REVIEW: Death's Excellent Vacation edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner

Death's Excellent Vacation edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner
Contributing Authors: Charlaine Harris, Sarah Smith, Jeaniene Frost, Daniel Stashower, A. Lee Martinez, Jeff Abbott, L. A. Banks, Katie MacAlister, Christopher Golden, Lilith Saintcrow, Chris Grabenstein, Sharan Newman and Toni L. P. Kelner.

Publisher: Penguin
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages.
ISBN 10: 0441018688
ISBN 13: 9780441018680
Copy: Penguin Canada
Reviewer: Victoria

On the back of the book. . .

The editors of Wolfsbane and Mistletoe and Many Bloody Returns deliver a new collection-including a never-before-published Sookie Stackhouse story.
New York Times bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Katie MacAlister, Jeaniene Frost-plus Lilith Saintcrow, Jeff Abbott, and more-send postcards from the edge of the paranormal world to fans who devoured Wolfsbane and Mistletoe and Many Bloody Returns.


With an all-new Sookie Stackhouse story and twelve other original tales, editors Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner


 
Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse novels and Toni L. P. Kelner have managed to put together a rare mix of both fun and exciting, and comical and serious stories in Death's Excellent Vacation.  No two stories are alike, and there's a story for just about every reader.  For any fan of HBO's True Blood, you can get your fill of Sookie in Harris' offering, the first story in the collection.  Have you ever wanted to see how Sookie would behave in a strip club?  See if Sookie can handle her own with a gun, a vampire and a feral crossbreed? If so, then this story is for you.
 
Katie MacAlister's story, The Perils of Effrijim bring us on a comical adventure with a demon, Pirate Dave's Haunted Amusement Park by Toni L. P. Kelner provides us with an interesting take on werewolf culture, and Jeaniene Frost with, One for the Money, gives us action, a strong plot, and some really believable characters.
 
My favourite stories in the anthology include works by Daniel Stashower, Lilith Saintcrow, A. Lee Martinez and Sarah Smith.
 
Meanwhile, Far Across the Caspian Sea by Daniel Stashower follows Jeff Clarke on his new job as an editor for LifeSpan Books.  He is assigned to the mysterious and notoriously fickle writer, Thaddeus Palgrave.  The story does not follow the usual pattern of paranormal tales, and because of that, it had me hooked from the beginning.  Stashower has a strong style which contains well thought out characters, believable dialogue and dashes of imagery.  At times I was reminded of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian, insofar as the research which forms the main bulk of the plot is concerned.  I was sad when Meanwhile, Far Across the Caspian Sea ended.  I wanted more.
 
Lilith Saintcrow takes us through a pivotal point in a gargoyle's life in The Heart is Always Right.  The very fact that Saintcrow chose to write a story about a gargoyle piqued my interest.  Perhaps my curiosity was because gargoyles rarely see the limelight, or because I loved the cartoon Gargoyles from the nineties.  Either way, I really think she has something here, and would love to see more.
 
The Heart is Always Right is an urban fantasy piece written in first person limited, the narrator being a nameless gargoyle.  He tells us the roles of gargoyles, the hierarchy and social structure of their culture.  They're on the side of good, fighting all sorts of evil creatures, but in order to gain a name, in order to become one of the coveted inner circle, he has to bring in a Heart Candidate.  When he finds one, he finds something within himself he is not entirely prepared for it.
 
A. Lee Martinez offers a comical rendition of monsters from the deep in The Innsmouth Nook.  While this piece is not full of puns or extreme ridiculousness, there are some toned down similarities to Tom Holt when it comes to comic style.  In contrast, The Boys Go Fishing by Sarah Smith is a heartfelt tale about the loneliness and isolation of the last superhero on earth.
 
Death's Excellent Vacation surprised me.  I thought I'd have some light-hearted material for when I sat in a lounger in my backyard while sipping margaritas.  While this anthology is entertaining and fun, there are some excellent gems which shine more brightly than others.