Yeah, I know....another Christopher Moore book. What can I say? I'm hooked!
Practical Demonkeeping is the story of the demon, Catch, and his mortal "master" Travis. Travis was a seminary student during the first World War, and he accidentally stumbled on Catch. When he became Catch's master, he was granted immortality and invulnerability. The catch (pun intended) is that the demon never leaves him and is constantly feeding. On people. That Travis cares about. One hundred years later, Travis and Catch travel to the town of Pine Cove, CA. Travis is plotting to get rid of Catch, and gets caught up in the drama of the residents of Pine Cove.
I've said this in a previous Moore review, but his most interesting characters tend to be the secondary ones. Gian Hen Gian, the king of the Djinn, is hunting Catch, but since he's been cooped up in a bottle for two thousand years, he has no concept of modern technology. He becomes obsessed with the Marx Brothers because he thinks Harpo is also a Djinn. When Augustus Brine, his mortal assistant, explains the concept of movies to him, "he felt like he had just raped the tooth fairy in front of a class of kindergartners."
This is Moore's first novel, and sometimes it shows. Don't get me wrong, it is still well written and a lot of fun, but it just isn't quite as good as Lamb, A Dirty Job, Bloodsucking Fiends, or You Suck. I am definitely planning to read some more Moore for my CBR. I'm dying to read Fool, and the third book in the vampire series, Bite Me, which comes out in April.
