A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (1993)
Unusual: An oddity
Book cover blurb
Loyally accompanying a mysterious knife-wielding gentleman named Jack on his midnight rounds through the murky streets of London, good dog Snuff is busy helping his master collect the grisly ingredients needed for an unearthly rite that will take place not long after the death of the moon. But Snuff and his master are not alone. All manner of participants, both human and not, are gathering with their ancient tools and their animal familiars in preparation for the dread night. It is brave, devoted Snuff who must calculate the patterns of the Game and keep track of the Players—the witch, the mad monk, the vengeful vicar, the Count who sleeps by day, the Good Doctor and the hulking Experiment Man he fashioned from human body parts, and a wild-card American named Larry Talbot—all the while keeping Things at bay and staying a leap ahead of the Great Detective, who knows quite a bit more than he lets on.
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My Review
I was introduced to the existence of this title by a Goodreads friend, thanks, Fred.
And what a strange little book it is.
I really enjoyed unravelling the many references to classic figures and elements, of which I'm sure I missed so many. The entire story kept me quite intrigued all the way through, wanting to know exactly what the opposing parties’ final goals were. Obviously, it all comes to light before the climax but the steady reveal was handled well.
Did I enjoy the book itself? That's actually a hard question to answer. I enjoyed the uniqueness of the story and how it was presented. But I can't say I enjoyed the voice of the book, as it comes across a little like a young adult offering. I do understand why that is, the majority of the characters are animals and giving them vocabulary restrictions is the best way to get that across. I just found that a little tiring at times.
I will be reading this one again, sometime in the future, because I'm sure there is more to it than a single read can show.
My copy of this novel
Chicago Review Press paperback edition.
Published in 2014
280 pages
ISBN 9781556525605