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Mr. Whiskers: Lord of the Void
Infinite cosmic power. Itty-bitty living space.
To the universe, he is a Class Omega entity of undefined chaos, capable of rewriting reality and staring down elder gods. To Detective Emily Chen, he is Mr. a stray black cat who appeared at a crime scene, eats too much Fancy Feast, and refuses to stay off the furniture.
It is 1982 in Chicago, and the cracks in the world are starting to show. A cult obsessed with an ancient serpent is stealing artifacts, bodies are vanishing from the morgue, and a comet is hurtling toward Earth with an appetite for destruction.
Trapped in a feline body, stripped of his powers, and forced to rely on a skepticism-prone detective and a teenage bellhop with a baseball bat, the universe's most chaotic entity has until Christmas Day to save the world.
He just has to finish his nap first.
Perfect for fans of Good Omens, The Dresden Files, and Terry Pratchett. If you like your eldritch horrors with a side of snark and a lot of heart, welcome to the holidays in Chicago.
To the universe, he is a Class Omega entity of undefined chaos, capable of rewriting reality and staring down elder gods. To Detective Emily Chen, he is Mr. a stray black cat who appeared at a crime scene, eats too much Fancy Feast, and refuses to stay off the furniture.
It is 1982 in Chicago, and the cracks in the world are starting to show. A cult obsessed with an ancient serpent is stealing artifacts, bodies are vanishing from the morgue, and a comet is hurtling toward Earth with an appetite for destruction.
Trapped in a feline body, stripped of his powers, and forced to rely on a skepticism-prone detective and a teenage bellhop with a baseball bat, the universe's most chaotic entity has until Christmas Day to save the world.
He just has to finish his nap first.
Perfect for fans of Good Omens, The Dresden Files, and Terry Pratchett. If you like your eldritch horrors with a side of snark and a lot of heart, welcome to the holidays in Chicago.
440 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
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August 6, 2026First heard about via https://bsky.app/profile/kateforrest....
August 18, 2026
Satisfying read I'll definitely come back to over and over
Mr. Whiskers is fantastic- is fun, funny, tense, absurd, heart-warming and bittersweet as all good things are. It's a great retelling of an ancient story (back top 2600 bce for one version,1600ish for the more direct comparison) of the battle between cats and the forces of entropy.
Mr. Whiskers is fantastic- is fun, funny, tense, absurd, heart-warming and bittersweet as all good things are. It's a great retelling of an ancient story (back top 2600 bce for one version,1600ish for the more direct comparison) of the battle between cats and the forces of entropy.
July 6, 2026
This was excellent. The best way to truly enjoy this book is to read it you will not be disappointed. We all know cats are wee gods and Mr. Whiskers does not dissapoint.
May 19, 2026
Cat and Chaos
What a fun book! It left me laughing from start to finish. Mr. Whiskers is such a snarky, lovable character.
What a fun book! It left me laughing from start to finish. Mr. Whiskers is such a snarky, lovable character.
June 30, 2026
Fun book to read
This book is not what I expected. It is fun to read, unique ideas, and funny. The author knows how to keep it light hearted. Cat lovers will devour it faster than fancy feast at the kennel.
This book is not what I expected. It is fun to read, unique ideas, and funny. The author knows how to keep it light hearted. Cat lovers will devour it faster than fancy feast at the kennel.
June 23, 2026
Loved it
I enjoyed the way this author plays with words, concepts, and the absurd while building unforgettable characters. I am now following this author.
I enjoyed the way this author plays with words, concepts, and the absurd while building unforgettable characters. I am now following this author.
June 11, 2026
The Cats Meow!
Mr. Whiskers rocks 80s style. I was excited to read this book and Koester did not disappoint. This book is a smorgasbord of 80s icons, 80s music, cat being a cat, super natural and cosmic events and cult activities. I enjoyed every word and page of this story. As much as I loved this story I hope it is a one-and-done it ended as it should have. Highly recommend!
Mr. Whiskers rocks 80s style. I was excited to read this book and Koester did not disappoint. This book is a smorgasbord of 80s icons, 80s music, cat being a cat, super natural and cosmic events and cult activities. I enjoyed every word and page of this story. As much as I loved this story I hope it is a one-and-done it ended as it should have. Highly recommend!
June 10, 2026
Absolute Delight!
If you liked Good Omens, you'll love this. If you haven't read Good Omens, go read it - after you read rhis.
Funny, thought-provoking, this even made me cry. Great characters, fantastic take on cosmic realities and even the meaning of life.
We need more chaos god cats in our lives.
If you liked Good Omens, you'll love this. If you haven't read Good Omens, go read it - after you read rhis.
Funny, thought-provoking, this even made me cry. Great characters, fantastic take on cosmic realities and even the meaning of life.
We need more chaos god cats in our lives.
June 14, 2026
Absolutely loved this story! The writing style was fun and slightly irrelevant. The story follows a new cosmic being on its adventures through time and space and other dimensions including 1970’s Chicago. This is well worth a read!
July 10, 2026
Cats were weird. Case closed.
3 ¾ stars. OK, first and foremost, Joshua D. Koester's "Mr. Whiskers: Lord of the Void", was a wild and often quite fun(ny) read. It had just about everything your wee little heart could desire when it comes to fantasy or even the urban definition of same, including "Chicago being swallowed by a snake god with an eating disorder", the city also being rearranged just in time to interrupt your regular Christmas reality, and a quick but fruitful journey through the 12 levels of what apparently passed for Hell. At least in one dimension. In fact, I would argue that despite mentioning things being "metaphysical" 48 times, using the word quantum ON PURPOSE 22 times, and even combining dimensional resp. interdimensional 74 times (not including non-adjectiverative [sic] derivanomials [truly sic] of either), it went pretty much like you could expect from a book with a Chthulu-like black cat on the cover.
…this creature violating every metaphysical law we've catalogued… is named Mr. Whiskers?
As you can guess by now then, there was a LOT going on in this book. In fact, I would argue with a large, possibly even asteroid-sized red pen that there was TOO much going on in this book. Yeah, despite the sort of delightful plays on words that you might remember from books like "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or even the instruction manual for your electric vacuum cleaner (my advice? Go ahead and read it in Greek and cut out the middle man…), this story probably went for too much in too little a space ("Take your time. No rush. It's only the end of reality at stake."). I mean, I was trying to make a list earlier about all the major and semi-major plot points within but realized that if I included that here, it would have taken up the space for the entirety of my typically long-winded review. In other words: Hay muchas tangentes en la trama...
The universe, contrary to popular belief, is not particularly interested in making sense.
It's not like I didn't like these different, like, things (I am truly too hep for my own good). And yeah, at the end of the day I'll concede it was all well and good fun, even once we learned "Gods, as it turned out, were complicated business." And yes, it was apparent that a lot of things - for example, again nodding at the levels of Hell or even any scenes featuring the Grand Committee of Spirits and Supernatural Beings of Greater Chicagoland - gave the author the opportunity to use descriptives he'd no doubt been dying to use for ages and ages, especially when it came to what seemed to be a deep-seeded scarring due to geometry.
Overwhelming power crackled through my fur as my claws extended into horrific daggers of their own accord.
In fact, if you just wanted to gather up a set of quotes about what various things tasted like - including ancient copper and dried blood, or week-old coffee and crushed dreams, or the moment between sleeping and waking - well you could make a sincere argument that the Vogons had left behind some of their best (meaning worst) poetry to peruse at your torture. Meaning, the story would have survived if maybe not all of this had, well, gotten in the way and kept things more diffuse than they needed to be. FOCUS! cried the Raven…
You've decimated centuries of meticulously cultivated misery!
Sure, we see Mr. Whiskers - who is "a being of starlight and irreverent jokes" when he's not busy being a standard cat - pretty much throughout the story which is good because it is, after all, his story. As well as the human detectives (good guys) and enhanced teenage superhero (good guy) and evil cultists that are trying to summon an apocalyptic quantum (aha!) snake to destroy everything (all "religious nutjobs with a thing for hieroglyphics. Just another day in Chicago." Um, that means bad guys!) made a lot of sense. But there are far too many really long stretches where we don't hear from too many of the main players because we were off making jokes about bureaucracy during our brief but mildly humourous stopover in the First Plane of Torment (noting the other levels are visited even more briefly). Again, lots of opportunities for ha-ha's or even as far as hee-hee's, but it made the plot itself more than just a little herky jerky in the process. I mean, were Robert Bob Bobson aka Bob or even Caroline just throwaway characters? I only ask because I made the mistake of caring too much, dammit!!!
Fun fact: universal constants don't care about your feelings.
And the extreme need for constant form discussions (speaking of HHGTTG), even including "Fun is strictly prohibited under section 47.3 of the HOA charter." Yeah, again: oh wow, were those rib ticklers, ouch, stop, my sides hurt! But were they essential for what we were here to accomplish? By the time the big climatic battle scene comes and goes (hint: we all die!) and we're having cocktails at the Hall of Gods (no seriously: how many omnipotent groups and/or sets of beings were in this book?), well, it just seemed we had spent a few eons rushing far too fast by a bunch of stuff that had some rather tired and often redundant jokes. This on top of the quite redundant appearances by other minor characters just held things back rather than helping push us forward - noting I'd never have a harsh word for the Local 473 of the Chicago Supernatural Waste Management and Recycling Union, no sirree. Nor the fact that we get it: the damn cat had galaxies in his fur!!! With 18 mentions of Fancy Feast, too!!! That's not just redundant, that falls under full-fledged product promotion!
We're about to generate enough paperwork to choke an elder god.
Even with some of my obvious mental health issues peeking through, in the end, I'd say again: this was a fun read. I'd also say again it was an unnecessarily expansively cast tale where IF we could have asked a potentially benevolent and cosmically powered editor to go through and chop some bits out (or save them for the next volume), it would have helped tremendously. I would also hope this editor would help with the actual proofreading a bit, because the editing was not the absolute best (seriously, full-stops at the end of sentences is still cool, right?). But in terms of entertaining and unique urban fantasy thrill-rides, well, this one goes to the upper echelon (albeit more than 12) of the ones I've had in my magic paws the past couple of years. Check it out and maybe even chill out a little more than I'm able. Goodness knows the world around me is starting to taste like broken dreams and burnt regret these days…
3 ¾ stars. OK, first and foremost, Joshua D. Koester's "Mr. Whiskers: Lord of the Void", was a wild and often quite fun(ny) read. It had just about everything your wee little heart could desire when it comes to fantasy or even the urban definition of same, including "Chicago being swallowed by a snake god with an eating disorder", the city also being rearranged just in time to interrupt your regular Christmas reality, and a quick but fruitful journey through the 12 levels of what apparently passed for Hell. At least in one dimension. In fact, I would argue that despite mentioning things being "metaphysical" 48 times, using the word quantum ON PURPOSE 22 times, and even combining dimensional resp. interdimensional 74 times (not including non-adjectiverative [sic] derivanomials [truly sic] of either), it went pretty much like you could expect from a book with a Chthulu-like black cat on the cover.
…this creature violating every metaphysical law we've catalogued… is named Mr. Whiskers?
As you can guess by now then, there was a LOT going on in this book. In fact, I would argue with a large, possibly even asteroid-sized red pen that there was TOO much going on in this book. Yeah, despite the sort of delightful plays on words that you might remember from books like "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or even the instruction manual for your electric vacuum cleaner (my advice? Go ahead and read it in Greek and cut out the middle man…), this story probably went for too much in too little a space ("Take your time. No rush. It's only the end of reality at stake."). I mean, I was trying to make a list earlier about all the major and semi-major plot points within but realized that if I included that here, it would have taken up the space for the entirety of my typically long-winded review. In other words: Hay muchas tangentes en la trama...
The universe, contrary to popular belief, is not particularly interested in making sense.
It's not like I didn't like these different, like, things (I am truly too hep for my own good). And yeah, at the end of the day I'll concede it was all well and good fun, even once we learned "Gods, as it turned out, were complicated business." And yes, it was apparent that a lot of things - for example, again nodding at the levels of Hell or even any scenes featuring the Grand Committee of Spirits and Supernatural Beings of Greater Chicagoland - gave the author the opportunity to use descriptives he'd no doubt been dying to use for ages and ages, especially when it came to what seemed to be a deep-seeded scarring due to geometry.
Overwhelming power crackled through my fur as my claws extended into horrific daggers of their own accord.
In fact, if you just wanted to gather up a set of quotes about what various things tasted like - including ancient copper and dried blood, or week-old coffee and crushed dreams, or the moment between sleeping and waking - well you could make a sincere argument that the Vogons had left behind some of their best (meaning worst) poetry to peruse at your torture. Meaning, the story would have survived if maybe not all of this had, well, gotten in the way and kept things more diffuse than they needed to be. FOCUS! cried the Raven…
You've decimated centuries of meticulously cultivated misery!
Sure, we see Mr. Whiskers - who is "a being of starlight and irreverent jokes" when he's not busy being a standard cat - pretty much throughout the story which is good because it is, after all, his story. As well as the human detectives (good guys) and enhanced teenage superhero (good guy) and evil cultists that are trying to summon an apocalyptic quantum (aha!) snake to destroy everything (all "religious nutjobs with a thing for hieroglyphics. Just another day in Chicago." Um, that means bad guys!) made a lot of sense. But there are far too many really long stretches where we don't hear from too many of the main players because we were off making jokes about bureaucracy during our brief but mildly humourous stopover in the First Plane of Torment (noting the other levels are visited even more briefly). Again, lots of opportunities for ha-ha's or even as far as hee-hee's, but it made the plot itself more than just a little herky jerky in the process. I mean, were Robert Bob Bobson aka Bob or even Caroline just throwaway characters? I only ask because I made the mistake of caring too much, dammit!!!
Fun fact: universal constants don't care about your feelings.
And the extreme need for constant form discussions (speaking of HHGTTG), even including "Fun is strictly prohibited under section 47.3 of the HOA charter." Yeah, again: oh wow, were those rib ticklers, ouch, stop, my sides hurt! But were they essential for what we were here to accomplish? By the time the big climatic battle scene comes and goes (hint: we all die!) and we're having cocktails at the Hall of Gods (no seriously: how many omnipotent groups and/or sets of beings were in this book?), well, it just seemed we had spent a few eons rushing far too fast by a bunch of stuff that had some rather tired and often redundant jokes. This on top of the quite redundant appearances by other minor characters just held things back rather than helping push us forward - noting I'd never have a harsh word for the Local 473 of the Chicago Supernatural Waste Management and Recycling Union, no sirree. Nor the fact that we get it: the damn cat had galaxies in his fur!!! With 18 mentions of Fancy Feast, too!!! That's not just redundant, that falls under full-fledged product promotion!
We're about to generate enough paperwork to choke an elder god.
Even with some of my obvious mental health issues peeking through, in the end, I'd say again: this was a fun read. I'd also say again it was an unnecessarily expansively cast tale where IF we could have asked a potentially benevolent and cosmically powered editor to go through and chop some bits out (or save them for the next volume), it would have helped tremendously. I would also hope this editor would help with the actual proofreading a bit, because the editing was not the absolute best (seriously, full-stops at the end of sentences is still cool, right?). But in terms of entertaining and unique urban fantasy thrill-rides, well, this one goes to the upper echelon (albeit more than 12) of the ones I've had in my magic paws the past couple of years. Check it out and maybe even chill out a little more than I'm able. Goodness knows the world around me is starting to taste like broken dreams and burnt regret these days…
April 21, 2026
Cheerful tale of apocalyptic evil and a cat
Well, actually, the cat wasn’t really only a cat— he was also a god. [This may be true of many cats.] The apocalyptic evil was just that, though, and served up by a group of cultists who were inviting an interdimensional planet-sized snake to destroy the earth, starting with Chicago.
Against this cult standard to Chicago police detectives, a young hotel bellhop, and one small black cat. Should be easy, right?
Recommended.
Well, actually, the cat wasn’t really only a cat— he was also a god. [This may be true of many cats.] The apocalyptic evil was just that, though, and served up by a group of cultists who were inviting an interdimensional planet-sized snake to destroy the earth, starting with Chicago.
Against this cult standard to Chicago police detectives, a young hotel bellhop, and one small black cat. Should be easy, right?
Recommended.
July 29, 2026
Just what I needed.
I used to read around 2 books a week. Never a goal. Not always constant. But a fairly accurate accounting of my habits. Then came...
YouTube. Since most of my reading had turned into a bathroom eventuality, my purchase of e-readers had led from books to movies.
When YouTube came about it replaced books, basically beca no page turning required.
But I'm back. And I broke my fast on this book. Basically.
Oh yeah. A review.
Mr. Whiskers was good enough to lead me away from YouTube. Back to music while reading books. Tablets really are amazing
When used properly. The book is really good. Cat with powers. Acquires a owner. Stuff happens. You just can't go wrong with all that going on.
Read it.
The
I used to read around 2 books a week. Never a goal. Not always constant. But a fairly accurate accounting of my habits. Then came...
YouTube. Since most of my reading had turned into a bathroom eventuality, my purchase of e-readers had led from books to movies.
When YouTube came about it replaced books, basically beca no page turning required.
But I'm back. And I broke my fast on this book. Basically.
Oh yeah. A review.
Mr. Whiskers was good enough to lead me away from YouTube. Back to music while reading books. Tablets really are amazing
When used properly. The book is really good. Cat with powers. Acquires a owner. Stuff happens. You just can't go wrong with all that going on.
Read it.
The
August 23, 2026
I Love This Book!
Maybe it’s because I love cats. Or that my black cat Pearl was magic in her own way. Or that the idea of a celestial being choosing to be a cat just seems perfect to me. All of the above and more. It was a fun read. I loved all the characters but I adored Mr. Whiskers. He is everything I would like to be minus the god status. Flawed but great hearted. The villains were nefarious and creepy as they should be. I was sad that he didn’t stay with Chen when he returned. They could have been together til she died. Who knows? Maybe that rascal did go back to her. I like to think he did. He made me miss my two, who have been gone too many years, and I cried for him, them and me. Thank you.
Maybe it’s because I love cats. Or that my black cat Pearl was magic in her own way. Or that the idea of a celestial being choosing to be a cat just seems perfect to me. All of the above and more. It was a fun read. I loved all the characters but I adored Mr. Whiskers. He is everything I would like to be minus the god status. Flawed but great hearted. The villains were nefarious and creepy as they should be. I was sad that he didn’t stay with Chen when he returned. They could have been together til she died. Who knows? Maybe that rascal did go back to her. I like to think he did. He made me miss my two, who have been gone too many years, and I cried for him, them and me. Thank you.
August 17, 2026
Well…
I really tried to love that book. I liked some parts of it, but unfortunately, there were way too much abstract (or absurd?) scenes or characters to my liking. Entities who looks like scenes, weird geometry, some always changing form, too many dimensions, angles, bref, it was way too weird for me to be able to imagine parts of the story.
It was like Einstein meets Dali and a schizophrenic clown and they did too much magic mushrooms, while a decent writer took notes while he was drunk, dreaming and still in his mother’s womb while she was intoxicated by gas fumes… Too bad as I loved the premise and the humour of it.
I really tried to love that book. I liked some parts of it, but unfortunately, there were way too much abstract (or absurd?) scenes or characters to my liking. Entities who looks like scenes, weird geometry, some always changing form, too many dimensions, angles, bref, it was way too weird for me to be able to imagine parts of the story.
It was like Einstein meets Dali and a schizophrenic clown and they did too much magic mushrooms, while a decent writer took notes while he was drunk, dreaming and still in his mother’s womb while she was intoxicated by gas fumes… Too bad as I loved the premise and the humour of it.
August 24, 2026
Chaos is a Cat
Of course, those of us who are lucky enough to be owned by one of these wonderful creatures are already aware of this. However it is nice to have that knowledge confirmed and to share it with others. This story isn’t just about a cat, but is rather about a brand new god accidentally becoming a beautiful black cat who becomes attached to our world and the chaos that ensues. And yes, in a way the story reminds me of “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” or the “Discworld” series. However I think that you will enjoy this author and his writing style if you liked those type of stories.
Of course, those of us who are lucky enough to be owned by one of these wonderful creatures are already aware of this. However it is nice to have that knowledge confirmed and to share it with others. This story isn’t just about a cat, but is rather about a brand new god accidentally becoming a beautiful black cat who becomes attached to our world and the chaos that ensues. And yes, in a way the story reminds me of “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” or the “Discworld” series. However I think that you will enjoy this author and his writing style if you liked those type of stories.
May 15, 2026
Hilarious, feel-good, but also slightly boring
I’m a bit ambivalent about this novel because on the one hand I really enjoyed it—I found it funny and imaginative, and it made me laugh. But on the other hand it’s slightly boring because there’s very little struggle. Everything is so easy for the protagonist, Mr. Whiskers. Even the big battle at the end was fairly straightforward and easy. He just waltzed through things like Superman waltzing through a group of puppies.
Still, I recommend this novel if you want a fun read. I give it 4/5 stars.
I’m a bit ambivalent about this novel because on the one hand I really enjoyed it—I found it funny and imaginative, and it made me laugh. But on the other hand it’s slightly boring because there’s very little struggle. Everything is so easy for the protagonist, Mr. Whiskers. Even the big battle at the end was fairly straightforward and easy. He just waltzed through things like Superman waltzing through a group of puppies.
Still, I recommend this novel if you want a fun read. I give it 4/5 stars.
July 22, 2026
Why give this book five stars?
A-an apocalypse averted by a cat
B-some bad guys trying to destroy everything (big fan of this type losing)
C-cats ARE chaos (personified)
D-It is well written. I’m a sucker for a book that exists to entertain. And I was entertained
Really, I could go on. The only thing that took me so long to finish was losing a day to a migraine.
A-an apocalypse averted by a cat
B-some bad guys trying to destroy everything (big fan of this type losing)
C-cats ARE chaos (personified)
D-It is well written. I’m a sucker for a book that exists to entertain. And I was entertained
Really, I could go on. The only thing that took me so long to finish was losing a day to a migraine.
August 8, 2026
Oh my god, I loved this book so much! I laughed so much and also ugly cried. Such an imaginative book. The world-building was phenomenal, and I adored the main character, Mr. Whiskers. Read it, you won’t be disappointed!
Did Not Finish
August 19, 2026My KU trial is almost up and I didn't get invested enough to want to continue. I enjoyed the cosmic bureaucrat scenes but all the scenes with both Mr Whiskers and Chen were... kind of grating? for some reason. So I noped out at 20% and am moving on with no hard feelings.
July 25, 2026
Excellent
A well crafted story with well defined characters. Loved Mr. Whiskers Cattitude. Spot on for being a cat. Wished their was more
A well crafted story with well defined characters. Loved Mr. Whiskers Cattitude. Spot on for being a cat. Wished their was more
Read
July 30, 2026Quirky and fun. It took me three chapters or so to really get into the groove of the story.
August 9, 2026
a pleasure
What a fun book. The music titles fit perfectly to the scenes. The cat was humorous and the divine cosmic entities mind bending in description. Excellent.
What a fun book. The music titles fit perfectly to the scenes. The cat was humorous and the divine cosmic entities mind bending in description. Excellent.
August 18, 2026
Campy fun
All the cosmic absurdity of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. If Bruce Campbell was a cat...fun read, but will still leave you misty-eyed
All the cosmic absurdity of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. If Bruce Campbell was a cat...fun read, but will still leave you misty-eyed
Did Not Finish
August 22, 2026DNF at 100 pages
August 22, 2026
Delightful
So much fun. I lived in Chicago in the 80s, so that aspect was a hoot. Very enjoyable read. Enjoy!
So much fun. I lived in Chicago in the 80s, so that aspect was a hoot. Very enjoyable read. Enjoy!
August 25, 2026
Fun!
A good read, even if you’re not a cat person. I enjoyed every chaotic moment.
Please write no sequels. This story ended well.
A good read, even if you’re not a cat person. I enjoyed every chaotic moment.
Please write no sequels. This story ended well.
August 3, 2026
This was a cute read that managed to cover some existential topics in a way that leaves you with a warm feeling rather than with the knowledge that none of this truly matters…or does it? Anyway, KITTY!
July 1, 2026
This was such an unexpectedly fun read! This author was very inventive, and I loved following this little cat.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews