The idea of the story was really interesting and I liked the main characters personality. He was like the awkward, sarcastic character who doesn't know when to shut up. However the writing of the story was really choppy. I felt like I had to reread portions over to understand how we got from one point to another. Very similar story to American Gods just a lot more gory and semi-lovecraftian. I would read more about this character in this world, I just wish it was written clearer. More of a 3.5 rating. ( )

One of those books that's so bad you keep reading to find out what's going to happen and if it's going to get any worse.

Unfortunately only at the end do you realise it's actually a mid-series book which is perhaps why it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even at the end I didn't really understand the world. The basis seems to be that Rupert Wong is/was a chef and has been resurrected ish to cook food for his Boss - some form of ghoul. For some reason he also gets involved with a bunch of gods from various pantheons some of which I hadn't heard of. It starts in SIngapore before moving to london and greek gods - no idea why they are there. There's lots of gore - really huge amounts of bodies being cut up etc. but absolutely no emotion to it, no horror no terror just descriptions of bits - most of which you can skim.

Rupert initially lives with his resurrected wifely body, before she's sent to heaven (I think). Rupert himself is only ever destined to hell where he gets sent several times, and manages to return to continue his quest/job/contract. It didn't make much sense. He's subcontracted some this to a variety of spirits who 'live' as tattoos on his skin, for a while at least. This at least was a clever but of imagination and seemed to work quite well, perhaps the only part. Unfortunately something happens to them in the 2nd part although again lacking in real details, but it inspires Rupert to even greater levels of revenge when he's offered the opportunity.

Apparetnyl it continues into more books, but I'll stay well clear. ( )

I hope you can tell this is grotesque by the cover and title, because if you're not ready for that, this book isn't for you. Otherwise it's a very creative book... well, scratch that, it's based in Malaysia and has quit a few Asian dieties that I've never heard of, so I sort of wouldn't know if it was creative or not, would I?

I also don't know much about the Greek gods, which this is heavy into. But hey I don't need a book to be written just for me, that's ok. My big gripe with the book is everything else I don't understand. The author uses a lot of vocabulary that's way above my level, and that left me not knowing what was going on half the time. In fact, I didn't understand a lot of the main twists in the story because of it. I found myself having to skip sentences pretty frequently because of it. One of the unnecessarily words I did recognize was chassis, and she used it wrong, giving me doubt about the rest of the over-my-head words.

And that's unfortunate. Though I was grossed out pretty often, the book gets into a lot of things dimensional, spiritual, conceptual, and I always appreciate the inspiration writing like that gives me for thinking about things in new ways. I just, well, wish I could understand it. ( )

Oh lordy. When it comes to genre mashing, I'm usually first in line and chortling with glee when it comes to the wild and the wacky. Coming into this one relatively free of any expectations other than knowing it was a group read with some friends, I blanked my mind and began it.

First impressions: Oh! Chinese gods, the underworld, a damned chef and the problem of keeping the ghouls happy with their meals. Oh! Godfather. Oh! This is GORY. Oh! Rupert has one hell of a snark going on and even if I don't particularly like him or what he does, he's funny as hell.

Second impressions, coinciding with the second novella (two of which make up a single novel): I'm really getting into this. Life on the line for the stunt he pulled, he's sent to work for the enemy, I.E., the Greek Gods. As a Chef. And they're all a real nasty piece of work. Survival novel, mystery, and twisty, twisty machinations including new gods, old gods, and a really fun Outsider Cthuhlu god later... CHAOS, BLOOD, and so much gory death. :)

The second one was even better than the first, but I'll put it this way: 3 star, 5 star. This damned chef has really grown on me. Like undead tattoo fairies. Or an immortal youtube cat begging for scraps. :)

So, a word of warning: You must be comfortable with graphic, graphic gore. :) The rest is a very humorous comedy of errors featuring a cannibal chef who keeps getting into trouble with all the wrong gods. It's very reminiscent of some classic mystery/comedies with a huge American Gods twist.

:)

Me, I LOVE bizarro fiction and Khaw's writing skill is tops. No complaints there. Quite funny, great turns of phrase, and always snappy. She just pushes the boundaries as far as she likes with the gore, and I really appreciate that. :)

Now, I need to go take a shower. ( )

An interesting take on gods, death and cannibalism. ( )