An enjoyable and fairly quick read. For reference, it's not quite what I was expecting - it's a standalone novel with supernatural stuff going on, while I thought it would be more of a take-off mingling teenage tropes with Lovecraftian ones. As such it's not particularly heavy on comedy, but it's got a fairly lighthearted attitude even to the heavier stuff like murders. There's also not a huge amount of Lovecraftiana in here, mostly adventure-mystery thriller stuff, although that's not really a criticism.

The characters were pleasant enough, and felt decently depicted. I feel to some extent Laura was undermined by the joint narrative and personal importance of Ted - all her actions are driven by what Ted's up to, even the supernatural investigation she kicks off. This is a combination of her friendship and gratitude towards him, and the fact that he finds out about the plot first. However, because Ted's the core of the narrative and drives it forward, we don't really see him returning that friendship in any substantial ways, which meant the friendship came across to me as rather dysfunctional. In some ways his girl-chasing ways, contrasted with her inability to form a relationship, highlighted that problem, especially when it begins to hamper their very important investigation. Laura is enjoyable to read, but didn't quite feel on equal enough footing with Ted to be a co-protagonist - she's always supporting him rather than the other way around.

While I enjoyed the book, on reflection it doesn't really tie up the narrative threads. This seems to be a deliberate decision (considering a sequel..?) but the antagonists are left loose and the MacGuffin is floating around too. However, there are some personal developments for Ted and Laura that give a sense of closure. ( )

A action packed humorous romp around the Cthulhu mythos. Ten years prior to the events of the story Nerdy Geek Ted saved Laura from a cult of vampires but the event left Ted an emotional wreck and Laura with trust issue. fast forward 10 years and Teds working at a coffee shop while Laura joined the FBI in Boston. There life seem to have returned to a state of normality but when Ted stumbles upon a plot to awake Cthulhu he knows Laura is the only other person who would believe him. The book reminded me a lot of Charles Stross' Laundry series and was a fun quick read at a little over 200 pages. I think my only complaint is that at times Ted got a little to whiny at times which did start to get annoying and I did feel that the paranormal investigator at the end of the book came out of nowhere. Overall i did enjoy the book even with Teds whining however the action and humorous banter made up for it. ( )

Playing to the adoring fans of H.P. Lovecraft, this tale, with all of its quirky humor, will have you on the edge of your seat. If you love Lovecraft, you will love this. This is a modern twist on an age old tale; the cult, the god, and all the blood and sacrifice that must follow. This is truly not a book for any Sci-Fi Lovecraftians to miss. ( )

What a breath of fresh air! I had been slogging through more mediocre mythos for quite some time and Mall of Cthulhu was just what I needed. It is a terrific read and I highly recommend it. I first heard about it advertised on Amazon in early 2008; publication was delayed until just recently. It is a nice trade paperback from Nightshade Books, listing at $13.95 (discounted a bit by Amazon) and clocking in at a generous 235 pages, all text. Editing was good; there were no typos I could see. The minibio of the author provides no useful information, but as far as I can tell this is his first book. Cover art is by Scott Altmann. It's OK, but with this cover and this title, my first impression was this was going to be a deliberate attempt at mythos humor. As such, I was not particularly enthusiastic when I started it. This is actually not what this book is about at all. The plot synopsis has minor spoilers, but no more than the blurb on the book. Skip to the next paragraph if that bothers you.

10 years ago, Laura Harker (and all name coincidences in this book are decidedly deliberate) was rescued from a sorority house full of vampires by super nerd, Ted (you know, I'm not sure the author ever mentioned his last name), who had to slaughter the lot of them. Fast forward 10 years and we find Laura is a low level FBI agent who has trust issues, because she cannot confide in anyone about this terrible moment in her life. Ted is a wreck, following his only friend, Laura, from city to city, holding down odd jobs in coffee shops. Whenever he confides the truth to a new girl they think he's psycho and leave (Laura is a lesbian so they stay just sort of co-dependent friends). He is awakened ever night by vivid flashbacks of the bloody events of that night. Ted has sort of settled into Boston, making lattes. He has to serve an obnoxious customer, who doesn't notice when he drops a CD. In a fit of pique Ted pockets the disk. Later, as a favor he brings a coffee to Laura at her job site. When he gets back to the coffee shop everyone has been gruesomely murdered. The obnoxious man is there and demands the disk from Ted. Ted manages to escape, and tries to calm himself while hiding and phoning Laura. Their life abruptly takes a turn into the surreal when they discover a conspiracy of men who are attempting to cause a transdimensional rip with the Necronomicon that would allow Cthulhu access to our plane where he may ravage everything. The bulk of the book describes how Laura and Ted track down the cult to a mall across from the Masonic Temple in Providence and attempt to thwart the machinations of the cult.

This book is by no means a comedy; it is more an action thriller. There is a huge leavening of humorous banter and jokes, but these are all intrinsic to the characters and their personalities. I laughed out loud a frequently but I never thought anything was forced. And what vivid characters! Ted and Laura light up the pages, they are so real. I know people who act like this! Even the minor character FBI agents were deftly drawn. Only the bad guys and maybe the paranormal investigator who shows up near the end were little more than plot contrivances. Usually I have terrible heartburn when HPL's fiction is found to be true; for me it spoils the world building. In Mall of Cthulhu it was an organic part of the plot. Terrific writing with a propulsive plot and sparkling dialogue trumps everything else. Mr. Cooper's book is wildly inventive; his take on R'lyeh is different from any other I have read but is very clever and it works well in this story. I was so captivated I zipped through the whole book in a matter of a few hours. I will happily read his next book, even if it has no mythos connections.

So is Mall of Cthulhu for all mythos fans? Well it should be but of course it isn't. If you like Delta Green and Cody Goodfellow, or perhaps Charlie Stross, then Mall of Cthulhu is for you. If you only prefer HPL pastiches you won't be pleased. If you demand complete apocalypse, look elsewhere. Some readers only care for the dreamy, equally vivid world of the Sesqua Valley. To each their own. For me, I like all mythos stories that are well written. Mall of Cthulhu is an effervescent romp through one man's take on the mythos. I was completely won over and you should be too.

In 2009 Mr. Cooper wrote some snarky reviews of HPL's most famous stories for Tor, during their Lovecraft month (December, I think). Those interested can probably dig them up on Tor's website. ( )

Ted, a barista at a local coffee shop, stumbles across a Lovecraftian cult bent on raising the long sleeping Cthulhu. Along with Laura, a FBI agent and friend, he'll face off against the cultist and try to save the world.

I am a fan of bad puns and Cthulhu-based stories (though I have yet to read At the Mountains of Madness), so I had to pick up this book as soon as I saw it on the library shelf.

It was slow getting into it, mostly because I had a hard time getting to like the characters. Ted, being a snot-nosed whiner content to throw constant pity parties, and Laura, who was brunt and closed off and kind of rude. Also, the fact that Ted manages to unlock most of the clues, despite the fact that Laura is an FBI agent and should know how to do this kind of thing.

However, the writing is tongue-in-cheek and strong throughout. And as the characters got more and more entangled in the events of the story, they began to grow on me. Eventually, I came to like them quite a lot, and was able to excuse some of their excesses (they had after all been through hell before the events of this book take place). It ended up being a fun and enjoyable read. In fact, I found myself hoping that Cooper plans to write a sequel, just so that I could see where the characters went from here. ( )