it was because I was reading on an ereader or what, but the lay-out was all messed up so jumps between scenes and who was actually speaking was completely unclear.
Yeah, had an awful time. Don't trust the blurb. I wish I had gotten this at my local library and not actually spent money on buying the book.
Yeah, had an awful time. Don't trust the blurb. I wish I had gotten this at my local library and not actually spent money on buying the book.
bookclubbitches's review
This book was recommended to me by my husband. I think he read it while he was severely depressed, because this book is absolutely terrible and I am not ideal audience for this book.
adamrbrooks's review
5.0
Funny and cool and twisty. Just awesome. Like "Pineapple Express" only smarter and more amusing.