A Dirty Job

I read this book on a recommendation, and I think I finished it just to see if it ever got halfway decent. It didn't.I mean, I've read something like over 2000 books in my life, from all genres. And this steaming pile of aspiring mediocrity has to fall in the bottom ten. The characters are as bland as flour, the story is de-riveting, and the big surprised and plot twists can be spotted coming ten chapters away.The real shame is that this book could have been good, you can tell the author has some experience under their belt, and the flow works. But man, it just did not come together well.Not worth the read. Only Amazon book I've ever tried to refund after the first five chapters.

This book was given to me by my son-in-law. When I started reading it I did not understand why he would give me such a strange book? I could not get into it.But I did not want to disappoint him so I resolved to at least give it a try. Since I love audio books, I added audio to this book and voila, the book took a totally new meaning. I love the narrator Fisher Stevens and listening to him brought the book to live.The book is funny and sweet and strange and I loved Charlie Asher. The story takes place over number of years where newborn Sophie is growing up on top floor of Charlie’s second hand clothing store. She is being cared for by two immigrant ladies Chinese and Russian.The talent of Fisher Stevens is so great that all character voices and accents are tailored to the characters, recognizable and in case of babysitters very funny because they were so real sounding.Charlie Asher is identified as Beta male, which according to the book description is dependable, loyal, responsible and sensible individual. It sounds boring but Charlie is far from it – Charlie is a Death Merchant and Soul Collector.Since Charlies wife Rachel died right after Sophie was born, Charlie is raising her himself and she is the most important person in his life, but his job sometimes takes him away from Sophie under most unusual circumstances.The writing is very good. The dialogue between the different characters is so real and entertaining that it reminded me of my own family gatherings.All characters are worth mentioning – Lillie, the Goth girl; Ray, the retired disabled detective; Charlie’s sister Jane who can’t decide on her life partner and Charlie’s daughter Sophie, who just by saying word “kitty” makes people and animals disappear.And the ending did not disappoint.5 stars for the story and 5 stars for the narrator Fisher Stevens

The description is nothing like the actual book. He collects a soul twice, all the other attention was given to filler which was a total disappointment because he had a great story idea. The only amusing part of the book is when he is trying to lure an old lady out of her house so he can drop a brick on her, after she already whooped him on her porch with pepper-spray because she is refusing to die and he is past the deadline to collect her soul and bad things happen if you fail to collect a soul. Everything else is filler with a lot of attempts at racial humor. We didn’t even see him really collect a soul until Part II and that part was interesting because the plot finally feels like its moving forward. As was when he meets another soul collector out in Arizona. However all those “interesting” moments where you think the book is finally on track with the main plot derails after a couple paragraphs. The final chapter had the longest run with smallest amount of filler. Super short-lived main plot and a ton of filler exchanges.

it'd been a few years since i'd read a christopher moore book, and i knew i was ready for his absurd, heart-warming, over-the-top brand of comedy-horror, and i got everything i could have hoped for with a dirty job. here's the first sentence: "charlie asher walked the earth like an ant walks on the surface of water, as if the slightest misstep might send him plummeting through the surface to be sucked to the depths below." timid charlie asher of course winds up a merchant of death, like santa's elves, only for death. together with a few other merchants he meets, his infant daughter, sister, his employees at his thrift store, a cop, two hellhounds, and a mysterious tibetan mystic, charlie must figure out why darkness is descending upon san francisco. hilarious, wise, exciting, and filled with enough dark imagery to be perceived of as a cry for help, moore nonetheless manages to create a stirring romance and morbid journey to self-recovery. highly recommended.

I purchased this book on sale (~$3); had never read anything from this author before, but it sounded like an interesting book and the price was swell. I have to say I am so glad I took a chance! I did have to get through the first chapter which offered a fair bit of narrative on Beta-males (the hero is such a male and was starting to get annoyed with him), but the story picks up and the adventures begin. I found myself thinking about the character while at work - looking forward to getting home to read more. Normally I read on the treadmill - gets through exercising which I hate, but I loved the story so much I took it to bed with me and read before sleep. Unfortunately it kept my up - couldn't put it down and was reading til 3 AM! I enjoyed the story so much I purchased the sequel as soon as I finished the first (at 2 in the morning). There are only 2 books; the second concludes the whole story (I wish there were a third). If you like good stories and quirky characters you will enjoy this one.

A really interesting idea, ruined. Tells you nothing of the dying or the bereaved, just the Charlie character, who is supposedly funny but actually isn't. The story meanders through very little and gets more and more preposterous the further you read, with a final hundred pages that are just laughable. The dialogue is supposedly witty, pithy and funny when really it just reads like a poor sit-com. A really poor sit-com.There is more than a whiff of the atrocious Pratchett about this, and any author who seeks to emulate him is not for me.

I loved this book. It was inventive, clever, laugh-out-loud witty, and well told. The main trick to comic noir fantasy is to create a fully believable world that the reader can inhabit despite its oddities. Moore does an excellent job of this, placing the reader in the geography of San Francisco, the world of Charlie Asher and the `death merchants', and the underworld of the Morrigan. The contextualisation concerning beta-males and soul collecting is nicely woven into the narrative. The characterisation, in particular, was very nicely done with each character well-penned, distinct and fully fleshed out. The plot is well developed and engaging, tugging the reader relentlessly along, although the timing element was sometimes a little clunky in the transitions as the story jumped forward a year or more at a time. The mark of a really good book is that you're disappointed when it ends. I was quite miffed when I turned the last page of A Dirty Job - the story had come to its natural end, but I was definitely left wanting more. The book is already on its way to my nephew, who I know will love it, and Moore's other books are firmly on my radar.

I enjoyed this book was polished off quite quickly for me and on to the second story in a moment. Only thing that bothered me is the beta male paragraphs I think the word was over used but didn't detract that much from my enjoyment.

First book I read of Moore was the gospel according to Biff and in this style, it's hard to top. 'A dirty job' whilst not as accomplished is still excellent, managing to be a bit scary sometimes whilst keeping its bonkers side going. It's cleverly of together plot and the characters, whilst of course a bit strange, are convincing enough to keep the story going. Going to read more of Moore's books,that's for sure.

Moore has a touch of Terry Pratchett and this can be likeable. He writes great characters and funny moments. However sometimes he writes a bit slowly and this is the case with dirty Job. I enjoyed his analysis that all human progress was not down to brave and assertive alpha males but their less endowed but cleverer cousins beta man. The concept of a junk store man discovering he has to pass on items of junk because they are special and at the same time prevent the items falling into the hands of the dark ones who live underground, is entertaining. But the idea of many agents of death not being organised, and in fact specifically forbidden t do so did not hold water. All in all a fine read but Moore has done better.