Review: The Corpse-Rat King

The Corpse-Rat King
by Lee Battersby

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Angry Robot (August 28, 2012)
• ISBN-10: 0857662872
• ISBN-13: 978-0857662873

Product description:

Marius dos Hellespont and his apprentice, Gerd, are professional looters of battlefields. When they stumble upon the corpse of the King of Scorby and Gerd is killed, Marius is mistaken for the monarch by one of the dead soldiers, is transported down to the Kingdom of the Dead. The dead need a King–the King is God’s representative, and someone needs to remind God where they are.

Marius is banished to the surface with one message: if he wants to recover his life he must find the dead a King. Which he fully intends to do. Just as soon as he stops running.

My thoughts:

I was really attracted to the cover art and an added bonus was reading a new author. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with an Angry Robot title, it can be done, but it’s hard. The Corpse-Rat King is yet another clever and funny title in a long line of books from Angry Robot.

As I’ve said before, I like my humor like I like my chocolate … dark. The Corpse-Rat King gave me plenty of those laugh out loud moments. I could imagine the main character played by Bruce Campbell. The story marched along at a fast pace with plenty of gags.

On the downside, I think the secondary characters were two-dimensional and should have been *ahem* fleshed out a little more. I think some of the gags were a little hit or miss.

The Corpse-Rat King is certainly a better than average book from a new author, and it managed to take my mind away from Hurricane Isaac, which by the way missed me. Having said that, I enjoy dark silly humor so let that be your guide. I give The Corpse-Rat King 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Angry Robot. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”