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A review by wasauthor
Cousin Calls by Zeb Haradon
5.0
I received an advance reader copy of [b:Cousin Calls|58878054|Cousin Calls|Zeb Haradon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1630193188l/58878054._SX50_.jpg|92755105] for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
While [a:Zeb Haradon|17366017|Zeb Haradon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1529842198p2/17366017.jpg]'s Cousin Calls is set at Christmas, it is as much a Christmas story as Die Hard (or my personal favourite, Batman Returns). Rather than it being a book all about love, wonder and Christmas magic, it is instead a book all about horse crap, the dangers of technology, more crap (that may or may not have come from a horse), deer brutality, and even more crap (aka Donald Trump).
The central conceit of Cousin Calls is receiving a phone call or text message, saying "you don’t know me, but we’re cousins." This is a bad omen, and as a result, some truly horrible (or horribly hilarious) things will happen. This is broken up into five short stories, summarised below:
“World’s Greatest Chili,” where the cousin call leads to a trip between the storyteller and her boyfriend to attend a chilli cook-off where they are assured they will sample the world’s greatest chilli.
- “The Shadow Thief,” where the cousin call kicks off a series of events where the story’s protagonist’s hippocampal implant designed download other people’s learnings gives him more than he bargained for.
- “The Mysterious Case of Who Was Wiping Shit All Over the Bathroom Walls,” where the cousin call leads to a private detective trying to solve the mystery so beautifully illustrated in its title.
- “The Lucky Bucks,” where a deer’s cousin call leads to a mating season that doesn’t go as well as he had hoped.
- “The True Story of Douchebag Dave,” where the cousin call leads to a sequence of events spanning much of 2020.
I will warn you, however, that this is a transgressive book with a number of distasteful elements. However, this book is so well-written that these elements are more than simply horrifying moments. If this sounds like your thing, I have no doubt that you'll love it. If you're unsure, I'd suggest you take a look yourself. But if the distasteful elements sound like they'd offend you, or if you're sympathetic to Donald Trump, you may wish to avoid reading it.
My full review will be posted on my website from 9 December. Feel free to check it out here.
While [a:Zeb Haradon|17366017|Zeb Haradon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1529842198p2/17366017.jpg]'s Cousin Calls is set at Christmas, it is as much a Christmas story as Die Hard (or my personal favourite, Batman Returns). Rather than it being a book all about love, wonder and Christmas magic, it is instead a book all about horse crap, the dangers of technology, more crap (that may or may not have come from a horse), deer brutality, and even more crap (aka Donald Trump).
The central conceit of Cousin Calls is receiving a phone call or text message, saying "you don’t know me, but we’re cousins." This is a bad omen, and as a result, some truly horrible (or horribly hilarious) things will happen. This is broken up into five short stories, summarised below:
“World’s Greatest Chili,” where the cousin call leads to a trip between the storyteller and her boyfriend to attend a chilli cook-off where they are assured they will sample the world’s greatest chilli.
- “The Shadow Thief,” where the cousin call kicks off a series of events where the story’s protagonist’s hippocampal implant designed download other people’s learnings gives him more than he bargained for.
- “The Mysterious Case of Who Was Wiping Shit All Over the Bathroom Walls,” where the cousin call leads to a private detective trying to solve the mystery so beautifully illustrated in its title.
- “The Lucky Bucks,” where a deer’s cousin call leads to a mating season that doesn’t go as well as he had hoped.
- “The True Story of Douchebag Dave,” where the cousin call leads to a sequence of events spanning much of 2020.
I will warn you, however, that this is a transgressive book with a number of distasteful elements. However, this book is so well-written that these elements are more than simply horrifying moments. If this sounds like your thing, I have no doubt that you'll love it. If you're unsure, I'd suggest you take a look yourself. But if the distasteful elements sound like they'd offend you, or if you're sympathetic to Donald Trump, you may wish to avoid reading it.
My full review will be posted on my website from 9 December. Feel free to check it out here.