false 3 1 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 23:02:24 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 23 23:14:22 -0700 2009 Wicker Man). And I have to agree with the reviews on here that the currents (not undercurrents, currents) of misogyny in the book are pretty troubling--not a single heroine, unless you count the werewolf.
An afterword says they were written to be performed on the radio, which makes a lot of sense--they probably come off better when performed. Here, they're well-constructed and feature the occasional snappy verbal flourish, but there's nothing here to rival, say, Neil Gaiman's stories for unpredictability or thoroughness of invention. The exceptions are the opening long story, a Stephen King knockoff featuring an animated spirit of cancer, and the long novella featuring his detective, Charlie Parker, which made me reserve one of those novels from the library. Makes me wonder why my other brilliant idea for a TV cop show (besides the Food Detective, since we already have forensics detectives, math detectives, facial-study detectives, etc.), in which your standard array of multiculti personalities (taciturn leader guy [Rob Morrow on Numbers, Grissom on CSI, Caruso on CSI: Miami, Mark Harmon on NCIS, etc.), weirdo techies [that punk chick on NCIS, who, sure, the Navy would totally hire; Charlie, the math prof on Numbers}, and on down the line) deals with paranormal stuff as their job--not like the X-Files, where Mulder was stuck in this back room, but as part of a cop bureau--has yet to be presented. I think there's maybe a show on the CW or somewhere that does this, but come on, CBS.]]>