Very silly fun. Every time I thought it had already gone over the top- it did so again. This is a omnibus of the first 2 books in the series, and far more fun than the fourth one, which I read previously. ( )

The Zack Johnson books have been described as part parody, part homage to the old pulp detective novels. It's fifty years in the future. Zach Johnson is the last licensed P.I. on Earth. He's a bit of a celebrity, which means he gets some interesting cases. In book one, Zack and his partner HARV (supercomputer extraordinaire) must track down a homocidal plutonium-powered android superbabe. Book two sets Zach and HARV out to learn who murdered a genetically enhanced superbabe. (There's a bit of a superbabe theme to these books, if you haven't noticed...)

I'll admit that the first few chapters worried me. I really wanted to enjoy the books, having heard good things about them. But the first chapters felt like they were trying too hard to be funny, giving backstory and shooting off jokes without really starting the story.

Fortunately, the chapters are short, and the book soon drew me in. The stories are a lot of fun to read, and kept me turning the pages long after I meant to put the book down. Some jokes worked better than others -- I couldn't quite buy everyone swearing by "Gates" and "DOS", for example -- but then, that's going to be the case whenever you write humor. The story is good enough to draw you along regardless of whether you appreciate every last joke.

I thought the second story was stronger than the first, and I've been told the series continues to improve. The silliness sometimes threatens to cross the line, but it never felt over-the-top enough to throw me out of the story. Not even the attack toaster or the pixie/nymphs.

Will you like the book? That depends a lot on your taste and sense of humor. Personally, I think the world needs more humorous SF/F. So if you're looking for a fun, light read, I'd give it a try. ( )