Eric Laster

After reading his second YA book, Welfy Q. Deederhoth: Meat Purveyor, World Savior, I wanted to go back and check out Laster's previous work. Well...he certainly improved enormously between his first and second books. This one is about twice as long as it needs to be, and most days it was all I could do to read a chapter. I dropped it for several months before finally finishing it. It concerns a high school student, Curtis Brooks, whose brother Wilt has died in a mysterious car accident--that the student doesn't believe was an accident. Even though the brother says it was. Huh? See, the brother is calling him on his phone from the Aftermart, a Walmart like place where dead souls end up. OK, I can accept this, but the story just drags on and on and moves at a snail's pace (actually, slower). There is some decent writing, but it just gets lost here. This is also a much more adult book than Welfy Deederhoth. Besides receiving some money from his dead brother, Curtis also takes up with his brother's girlfriend. Enough said. The attitude is pretty snarky throughout and the author commits the first novel sin of just throwing in anything he can think of (in case there isn't a second novel). Some ideas are good; some aren't. The story of Aftermart isn't nearly as interesting as it should be, for instance. Oh well, I'm just glad I finished. The ending is satisfactory, at least.… (more)

*Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from Netgalley and Automatic Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of this book in any way.

As soon as I saw the description on Netgalley I was intrigued, because the theme of a dead person being able to call a loved one is one that I haven't read much about. I was also a bit confused by the genre, because surely a book that talks about receiving phone calls from the dead has a little bit of fantasy in it, right? Or horror, depends on how you look at it.

It was interesting to read an entire story from a boy's POV. I found it a bit strange at times, but I definitely found it an interesting and good change from what I normally read.

I thought Curtis was a fascinating character. He had moments when he frustrated me, but for the most part I rooted for him and hoped he'd succeed in what he was doing. The story reveals a lot of things about Curtis that made me question some of the things about the story. I feel like, in the end, he does the best he can with the cards he was dealt. His parents are far from perfect, his life in general sucks. The fact that his brother died is important, but I feel like the fact that he got these phone calls from Wilt helped him cope or at least ignore the fact that Wilt isn't physically there for him when he needs him the most.

Remember when I said that I was confused by the genre? Well, the story itself left me with a lot of doubts regarding these phone calls. I kept wondering, mostly because of some of the details that emerged about Curtis throughout the book, if those phone calls were real. Which in a way I thought was brilliant, because then, depending on what you want to believe, there's two ways in which you can see the book. Either Curtis was completely delusional, or he really was talking to his dead brother on the phone.

I felt like the pace was a little too slow for my taste, and the ending turned out to be completely not what I imagined. Not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I expected.

My only issue was with the parents in this book. I would've wanted at least one of the parents to be somewhat normal, or at least true, mature adults. Actually, now that I think about it, all of the adults in this book weren't exactly role models, or even adults per se.

Anyway, I thought the book was okay and if you're fans of YA mysteries, you should definitely check it out and let me know what you think.… (more)

Welfy is an orphan failed by the welfare system, who runs away to live in the big apple, New York City, but don't let that put you off.

He decides to relocate and leaves his various children's and foster homes behind to make his own way in the world. I don't think most of us could blame a boy who had lived in 31 homes in 2 years for trying another solution. Bargaining his work skills in exchange for food might not exactly be an ideal way to live his extremely young life, our hero doesn't know it yet, but he is about to embark on a dangerous adventure with Baloney.

Welfy, meets young Harlan, who lives under a bridge and they soon become firm friends. Harlan shows him the ropes and helps him adapt to life on the streets and in exchange Welfy shows Harlan how to dodge deadly missiles which look remarkably like ketchup in an alternate universe.

Aimed at everyone aged over 9 who likes reading about heroes, or even meat products.

I may not be in the target age group that the author was aiming for, but that certainly never stopped me before.

An enjoyable adventure with lots of death and action, I see no reason why this book cannot be enjoyed by both genders of Junior school age. There is a fitting end, but plenty of scope exists if the author decides to give young Welfy another outing, and I hope he does.

Great Fun.

This copy was received from the publisher for an honest review.… (more)

I am a huge fan of Netgalley.com (check it out) and I download a lot of books for children and/or teens that I sometimes read myself. This is one of them, and I enjoyed it thoroughly from start to finish. While the author sets out to tell a deliberately weird story, he doesn't fall into the trap so many authors do of forgetting what really makes a story work: its characters. In fact, the silly title of the book may unnecessarily put off some readers. That would be a shame, because this book has a heart and soul to go along with its weird humor and wacky sci-fi adventure. Our hero, Welfy, a homeless boy from the streets of New York, who has recently found refuge thanks to a kind delicatessen owner, finds himself in another universe helping an alien race fight for its survival against a really nasty, violent adversary. The episodes on the alien planet are well done, but it is the back-and-forth between the alien planet and Earth, and the unraveling of the mystery about Welfy's parents, that drives the book forward. Welfy's homeless friend, Harlan, is also a big plus, as he becomes involved in Welfy's adventure. To tell more would be to spoil some of the fun of reading this delightful book.… (more)