Stalking the Zombie

John Justin Mallory Mystery #3.5

by Mike Resnick

The collected short stories of detective John J. Mallory, the hero of Resnick's STALKING THE UNICORN, STALKING THE VAMPIRE and STALKING THE DRAGON. Eight, hilarious tales of a hard-boiled detective from our world, unhappily stranded in a Manhattan filled with trolls, pink elephants, a blue-nosed reindeer, powerful demons and more. The title story appears here for the first time.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Science Fiction, Mystery

222 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2012

About the author

Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick, better known by his published name Mike Resnick, was a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He was the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Poland. and has been short-listed for major awards in England, Italy and Australia. He was the author of 68 novels, over 250 stories, and 2 screenplays, and was the editor of 41 anthologies. His work has been translated into 25 languages. He was the Guest of Honor at the 2012 Worldcon and can be found online as @ResnickMike on Twitter or at www.mikeresnick.com.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today’s post is on Stalking the Zombie: Fables of Tonight by Mike Resnick. It is published by American Fantasy Press and 222 pages long. The cover has John Justin in his fedora with Felina behind looking very fierce. The intended reader is someone who has read the John Justin novels, loves urban fantasy and humor. This is a series of short stories written in-between the novels so it adds favor but nothing much to the core of the John Justin mythos. The stories are told from third person close of John Justin. There is no language, no sex, and all the violence is fun. There Be Spoilers Ahead.



From the dust jacket- Stalking the Zombie collects all of Resnick’s short stories featuring his hard-boiled detective John Justin Mallory, a quick-witted, honest private investigator caught up in the intrigues of dangerous Manhattan, but it’s not our Manhattan (or his).
Mallory is stranded in an alternate reality populated with leprechauns, a Blue-Nosed Reindeer, frightened goblins, The Chinese Sandman, pink elephants (no, not that kind), Card Sharks, lamia eggs as well as the odd Zombie. If that wasn’t harrowing enough, there’s the powerful demon who rules the whole East Coast underworld, the Grundy, who has become Mallory’s sworn mortal enemy. Although that doesn’t stop the demon from helping the P.I. solve a case now and then when it’s in his interests, much to the chagrin of Mallory’s partner big game hunter Col. Winnifred Caruthers. And when Mallory needs some “muscle”, he enlists the help the his “office cat”, the irrepressible cat-woman Felina with the Very Sharp Claws.
Mike Resnick’s delight in writing these mysteries is infectious. His Mallory skewers classic fantasy menaces with a cool modern-day logic, all the while indulging in a long string of hilarious, biting retorts the resulting “fables of tonight” are quite addictive.



Review- I love John Justin Mallory stories. They are funny, witty, and just plain good. Some of the stories I have read before but most where new to me. Resnick give me what I wanted in this collection. More snarky dialog, more weird mysteries, and more Grundy. The stories go from right after John Justin is stuck in the other Manhattan to just after the last novel. So if you have read all the novels like I have then you will get all the jokes but if you are just starting in the John Justin world do not worry. You will get most of the jokes because Resnick is just poking fun at the urban fantasy genre. Another thing that I love about Resnick is how consistent he is with his characters. I love knowing that Felina is just waiting to abandon John Justin and that Winnifred will have her guns and hunting trolls to find whatever in that Manhattan. If you have never read Resnick that you need to start now.



I give this book a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this book for a birthday present, Thanks Mom!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects eight short stories featuring John Justin Mallory, P.I., who's the star of three novels that have "Stalking" in the title. They're fun, light little romps with nothing but humor and entertainment in mind, and are reminiscent of Damon Runyon. (In his foreword Resnick says they were originally modeled after the works of Craig Rice, a writer with whom I am unfamiliar.) Mallory, along with his faithful partner Carruthers and his unfaithful office cat, Felina, faces all kinds of mysteries and adventures and monsters; the only problem I found was that there is some repetitive phrasing and introductory material when reading the stories back-to-back, but that's to be expected. Felina is especially interesting and convincing as a cat-souled person. The book has a nice introduction by Connie Willis.
(Here's hoping that Flyaway finally wins one.)

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly, Mike Resnick passed away last month, but I finally got to this book.

Series of short stories related to the Fables of Tonight series. Seven different cases, but the stories have a lot of similarities rather than a lot of new content. So great for devoted fans, but maybe not worth $15-25 (limited print so expensive). I bought and converted to ebook so that I could read it.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Justin Mallory is a private eye living in a twisted New York City with magical creatures. This volume is a collection of stories that combine a hard boiled detective with a Damon Runyon flair. Mike's Harry the Book also inhabits this world. I have read most of these stories previously. Only the title story is unique to the collection. A fun read.