Anansi Boys (Prosecutor Helen West & Detective Geoffrey Balley Mysteries)

by Neil Gaiman

Fat Charlie Nancy is not actually fat. He was fat once but he is definitely not fat now. No, right now Fat Charlie Nancy is angry, confused and more than a little scared - right now his life is spinning out of control, and it is all his dad's fault. If his rotter of an estranged father hadn't dropped dead at a karaoke night, Charlie would still be blissfully unaware that his dad was Anansi the spider god. He would have no idea that he has a brother called Spider, who is also a god. And there would be no chance that said brother would be trying to take over his life, flat and fiancee, or, to make matters worse, be doing a much better job of it than him. Desperate to reclaim his life, Charlie enlists the help of four more-than-slightly eccentric old ladies and their unique brand of voodoo - and between them they unleash a bitter and twisted force to get rid of Spider. But as darkness descends and badness begins is Fat Charlie Nancy going to get his life back in one piece or is he about to enter a whole netherworld of pain. This work includes extra material exclusive to "Headline Review's" edition.

• ISBN10: 0755305078
• ISBN13: 9780755305070
• Publish Date: 20 September 2005
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 17 November 2006
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
• Imprint: Headline Review
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 400
• Language: English

Reviews

[leahrosereads]

This story was pretty good, and of course it would be, because Neil Gaiman knows how to weave a tale spectacularly. But it wasn't a five starrer for me.

Charlie was just too...and then so was Spider. And don't even get me started on Rosie and Daisy. These characters are easily my least favorite ensemble of any Gaiman novel. The only saving grace was Mr. Nancy, but lets face it, even he can't hold a story all on his own (no matter what he says).

But the story was epic and filled with family bonds and deception and heroism and monsters and so it gets four stars.

I'll definitely continue to read anything Neil publishes - obviously. But this one was a bit of a miss for my tastes.