amusedDAW Books, paperback
352 pages, science fiction comedy detective spoof noir weirdness sexpot Santa
Currently in print
***
The Frost-Haired Vixen is the fourth installment in the adventures of Zachary Nixon Johnson, the last private investigator on Earth. Actually, as this book begins pushing out a bit more into the surrounding solar system, I think it's fair to say that poor Zach is actually the last private investigator currently circling Earth's sun. The jury's out on other galaxies, but it doesn't look good.
The first three books in this series were written by John Zakour in partnership with Lawrence Ganem; the original formula was developed by the two of them working together, and I have to admit, I was dubious when I saw that this was the book where John struck out on his own. Sadly, the transition shows. While this is still an awesome romp, it's missing some of the zing of the earlier adventures -- there are times when the noir elements seem forced, and that's a problem. Still, I don't think this is an insurmountable problem, and if I'd read this book without reading the others first, I probably would have enjoyed it without reservations.
(Although I do have to say, I get the feeling Electra was mostly written by Lawrence Ganem in the earlier books. She seemed much calmer and less inclined to attach Zach with whatever was handy in this book, and I found that somewhat disappointing. Ah, well. Can't have everything.)
In Zach's future, all our current small-time winter holidays have been rolled up into one world-wide, totally secular celebration called Holiday. Everyone on the planet gets three presents on Holiday, made by hand by actual elves, located at the North Pole and watched over by the loving, smoking hot Santana Clausa. Yes, this book's requisite bombshell is, in fact, a white-haired nymph in a sexy Santa suit. Marginally disturbing, but also kind of awesome.
Someone is trying to sabotage Holiday, and Zach, of course, is called upon to stop it. Of course, he has to disguise himself, since the world would absolutely freak out if it knew that Holiday was in danger, and the sight of Zach Johnson basically screams 'danger' to the more intelligent parts of the population. The requisite espionage, fistfights, new HARV tricks, bad puns, stupid women trying to sex Zach up despite his heavily-armed fiancee, and psychic hijinks ensue.
Is this a good book? Yes. Is it as good as the first three? Possibly not, but once you get all the way into the book, it becomes a lot harder to notice things like that, because the plot just goes rollicking right along, basically demanding that you come along for the ride. I found the book difficult to put down, and it's definitely going to be included in any future re-readings of the series; not Zach's best outing, but still better than most of the things currently on the market.
Besides, I have to keep reading these -- I want to know when he'll run out of hair colors.
October 10 2008, 16:18:44 UTC 8 years ago
October 10 2008, 19:18:47 UTC 8 years ago