A Night in the Lonesome October

A fun Halloween read. Nothing too heavy - just the end of humanity if the door holding back the elder gods is opened at the death of the moon on All Hallows Eve! The game is afoot and the fate of the world hangs in the balance! It's up to a dog named Snuff to help his master Jack, (who is good with knives), figure out not only the identities of all the other players, but also which side they are on and also the location of the afore-mentioned metaphysical door.

Whew! That's a lot of stuff to figure out in only one short month! Luckily, Snuff has a talent for math and cartography. He is also good at creating temporary alliances with other familiars who might be able to help him get to the bottom of a myriad of mysteries. He'd better hurry though because The Great Detective and his sidekick are also on the case.

This is another great first-person narrative from Zelazny. He was an absolute master of the form and here he doles out the pieces at a perfect pace via the diary entries of Snuff the dog. There is great dialogue, mysterious happenings, clever character allusions, and plenty of that wry Zelazny humor that is his hallmark. A very enjoyable October read.