One shot and the world gets smaller

Two things have brought me joy today:

1. Oatmeal! Oh, blessed, blessed oatmeal, sustenance of the gods, and people with unhappy stomachs.

2. The Mysterious Stranger Ai, ai Hastur!

Bookkeeping

Because illness is the next best thing to plane rides when it comes to finishing books.

18. The Devil You Know - Mike Carey

This was pitched to me as Hellblazer with the serials filed off, which was a good sell. And it certainly is. Sadly, it also hits me as Hellblazer-lite. This book really needs a few cartons of Silk Cut and a pissed off cabby with a tire iron. I don't read Hellblazer for Britglish snark--there's also the grit, the grime, the scraped worn-out feeling, the horror, the despair, the betrayal, the unabashed awfulness that is John's life, that clings to you like a stench when you put a book down. You laugh harder at the snark when it's gallows humor. Which isn't to imply that the story is all fluffy bunnies and rainbows, but it just doesn't hit me where I live. Lite.

But I liked the mystery in this quite a bit. And he's already sold me the next book with the succubus, dammit. I always loved Elle.