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Demon with a Comb-Over: Featuring The Book of Kobal
Laugh till it hurts! There are few things in life worse than being a bombing comedian in an empty club, unless you pick on the one person in the crowd who happens to be an ancient demon who can make your life a living, ironic hell. Stand-up comedian Charlie Broadmoor has a hell of a time coming up with new material while terrorized at every waking moment by a poorly-coiffed, thin-skinned eldritch evil whose appreciation of humor is dwarfed by his monumental pettiness. Charlie quickly learns that making light of the supernatural is no joke. It’s Seinfeld meets Milton in this uproarious tale of fear and laughing by Stuart R. West. This edition also features The Book of Kobal, giving the reader a glimpse into the origins of the short-tempered demon.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 19, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 3, 2017
Demon with a Comb-Over by Stuart R West is a book I was so thrilled to get from NetGalley to read. This book starts right away with the fun and suspense and this is how it works all the way through the book. One minute I am laughing and the other I am cringing. A comedian is bombing on stage one night and picks on the wrong guy to get the crowd going. It is a guy with a comb-over. Come to find out, this guy is a demon and he didn't find this a bit funny and proceeds to make our comedian, Charlie, pay for the comb-over joke in the worst way. Hell on earth. From there on, it is funny and frightening through the book. Charlie also has a young girl he shares custody with his ex-wife with. He has to protect her from the demon. He still has to do the shows, protect his daughter, help his mother, and avoid the demon. A great plot that was an emotion roller coaster but a hell of a lot of fun!
January 25, 2017
Well, I just finished this book and rather than sit and think about it for a while, I am going to go ahead and do the review. Usually I ponder on them for a day or two, gather my thoughts, and contemplate my rating, so perhaps this will backfire on me. Anyways, here it goes.
"Demon with a Comb-Over tells the tale of Charlie Broadmoor, a mediocre comic trying to make a living and take care of his daughter. One night Charlie ends up insulting Kobal, a demon visiting the comedy club, because of his horrible looking comb-over, who in turn vows to ruin Charlie's life and the lives of all his family and loved one. And let's be brutally honest, for most of the book, Kobal does a pretty good job. Along the way we meet some interesting characters including Charlie's ex-wife, his mother, his love interest, Sylvia and two questionable angels.
If Goodreads would allow it, I would probably give this book a 3.5 rating, but since they don't, I feel I have to notch it up to 4 for several reasons. First of all, this book sucked me right in. I basically read it in two sittings and couldn't wait to get to the end to see how everything played out. Secondly, the premise of this book is unlike any I have read before and West does a good job of combining horror with a little bit of comedy. Had Charlie not been a comedienne, I don't think the humor would have worked or it could have easily crossed into corniness. Lastly, the book contained characters I truly liked and truly hated. I cared about what happened to Charlie and his daughter and even though he was extremely unlikable, I wanted to know what Kobal had up the sleeve of his dapper suit.
I have to add there are a few scenes I was reading where I thought "I wish this was a graphic novel." West's description of Hell itself, and of the hellhounds with human heads which show up toward the end, were spot on with what I associate with old-fashioned horror. If you like scary books, aren't afraid of a little blood and gore, and don't mind some comedic spins thrown in here and there, this books might just be worth your time.
I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
"Demon with a Comb-Over tells the tale of Charlie Broadmoor, a mediocre comic trying to make a living and take care of his daughter. One night Charlie ends up insulting Kobal, a demon visiting the comedy club, because of his horrible looking comb-over, who in turn vows to ruin Charlie's life and the lives of all his family and loved one. And let's be brutally honest, for most of the book, Kobal does a pretty good job. Along the way we meet some interesting characters including Charlie's ex-wife, his mother, his love interest, Sylvia and two questionable angels.
If Goodreads would allow it, I would probably give this book a 3.5 rating, but since they don't, I feel I have to notch it up to 4 for several reasons. First of all, this book sucked me right in. I basically read it in two sittings and couldn't wait to get to the end to see how everything played out. Secondly, the premise of this book is unlike any I have read before and West does a good job of combining horror with a little bit of comedy. Had Charlie not been a comedienne, I don't think the humor would have worked or it could have easily crossed into corniness. Lastly, the book contained characters I truly liked and truly hated. I cared about what happened to Charlie and his daughter and even though he was extremely unlikable, I wanted to know what Kobal had up the sleeve of his dapper suit.
I have to add there are a few scenes I was reading where I thought "I wish this was a graphic novel." West's description of Hell itself, and of the hellhounds with human heads which show up toward the end, were spot on with what I associate with old-fashioned horror. If you like scary books, aren't afraid of a little blood and gore, and don't mind some comedic spins thrown in here and there, this books might just be worth your time.
I received an ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
March 8, 2017
This was a hard one to rate. I’ll be honest, I read this more out of curiosity than anything. I wanted to know how you could mix comedy with horror and make it work. Turns out, you can't, at least not in this case.
Don’t get me wrong, in the beginning it was working quite well. I was enthralled. Good straightforward writing, and humorous. I kept wondering, “oh no, what’s going to happen next?” The horror was just on the edge of corny, but was working for the story as a whole. A good 3.5, maybe averaging up to 4 stars.
But then Charlie (our protagonist) gets sucked into hell for the first time, and it’s jolting. Everything up until that point had been satirical, at times depressing but with a funny lilt to it. After Charlie gets sucked into hell things get serious, and it turns into more of a horror story. Granted, it’s supposed to be a horror story, but the transition just wasn’t smooth, and from that point on I was plain and simple depressed.
There were some side-characters that majorly slowed down the story as well, and while this book is quite short, every scene with these guys made the book feel like it would never end.
There were two angels who I’m sure were meant to be comic relief, but instead took up space, sending us round and round on a boring carrousel with monochromatic ponies….And Sylvia…Oh Charlie, seriously? Sylvia is this gorgeous blond who’s interested in Charlie, and “thinks he’s funny”. *shakes head* you can see the “twist” with her coming from the get go, which perhaps is the point, but every time she came on stage I caught myself rolling my eyes.
While Charlie wasn’t the most likeable character, he was interesting enough, and his daughter makes you smile, while his ex-wife is just plain batty. Thinking back on it, there really are NO likeable women characters, there might be something to be said about that, but we’ll leave that be for now.
Anyway, while there was potential to be had in this first book, it ended up falling flat…sad really.
As for the added feature of “The Book of Kobal”, that’s just what it was: an add-on. I suppose it was interesting in its own right, but the way it was written was more like a draft for a more complex and interesting story.
In the end I MIGHT suggest this book to someone. Maybe a comedian if I knew one, out of irony's sake. But yeah...probably not.
**This book was given to me through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
Don’t get me wrong, in the beginning it was working quite well. I was enthralled. Good straightforward writing, and humorous. I kept wondering, “oh no, what’s going to happen next?” The horror was just on the edge of corny, but was working for the story as a whole. A good 3.5, maybe averaging up to 4 stars.
But then Charlie (our protagonist) gets sucked into hell for the first time, and it’s jolting. Everything up until that point had been satirical, at times depressing but with a funny lilt to it. After Charlie gets sucked into hell things get serious, and it turns into more of a horror story. Granted, it’s supposed to be a horror story, but the transition just wasn’t smooth, and from that point on I was plain and simple depressed.
There were some side-characters that majorly slowed down the story as well, and while this book is quite short, every scene with these guys made the book feel like it would never end.
There were two angels who I’m sure were meant to be comic relief, but instead took up space, sending us round and round on a boring carrousel with monochromatic ponies….And Sylvia…Oh Charlie, seriously? Sylvia is this gorgeous blond who’s interested in Charlie, and “thinks he’s funny”. *shakes head* you can see the “twist” with her coming from the get go, which perhaps is the point, but every time she came on stage I caught myself rolling my eyes.
While Charlie wasn’t the most likeable character, he was interesting enough, and his daughter makes you smile, while his ex-wife is just plain batty. Thinking back on it, there really are NO likeable women characters, there might be something to be said about that, but we’ll leave that be for now.
Anyway, while there was potential to be had in this first book, it ended up falling flat…sad really.
As for the added feature of “The Book of Kobal”, that’s just what it was: an add-on. I suppose it was interesting in its own right, but the way it was written was more like a draft for a more complex and interesting story.
In the end I MIGHT suggest this book to someone. Maybe a comedian if I knew one, out of irony's sake. But yeah...probably not.
**This book was given to me through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
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