Antony's Library #6 - The Everything Box: A Novel by Richard Kadrey
Started Reading: 4th May 2016
Finished Reading: 28th June 2016
Number of Pages: 368
Published: April 2016
This review may contain spoilers. You have been warned!
After the dark and disturbing book, The Teacher, The Everything Box: A Novel by Richard Kadrey was refreshingly funny and lighthearted.
I found the humour to be funny in a silly sort of way. Armageddon cults having bake sales to raise money, debates about which band sang which song in the middle of seemingly important discussions and the ridiculousness of the fact that the whole plot revolves around an angel (who is in charge of stationary in Heaven) that lost a box and has been looking for it for 4000 years.
One of my favorite aspects of the book didn't actually last very long. At the beginning we meet Coop who is a thief and has a poltergeist in his head called Phil. I loved the unique way that these two interacted. Not only the witter banter but as the book's 'voice' spoke about what Coop was thinking, Phil would cut in and comment about it. Sadly, Phil left, but did return towards the end, but it wasn't the same.
I love how it all came together by the end. There were a lot of parties trying to get to the box for their own reasons without knowing about each other and it was great how they all came together in the end. The resolution was as silly as the rest of the plot.
If you are looking for a lighthearted book that you do not want to take seriously, I highly recommend this one. Despite the comedy, I found that the plot still had a lot of action and developed the main characters well. The witty banter did not distract from the main plot or ruin the flow.
Next Book
Another new release: Escapology by Ren Warom. The reviews so far are positive and described as a "cyberpunk" book, which is not something I have heard of.