annieb123
Written on Feb 19, 2019
Services Rendered is a new collection of vignettes in the Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series by Kevin J. Anderson. Released 15th Nov 2018 on Wordfire, it's 204 pages and available in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats.
I've reviewed more of the author's work on the blog, and can recommend this collection of simultaneous cases which are braided together in a cohesive narrative whole as well. Even though they're thoroughly silly, and punny, and campy, the author doesn't use that as an excuse for crafting a shoddy subpar story. This is well crafted and well plotted fiction. The characters (despite most of them being living-challenged) are likeable and relatable. The dialogue is silly but it's never clunky. The story and world building are cohesive and believable within the given framework of the story.
The plotting is tight and well paced and I absolutely never found myself skimming or skipping ahead. Fair warning to readers, this is purely humorous undead noir. I have to ready to be in a silly mood for these books to have maximum effect. They're completely exuberant and full of punny humor and in-jokes and cultural references.
Highly recommended. This is one of the few humor series which I've found myself re-reading on occasion.
Five stars. Pure silly fun.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes