A Kiss Before the Apocalypse: A Remy Chandler Novel (original 2008; edition 2009)

Eighth book for the readathon? Less sleepy now -- I was having to force myself to read the seventh book, but this was fun and absorbing, so I had no problems with falling asleep.

As might be predicted for me, I loved the references to Raymond Chandler (the detective is called Remy Chandler; his dog is Marlowe). I also loved the fact that in my head, Remy totally looked like Castiel from Supernatural, as portrayed by Misha Collins.

A Kiss Before the Apocalypse is basically the story of a sort-of-fallen angel who works as a private investigator, and who then finds himself caught up in investigating where the Angel of Death has got to and who wants to start the apocalypse. His closest sidekick is his dog, and not his cop friend, which was not what I expected -- I wish supporting characters had been used better, actually. Francis and Lazarus were amazing. He should've used 'em and abused 'em.

The thing that I liked most was the relationship between him and his aged wife -- given that, being an angel, he can't age -- and the tenderness between them, even when to outsiders she appears old enough to be his mother. I love Remy's devotion to her.

Nothing amazingly special, but a fun (and quick) read. ( )

Huge potential but mediocre execution. What saves this is the beautiful relationship between the angel and his aged dying wife. It's really heart wrenching. More later. ( )

Huge potential but mediocre execution. What saves this is the beautiful relationship between the angel and his aged dying wife. It's really heart wrenching. More later. ( )

This is a recycled plot retold in an entertaining way. The standard backstory--An angel voluntarily takes on human form to experience the world and understand humanity. But this one picks up the character quite a while after the descent (thousands of years after), and after he has been married for a good fifty years. His wife is dying of complications of old age, which of course fits in very nicely with the overarching plot of this particular story--the angle of death has disappeared! Yes, nothing new, and the result is very Meet Joe Black, but this is told in an entertaining way. The characters seem very alive, and the ability Remy (the main character) has to speak with animals is used to great effect in interactions with his dog Marlowe. In using Marlowe, the author is able to boil down emotions and situations to their most basic; we don't want people to die, it hurts when they're gone, and apples are yummy. I picked up this one after reading a short story that takes place in this world, and I'm glad I did. A good read. ( )

It's nice to see an urban fantasy that isn't written in the first person and doesn't have such a cynical sarcastic sense of humor. I like the cynics, of course, but variety is even better! ( )