Working Stiff

Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. #5

by Kevin J. Anderson

Back from the dead… and back on the case!

Even being murdered doesn’t keep a good detective down, and in the Unnatural Quarter—inhabited by ghosts, vampires, werewolves, mummies, and all sorts of creatures that go bump (or thud!) in the night—a zombie P.I. fits right in. Dan Chambeaux, a.k.a. “Shamble,” solves a string of madcap cases with his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne, his Best Human Friend Officer Toby McGoohan, and his firebrand lawyer partner Robin Deyer.

Working Stiff contains seven cases from the files of Chambeaux & Deyer Investigations. Dan Shamble has to solve the mystery of a stolen deck of fortune-telling cards and the undeath-defying feats of a vampire trapeze artist, finds himself sealed in a coffin in the back of a truck with no idea where he’s being taken, and is even hired by Santa Claus to find his lost “naughty and nice” list. Being trapped in an unbreakable monster-proof crypt, deciphering a string of mysterious zombie graffiti, investigating the murder of a costumed fan at a science fiction convention where the monsters are the normal attendees, or tracking down a kidnapped hellhound for legendary vigilante werewolf cop Hairy Harry—it’s all in a day’s work for Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Urban Fantasy, Humor, Fiction, Zombies, Horror

ebook

First published October 1, 2014

About the author

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. I love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.

I have written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and I'm the co-author of the Dune prequels. My original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series and the Nebula Award-nominated Assemblers of Infinity. I have also written several comic books including the Dark Horse Star Wars collection Tales of the Jedi written in collaboration with Tom Veitch, Predator titles (also for Dark Horse), and X-Files titles for Topps.

I serve as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest.

My wife is author Rebecca Moesta. We currently reside near Monument, Colorado.

Reviews

[Karl]

This is copy number 5 of 500 signed numbered copies. This is signed by Kevin J. Anderson and is labeled "Special Limited Edition" on the spine of the book and dust jacket.

[Eric Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. is a fun world full of dad jokes and groan-worthy puns. The author doesn't take himself too seriously and so it's easy to have fun and roll with it rather than end up rolling your eyes at it. This collection of Dan Shamble short stories does a good job of introducing, and then having fun with, the regular cast of characters. If you like your noir/hard-boiled detective novels with a bit of camp, this is for you. Here's what I thought of each of the stories within:

Stakeout at the Vampire Circus - I was able to figure out the case, but that doesn't make it a bad detective story. It shows that Anderson wasn't cheating. Also, it was a pretty fun cast of characters.

Road Kill - this one was quite a bit of fun. Looks like Mr. Anderson has a good time filling out the details of his world

Naughty and Nice - Santa hires Dan Chambeaux to discover who stole his naught/nice list. Sometimes the best way to be subversive with a detective story is to be direct. Not bad.

Locked Room - Dan and his partner are hired to test a room that's meant to be inescapable by the undead. The solution is a little bit of a cheat, but still plausible.

The Writing on the Wall - Not too hard to figure out the main case. The fun part was trying to figure out how the two fit together.

Role Model - McGoo and Chambeaux attend a Cosplay Convetion where things go awry. I was able to partially solve it ahead of time, but there were a good number of fakeouts. Also learned that within the world of Working Stiff there are Dan Shamble stories similar to the ones I am reading.

Beware of Dog - The culprits were incredibly easy to guess, but still a BIG twist reveal at the end. Very entertaining.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working Stiff: The Cases of Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. is an anthology of all of Kevin J. Anderson Dan Shamble short stories. As a fan of the series, I’ve been reading the short stories when I can, but I’ve missed a few as some of them have been released exclusively in other short story anthologies. Now that they’ve all been collected together into one book, fans can rejoice in getting those missing stories. After all, each one is yet another adventure with zombie detective Dan Shamble and his colorful cohorts as they crack some entertaining cases.

There are seven stories in this anthology:

Stakeout at the Vampire Circus
Road Kill
Naughty & Nice
Locked Room
The Writing on the Wall
Role Model
Beware of Dog
Some of the short stories are better than others, but they’re all enjoyable. “Stakeout at the Vampire Circus” features a hunt for a stolen deck of cards at the local circus, interactions with the side acts, and the usual bit of humor and puns. “Road Kill” amps things up with an even better story involving a gangster family with an illicit blood market operation and a vampire witness in protective custody. “Naughty & Nice” brings a change of pace with a Christmas theme story involving Santa Claus and elf elvis competitor who wants to bring toys to all the kids regardless of whether they’re naughty or nice. With some mystery, action and suspense, it’s a good one.

“The Locked Room” is a Shamble and Sheyenne team up story as they work on a case for Esther the harpy waitress. She’s commissioned a new mausoleum built by Percy the Minotaur, Sr. and she wants to make sure it’s escape proof. Who better than a zombie and ghost? “The Writing on the Wall” takes a shot at Elvira and zombies scrawling graffiti all over town. In “Beware of Dog”, we finally get to see Hairy Harry, a werewolf version of Clint Eastwood’s famous Dirty Harry. Hairy Harry has lost his pet hellhound and it’s up to Dan Shamble to find it before it tears up the town. Along the way, he runs into Coupe De Ville (think Cruella de Vil from The Hundred and One Dalmatians) and GETA = Gremlins for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Like the rest, it’s a lot of fun.

However, the best of the bunch is “Role Model”. I have to admit, this is primarily due to my love of Star Wars and the fact that the 501st Legion plays such a prominent role in this story. It all take place at convention called CosplayCon. Dan Shamble and his cop buddy McGoo decide to check the con out and wide up in the middle of a murder: some stabs a vampire stormtrooper in the heart with a wooden stake. To make matter worse, the only witness is a Klingon named Ach-gLokh Heqht. There’s skirmishes with the Klingons and 501st Legion, cameos by Vader, Boba Fett, Doctor Who and Firefly cosplayers and some funny redshirt jokes. If you’re a sci-fi fan and have been to a convention or two, this one will be right up your alley.

At the end of the day, Working Stiff is a great collection of humorous mystery stories starring a wide selection of unnatural characters. Each of them stars a zombie detective as he goes around a town full of monsters which turn ordinary cases into bizarre escapades. Throughout each story is a nice mix of action and mystery with lots of humor and jokes, some better than others, but all of them setting the mood for the stories. If you’re a fan of the series, this is a must read anthology. For those new to the series, it’s a great way to get introduced to the characters and the setting. From there, if you like what you read, you’ll find a whole lot more waiting for you with the full length novels.

I give Working Stiff a five out of five for collecting all of the Dan Shamble short stories together in one convenient book. It’s a lot of fun all packed into one place and a great way to spend a couple evenings.

[Kingsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are lookjing for serious detective work and hard boiled cases - this is not it. This is over the top and silly and absurd and just plain fun.

This is book 5 in a series, which I didnt realise when I grabbed it. But it doesn't actually matter (from what I can tell), as it is a collection of short stories that aren't related to each other. No prior knowledge of the characters are required, as each short story rehashes the minimum requirements for following hte sotry (zombie detective, ghost girlfriend etc)

Working Stiff contains 7 short stories, with Dan Shamble PI solving a variety of mysteries from stolen items, missing children (or hell hounds) to murder. The cases usually involve other supernatural creatures (vampires, zombies, werewolves etc.). Each case was generally entertaining by itself, with a few twists and turns along the way.

Kevin J Anderson plays if for laughs, poking fun at a whole tonne of private eye or supernatural tropes. One of the short stories, set at a Cosplay convention, also plays off many of the common joke and ideas of cosplayers and geek fandom. But it's done "laughing with" not "laughing at" as KJA is part of that crowd (having even written Star Wars books previously).

Gilboe reads it over the top as well. He gets what KJA was going for in the writing. He provides different character voices, but every single one is over done. It fits wonderfully for the content of this book, but would feel out of place and painful with another book. Dan Shamble himself sounds like Troy McClure.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of audiobookblast dot com.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

I would recommend this to someone who liked goofy humor sprinkled with inside jokes of the nerd variety and wanted an easy, fun read. But, for me, it wasn't fun enough to justify spending the time on such a light, silly series.

As far as the story, I found myself a bit bored. The premise is interesting enough: a zombie detective solves mysteries with his ghost girlfriend in a world where supernatural creatures mingle with humans.

However, his zombie-ness never seems relevant to the plot. And it's not a deep, dark mystery, but a series of goofy stories told in a psuedo-noir fashion. One short story filled with humor would have been great, but I struggled to get through the whole thing.

My favorite story was the one set at a sci-fi convention. There were lots of jokes for closet sci-fi nerds like me, and it had one of the more interesting mysteries.

Michael Gilboe's performance was dead-on, pun intended. He sounded like every character should. And he played up the humor in the book by having the Zombie Detective take himself very seriously when his world was ridiculous. Or by making an unexpected, but still fitting choice for a character's voice. Gilboe's performance was the best part of this book.

[TwitchyRedPen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of stories about a zombie detective solving supernatural mysteries. Previously published as separate stories in various anthologies or what-have-you, leading to every story explaining that he's a zombie, how he's a zombie, where he works, who is friends are, why his girlfriend is a ghost... Necessary in separate publications, a bit tiring when they're all collected.

Fun, and the obligatory violence is low-key -- not graphic, not gory, just there to start the plot off -- everything is for laughs, not to be scary or all that suspenseful.

Unfortunately, between the repetition and the brevity, everything is very shallow and hard to build much interest in. Interesting enough to keep reading while it was convenient, but losing the book mid-story wouldn't have been upsetting.

[Jonathan Scotese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book as part of a bundle, it piqued my curiosity so I read it. It is not something I would have bought on its own.

It contains several short stories about a "zombie" detective in a post supernatural awakening near future. I use zombie in quotes because he is called a zombie while just being generic undead. He is neither a voodoo creation nor a mindless flesheater. The writing is very playful and silly.

In some ways it reminds me of A. Lee Martinez, but his works have a certain logic and consistency even when they are absurd. The style is more reminiscent of Robert Asprin. It feels like it was fun to write, but it feels like it was made up as he went along.

[Dutch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really a series of short stories documenting the cases of Daniel Chambeaux, zombie PI. When investigating the death of his girlfriend, Daniel was shot in the back of the head and returned as a zombie in the Unnatural Quarter. The Big Uneasy saw the surfacing of many unnaturals (zombies, ghosts, vampires, etc.) and now naturals and unnaturals live together and life will never be the same.

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun horror mysteries. Lots of pop culture references.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty tame group of short stories.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today's post is on Working Stiff by Kevin J. Anderson. It is a short story collection of the character Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. It is 163 pages long and is published by WordFire Press. The cover has Dan and Sheyenne on it with a spooky tree behind them. The intended reader is someone who has read the novels, likes horror tropes and making fun of them. There is mild foul language, talk of sexuality, and mild violence in this book. The story is told from first person of Dan Shamble. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Back from the dead…and back on the case!
Even being murdered doesn't keep a good detective down, and in the Unnatural Quarter—inhabited by ghosts, vampires, werewolves, mummies, and all sorts of creatures that go bump (or thud!) in the night—a zombie P.I. fits right in. Dan Chambeaux, a.k.a. "Shamble," solves a string of madcap cases with his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne, his Best Human Friend Officer Toby McGoohan, and his firebrand lawyer partner Robin Deyer.
Working Stiff contains seven cases from the files of Chambeaux & Deyer Investigations. Dan Shamble has to solve the mystery of a stolen deck of fortune-telling cards and the undeath-defying feats of a vampire trapeze artist, finds himself sealed in a coffin in the back of a truck with no idea where he's being taken, and is even hired by Santa Claus to find his lost "naughty and nice" list. Being trapped in an unbreakable monster-proof crypt, deciphering a string of mysterious zombie graffiti, investigating the murder of a costumed fan at a science fiction convention where the monsters are the normal attendees, or tracking down a kidnapped hellhound for legendary vigilante werewolf cop Hairy Harry—it's all in a day's work for Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.

Review- I really enjoy the Dan Shamble series. It's funny, it's self-aware, and it's not afraid to be silly. Anderson knows his horror tropes and he works well with them. We get everything from a vampire circus to a fan-convention with Dan Shamble cosplayers. If you have read the other Dan Shamble books then you will get all the in jokes but if not you can still enjoy this collection for it's playful humor. There is no extra character development or world building in this series just adventures with the characters and more bad jokes. I hope that Anderson writes more with these characters and this fun world.

I give this collection a Five out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I was given this collection as gift.

[Peter Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. As a fairly recent Dresden Files fan, I was looking for books to read to tide me over to Peace Talks. I bought a deleted book from my library, Furies of the Calderon, by Dresden Files author Jim Butcher, for $1. It is taking me ages to read. Less than 100 pages to go, I decided to borrow Working Stiff. I finished it in a weekend. The reason for this comparison is that, for people suffering Dresden withdrawals, I recommend the Shamble series over Furies of the Calderon. It was a light, funny read. I enjoyed the world, where monsters/ undead/the unnatural are accepted members of the Unnatural Quarter. The humour is less from the protagonist than the situations created by this world. Working stiff was my introduction to Dan shamble, and I intend to read more of his series.

[Carol Farrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book of shorter stories, some had previously been published as the .5 books. I enjoyed a few such as The Locked Room, Writing on the Wall, and Beware of Dog. My favorite in this collection was Role Model about a cosplay convention, which had more than the usual references to other things.

[Metagion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really cute (and a quick read: less than 250 pages) and has a bunch of stories rather than one narrative. In some (like "Beware of Dog") there's mention of a legendary cop turned werewolf called "Hairy Harry" that youngsters may not get (old cultural reference) but all in all I thought it was really cool! Enjoy!

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains all the shorter works involving our beloved Zombie Detective and his companions.
They are full of characters— in every sense. However, the humour component was decidedly low, with only a few groan-inducing puns scattered among grim stuff. Even the plots were somewhat overburdened with descriptions.
But the overall experience was good.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short stories about the Zombie private investigator "Dan Chambeaux" (Shambles to his friends).

Told in a typical noir style, but peopled with zombies, vampires, gremlins, harpies and Santa and played for laughs.

Enjoyable and fun.

[Blaine Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Shamble is my favorite zombie P.I. He and his friends always get their...creature!? Relax and escape real world problems with some unnatural puzzles. You could howl with delight at these charming forays into life after the big uneasy.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine collection of short stories

Featuring the dead and not at all departed Dan Chambeaux and crew in the big Uneasy. These shorts have great plotting and the quirky humor that makes this collection a pleasure to read.Shamble on!

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.6. This was an entertaining and enjoyable collection of stories from our favorite zombie private detective. I liked this book, although I did find it got a bit slow at times. Overall, a good collection of short stories.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable collection of stories allowing us to meet Dan Shamble and his living and living-dead friends. In this collection we get some surprises through several stories. Find out everything you didn't want to know about things unhuman. Recommended. A nice collection of mysteries.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't like the change of narrator, but the short stories were great!

[Jerry Horne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny!! Great stories! Great premise!

[Laura Ruetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read any of the books, but this collection is short stories about Dan Shamble, zombie detective, sure made me want to pick up the books. These were fun to read, with a lot of humor.

[Charl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like all the Dan Shamble stories.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun light read

Beach book? Stress relief? Definitely not in the Dune world, but stand alone no brainer casual fun. Fills a good spot

[John E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection

This is a collection of short stories and like many collections, some good, some average, none memorable. Overall, A fun, light addition to the series.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of short stories. None of these were long enough for a book but they were interesting.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy these Noir style bad monster pun stories. They are entertaining reads. This time it’s a collection of Dan Shamble shorts. Some of which I had read before and some new ones.

[Dale Rosso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great entry in the series, have not ran into a Dan Shamble P.I. book yet that I haven't enjoyed, relaxing, interesting and humorous story's.

[Kathryn Theulen dailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fun to listen too "
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes I did. I already like Kevin Anderson's work but I had not seen his stories with Dan Shamble before. I loved them. I thought it was new, interesting and different. I'm a fan of gum shoe detective stories and the paranormal. So I was thrilled when I started listening and found that Kevin had put both together.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
Yes it is a collections of 7 different cases that Dan is involved with and works to solve.

Stakeout at the Vampire Circus
Road Kill
Naughty & Nice
Locked Room
The Writing on the Wall
Role Model
Beware of Dog

Each story was just long enough to have a case for Dan to solve, have enough action and drama to keep the listener interested and all the cases have a solution in the end before Dan moves on to the next case.

Which scene was your favorite?
The Super Hero Con convention story. I thought it was great.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes if I would have had the time I think I would have.

Any additional comments?
I was provided this audio book at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com