What a fun little book. I have previously read Moore's claim to fame (Lamb) but really fell in love with Fluke (one of the most memorable and fun books I've ever read). This one was also funny and zany, with a simple premise (dumb angel comes down to grant a Christmas wish to a child and, as a result of some unfortunate events, causes quite a bit of havoc). It would appear that this takes place in a universe he's already written about, with characters that have already been introduced elsewhere, but you don't have to have read those other books). I do feel like I could've spent a lot more time with these characters to really get to know them, but it's also a short, self-contained book, so I get why we only kind of skim their surfaces. It's not a life-changing novel, but it's a fast, quick, entertaining read- very nice, indeed, for the week leading up to Christmas!

Raziel, the stupidest angel in heaven, is sent down to Pine Cove, California to perform a Christmas miracle. When a young boy sees “santa” die in an accident, Raziel gives the boy his wish and brings all of the bodies in the church graveyard back to life. Surely everyone living in town will be happy to see their lost loved ones, and the reanimated dead will be happy to eat their loved one’s brains. The only people who can save the day are a stoner cop, a love-sick pilot whose best friend is a bat, the ex-wife of the deceased “santa”, and a former camp sci-fi actress who has gone off her antipsychotic medication.

I had been meaning to get to this book for a long time, and I did wait too long. The jokes have not aged well in the two decades (lots of "we make fun of everyone so it's okay" misogyny, fatphobia, ablism, etc., with the r-word thrown in), but Moore’s witty writing is still apparent. It's an interesting concept - throwing a bunch of different characters from his different books together for a kind of "Christmas special", which still manages to stand on its own. I’m glad I read it eventually, though I won’t be returning to it, and I’m also glad I have newer, better Christopher Moore to read. ( )

This was one of the weirdest books I've read, but also hilarious! ( )

Mr Moore has a definite hormone problem. ( )

I started reading this a long while ago, then stopped, and restarted just in time for christmas.

Moore once again leads us to Pine Cove and its quirky inhabitants and throws in some supernatural stuff to get the action started. It is a lot of fun. ( )