A. Lee Martinez

This comedic look at the complexities of the human-divinity relationship is oddly like Christopher Moore's novels. It is funny, smart, sarcastic, and brutally honest at time, ,and it is these qualities that readers will be entranced by. It doesn't get any more amusing than a divine love triangle gone wrong, all at the cause of the raccoon-headed god of luck, Luka. Not even gods whose area of expertise is good fortune can evade all of life's pitfalls, and with an eternity to ruminate on show more wrong-doings the situation can escalate to godly proportions. show less

"The Automatic Detective" is a funny, creative, relentlessly entertaining take on the hard-boiled detective story. I liked it even more than I expected to.

When this story begins the titular character, Mac, isn't a detective. Mac was designed by a mad scientist to be a killing machine, but he bucked his programming. Now he's a taxi driver trying to keep his nose clean while he's on probation, hoping to be recognized as a fully sentient citizen of Empire City. Mac is a meticulous, dull, show more self-obsessed loner, but he has managed to accumulate a few friends in spite of himself. When his next-door neighbors go missing Mac is the only one who gives a damn. Forced out of his comfort zone, he finds a new purpose in life. show less

Phil and Teri don't worship a god like most people, but after Phil is passed up for a job promotion (again) they decide it's time they search the internet personals for a god of their own. It's a scary world though, full of long-term commitments and blood sacrifice, but after some searching they stumble upon Luka; a raccoon-headed god of fortune who's mild mannered nature suits them perfectly.

And then everything goes horribly, horribly wrong.

Divine Misfortune is quite the humorous novel, in show more fact the author even had me giggling on the dedication page. I'm not a very expressive person while I'm reading, but this one got me to chuckle out loud a few times. Phil and Teri are adorable and the gods are quite hysterical when placed in a modern setting. It's not the first time I've read such a novel, but it's no less successful at being incredibly funny.

I would definitely recommend this one. I would say it's a mix between Christopher Moore's Coyote Blue and Neil Gaiman's American Gods, to be honest. That's definitely a recipe for success if you ask me! show less

This was one of the most fun and enjoyable books I've read in a long time.
The characters are incredibly well crafted and the world he creates here, while technically a small and contained one feels believable and vast.

The mix of peril, drama and humor is perfect and never feels forced and the pacing was perfect.

12/6/24:
I just finished my first reread of this book since I first read it in 2011, and I loved it more then I did the first time.
I had forgotten enough of the details that there show more were still a few surprises for me, and I feel there were details I probably missed the first time around so it had a freshness for me. I love the humor, I love the wide variety of characters and how they interacted with their world and each. I love how it all feels insane and overfilled, but it all works together and feels cohesive.
And I love how gentle this book is, and how kindness matters. This world needs more of that right now.
Reading this book was like snuggling under a fuzzy blanket with a mug of hot tea to spend some precious time in a place and with people that wanted to be with. show less