Stalking the Unicorn: A Fable of Tonight

Rating:
Summary: Witty, dark, entertaining throughout
Review: If dark comedy, irony, or fantasy/sci-fi are your bag, it would be well worth it for you to try REALLY hard to find this book, as you will not be disappointed. This book starts off with John Mallory, a down on his luck private investigator, spending New Year's Eve alone in his dreary Manhattan office. His wife has run off with his ex-partner, the mafia has put a price on his head, and just when it seemed things couldn't get any cheerier, a little green elf shows up in his office who, to Mallory's surprise, is not an alcohol-based hallucination. It seems that the elf has a job for Mallory... and by dawn the next day, the two will have journeyed to an alternate world which is identical to, and at the same time nothing like, the Manhattan that Mallory has come to know. Resnick's style is dark and ironic, while still maintaining a deeper level of humor than found in most books of this genre. It may be difficult to find this book now, but if what you just read has enticed you, it'll be well worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Fantasy/Mystery
Review: Private eye John Justin Mallory has hit an all time low point in his life. His wife ran off with his ex-partner, the mafia has put a price on his head, he doesn't have any money and no prospective clients, either, until he sees a little green elf trying to hire him. At first, Mallory blames the elf-sighting on the bourbon he has been drinking, but as he listens to Murgenstrum's story, he starts believing that elves really do exist. When some mob guys come to get him, the elf's ideas start to seem really good and Mallory is on the case.

Turns out that Murgenstrum was in charge of watching a unicorn, the unicorn that kept the fairy world and the human world linked. In the heart of each unicorn was a magic gem that had amazing power and the Grundy, a demon, wanted that power. Murgenstrum was positive that the Grundy had kidnapped the unicorn and was desperate to find it before the unicorn was killed. They didn't have much time and Mallory was all too aware that, if the unicorn died, the veil between his world and the fairy world would disappear and he would be stuck in a world populated with fairies, gnomes, leprechauns, goblins, demons and who knows what else!

I found this to be an entertaining, light fantasy read. Resnick's view of the fairy world was very interesting and it was great to see Manhattan as a world living alongside fantasy where things are never what they seem. The only thing that could have made this book better was to have better character development and a smoother plot. The characters had a tendency to pop in and out of the story, some to be seen again, most not. They are not necessarily hard to keep track of, but some of Mallory's adventures seemed contrived to make the book longer than it needed to be. Still the wacky characters in the book are a great part of its charm. I enjoyed the book, but I borrowed it from a virtual library and so I think this book is worth reading, but I don't know if I would feel the same way if I had paid for it...

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Fantasy/Mystery
Review: Private eye John Justin Mallory has hit an all time low point in his life. His wife ran off with his ex-partner, the mafia has put a price on his head, he doesn't have any money and no prospective clients, either, until he sees a little green elf trying to hire him. At first, Mallory blames the elf-sighting on the bourbon he has been drinking, but as he listens to Murgenstrum's story, he starts believing that elves really do exist. When some mob guys come to get him, the elf's ideas start to seem really good and Mallory is on the case.

Turns out that Murgenstrum was in charge of watching a unicorn, the unicorn that kept the fairy world and the human world linked. In the heart of each unicorn was a magic gem that had amazing power and the Grundy, a demon, wanted that power. Murgenstrum was positive that the Grundy had kidnapped the unicorn and was desperate to find it before the unicorn was killed. They didn't have much time and Mallory was all too aware that, if the unicorn died, the veil between his world and the fairy world would disappear and he would be stuck in a world populated with fairies, gnomes, leprechauns, goblins, demons and who knows what else!

I found this to be an entertaining, light fantasy read. Resnick's view of the fairy world was very interesting and it was great to see Manhattan as a world living alongside fantasy where things are never what they seem. The only thing that could have made this book better was to have better character development and a smoother plot. The characters had a tendency to pop in and out of the story, some to be seen again, most not. They are not necessarily hard to keep track of, but some of Mallory's adventures seemed contrived to make the book longer than it needed to be. Still the wacky characters in the book are a great part of its charm. I enjoyed the book, but I borrowed it from a virtual library and so I think this book is worth reading, but I don't know if I would feel the same way if I had paid for it...

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and very funny
Review: This remains the only book I have ever read by Resnick, though I have read a few of his short stories, which have much the same flavor. The hilarity starts in the first chapter and keeps right on going. The hero is transported to a Manhatten terrorized by a demon, because the demon has stolen a unicorn... but I won't give too much away. All I will say is- go out of your way to look for this book. The humor, the completely unexpected ending, and the oddly sympathetic bad guys (once you figure out who the bad guys are) make it hard to pass up.

Rating:
Summary: I Can't Believe I Read the Whole Thing!
Review: This was the first (and will likely be the last) Resnick offering I've read. I found it sophomorish and lacking in character development althought the story line was easy enough to follow. At the same time, Resnick seems to be less interested in descriptive phraseology than in dialogue which was, surprisingly not bad at all. I would expect young teens to rather enjoy this one.

Rating:
Summary: I Can't Believe I Read the Whole Thing!
Review: This was the first (and will likely be the last) Resnick offering I've read. I found it sophomorish and lacking in character development althought the story line was easy enough to follow. At the same time, Resnick seems to be less interested in descriptive phraseology than in dialogue which was, surprisingly not bad at all. I would expect young teens to rather enjoy this one.