Cyclops Road by Jeff Strand

 

The plot in brief:  

Evan Portin's life is not going very well. His wife died two weeks ago and his boss just fired him. Then, walking through a park at night, he sees a young woman being mugged. But when he tries to help, he ends up getting mugged himself while she fights off her attackers. Her name is Harriet and she's not an ordinary young woman. She's following a prophecy: headed to Arizona in order to slay a Cyclops. Evan doesn't quite know what to think about that, but he's got some time on his hands, so he offers to drive her. And soon her quest becomes his. 

My thoughts:

Cyclops Road is unexpected, quirky and entertaining. I loved Evan's dry sense of humor and all his sarcastic comments and thoughts. The way he gets drawn into Harriet's quest despite his skepticism was pretty amusing. Along the way they team up with Seth, a D&D gamer, and Maurad the Berserker, a volatile cage fighter. Seth was an immediate favorite. There's a light-hearted sense of fun about this book that makes it a great summer read. It's very typical Jeff Strand. And it made me smile. 

Happy Reading!

Similar reads:

The Haunted Forest Tour by James A. Moore and Jeff Strand

Helen & Troy's Epic Road Quest by A. Lee Martinez

 

Two quirky books from my TBR shelf...

In The Undead World of Oz, Ryan C. Thomas takes L. Frank Baum's classic children's story and gives it a fun zombie twist. Because of an evil curse by the Wicked Witch of the West, the undead of Oz have risen and they want brains. Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardl yLion must fight off the undead as they journey down the yellow brick road to see the Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz.

I grew up loving L. Frank Baum's Oz books, which is why I couldn't resist buying this slightly twisted version. It's a little dark, has some humorous moments, and lots of flying body parts, and it made me smile and shake my head at the same time. Zombies and Oz really don't go together, but somehow in this quirky, crazy read Thomas makes it work.

It's a great cover, isn't it? I spotted it at a library discard sale and couldn't resist buying it. In The Doctor and the Dinosaurs, Mike Resnick combines an eclectic cast of historical figures. It begins with Geronimo, who enlists the help of a dying Doc Holliday to stop the two most famous fossil hunters in the world from doing their digging in the sacred burial ground of the Commanche. If he doesn't, the Commanche medicine men are going to raise a real dinosaur or two to take care of the problem themselves. Teddy Roosevelt joins Doc Holliday in his quest, and Thomas Edison provides the firepower.

It's a fun premise, but there was too much talking and not enough action for me. Plus, it took way too long for the dinosaurs to appear; and there should have been a lot more of them. I mean, I was promised dinosaurs! But I felt like they never even showed up. I did really like Doc Holliday, though. And since I only paid 50 cents for this book, I'd still say it was money well spent. Best of all? That's two books on longer sitting on my TBR pile making me feel guilty.

So, there you are, the two quirkiest books from my TBR shelf. Now that I've finally read them, the only question left is what book from my TBR shelf should I read next. What about you? What quirky gems are hiding in your TBR piles?

Happy Reading!