September 7, 2025 by A.S. Van Dorston

#15 of favorite books. Hapless Charlie Asher is tasked to gather souls, and also save the world.

“Charlie Asher: I accidently shagged a monk last night.
Minty Fresh: Sometimes, in times of crisis, that shit cannot be avoided.”

This supernatural comedy starts with a tragedy. Charlie Asher is in the hospital with his dying wife. On top of running his secondhand shop and raising his newborn daughter Sophie, a Death Merchant named Minty Fresh informs him he has also been burdened with the responsibility of a Death Merchant, collecting souls via vessels before they’re consumed by malevolent forces from the underworld. Eventually, two giant hellhounds appear, apparently to provide protection for Sophie, who refers to them as “goggies.” But why does she in particular need protection? And is he prepared to make the sacrifice to save the world from the growing supernatural threat?

I’ve read nearly all of Christopher Moore’s books, and this strikes the perfect balance between serious emotional heft and comic relief, such as his baleful goth assistant Lily, Russian immigrant neighbor Mrs. Petrov, who plots throughout the book to make sausage stew of the hellhounds and Audrey’s sartorial squirrel people, one of which is dressed like a French dandy going to a fancy ball.

“. . . You seem upset, Charlie. Is something wrong?
Charlie: No, no, I’m okay, I just had to take directions from a mute beaver in a fez to get here, it’s unsettling.”

Set in San Francisco over a period of six years, I fell in love with all the characters, both human and non-human, and it feels like Moore did too, handling them all with compassionate sensitivity. This book distills what I love most about Kurt Vonnegut’s satire and Tom Robbins surreal imagination and builds a world I want to keep returning to. In fact, I’m absolutely dying for Moore to write a third book in this series. It’s not only my favorite Christopher Moore book, but one of my all-time favorites.