Search Worlds Without End

In Christopher Moore's ingenious debut novel, we meet one of the most memorably mismatched pairs in the annals of literature. The good-looking one is one-hundred-year-old ex-seminarian and "roads" scholar Travis O'Hearn. The green one is Catch, a demon with a nasty habit of eating most of the people he meets. Behind the fake Tudor faÇade of Pine Cove, California, Catch sees a four-star buffet. Travis, on the other hand, thinks he sees a way of ridding himself of his toothy traveling companion. The winos, neo-pagans, and deadbeat Lotharios of Pine Cove, meanwhile, have other ideas. And none of them is quite prepared when all hell breaks loose.

It's September in Pine Cove, California, where the tourists have finally decamped for the season, the sun is slanting through the trees, and the local psychiatrist has just decided to switch everyone from antidepressants to placebos without telling them. Suddenly, business is booming at the Head of the Slug Saloon, where a melancholy blues man from the Mississippi Delta has settled in for the winter. Unfortunately for the town's newly minted blues fans, however, a colossal sea beast is also drawn to the sound of the slide guitar. When a tanker truck explodes at the local gas station, it's the first sign that all hell is about to break loose in Pine Cove.

Can the unlikely constable Theophilus Crowe curb his gonzo appetites long enough to find out who--or what--is behind the explosion and the resulting series of mysterious crimes? Can Molly Michon, the has-been scream queen and resident crazy lady, control her dual personalities? Can anyone explain why a town so morose is suddenly so...libidinous? And what's the story behind the mysterious trailer that has just shown up in the back corner of the local trailer park?

'Twas the night (okay, more like the week) before Christmas, and all through the tiny community of Pine Cove, California, people are busy buying, wrapping, packing, and generally getting into the holiday spirit.

But not everybody is feeling the joy. Little Joshua Barker is in desperate need of a holiday miracle. No, he's not on his deathbed; no, his dog hasn't run away from home. But Josh is sure that he saw Santa take a shovel to the head, and now the seven-year-old has only one prayer: Please, Santa, come back from the dead.

But hold on! There's an angel waiting in the wings. (Wings, get it?) It's none other than the Archangel Raziel come to Earth seeking a small child with a wish that needs granting. Unfortunately, our angel's not sporting the brightest halo in the bunch, and before you can say "Kris Kringle," he's botched his sacred mission and sent the residents of Pine Cove headlong into Christmas chaos, culminating in the most hilarious and horrifying holiday party the town has ever seen.

Move over, Charles Dickens -- it's Christopher Moore time.