The Everything Box audiobook

Just a touch biased, as I was the editor for this book...But that just means that I loved it in the first place. I'll be up front: humorous writing is hard. Humorous sci-fi and fantasy is probably even harder, because you're always up against the comps of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett (talk about big shoes to fill!). There are so few writers able to do it and do it well, and one of them--Christopher Moore--has said that Richard Kadrey is about to join that group.I guess for me, I just got sucked into the absurd world Richard has created. In a way, that's not too dissimilar to what he does with Sandman Slim, but unlike those novels, the darkness always gives way to acknowledging the absurdity (whereas Sandman Slim usually has to--literally--fight it!). This is a new voice and direction for his writing, but the key thing is that Richard is not only a fantastic writer, but a fantastic storyteller. You are cheering for Coop the entire way, and at the end, I'm pretty sure you'll have had more fun than you've had in a long time reading a book.

Very silly, but an enjoyable read:)

A really enjoyable read. Fast paced, clever, amusing, and hopefully the start of a great new series from Kadrey.While the gist of the world in which The Everything Box takes place is similar to Kadrey's Sandman Slim books -- there is magic in the world as well as magical creatures, God and angels, all powerful devices, etc. etc. -- the general feel of the world in which it takes place is a little lighter, a little brighter. In the Sandman books, the reader sees the world through Slim's eyes, and it is a jaundiced view of the world. In The Everything Box, readers are exposed to different viewpoints and a bit more of a broad exposure to the world, even it most of it is in Los Angeles. But the hero of the book, or anti-hero to be more exact, Coop, isn't quite as jaded as James Stark.The Everything Box still features Kadrey's trademark humor, though tempered just a bit. It is directed more along a pop culture line rather than some of the darker societal jabs that he makes in the Sandman Slim books. And the baggage of those books isn't there to hold him down from creating a new world. The Everything Box is a great stand-alone story that could serve as an introduction to Kadrey for some people, hopefully allowing them to discover the rest of his work as well. Highly recommended.

This is a book I would have loved so much more had it been from another author. That, I guess is one of the problems of success. Richard Kadrey is the author of the Sandman Slim series, another kind of urban fantasy with a much harder edge. Had I just found The Everything Box in a vacuum, without the surrounding atmosphere of expectations I would have given in to its charms and been a new fan. So really my complaint is that this book is different from the Sandman Slim books but not different enough. Especially at a time when those books seem to be losing a bit of energy. I can't tell you what I wanted but The Everything Box wasn't it. That's more my problem than the book or the author's.All of that being said, Kadrey can create a world and make it dance. In The Everything Box he makes a reality where magic and the supernatural are again commonplace and still hidden. This time though he makes his characters a bit more uncomfortable with it. The criminal life of some of the characters seems more appealing and outsider than the magical world.I'm sure there is a lot out there about the plot and characters, I won't do deeper. I will say, this is an excellent fantasy book. This will be a series that will get better I'm sure and I will read them. I just wanted... I don't know. And I feel like a jerk saying so.

💯 Read for the 2019 MacHalo Splendiferous Book Bingo Thingie (MSBBT™) challenge over at the MacHalo Asylum 💯 44. Hahahaha Hahahaha Hahahaha [Bonus Card] The Magister scratched his ear, pondering the situation. “Good. When they come in, tell them to thaw out Fluffy.”The Magister heard a satisfying gasp on the other end of the line. “Fluffy? Are you sure, Dark High One?”“Very sure. And don’t tell anyone about him. I want it to be a surprise.”“Oh, it will be, Magister. It will be.”@86% **Those who know me will get why I started with this ⤴ quote. Hehe**I was sitting in the blue living room on the first floor doing some Asylum work, scheduling stuff for the little muppets, when I heard Sh3lly shouting. Sh3lly never shouts, she doesn't even raise her voice for that matter, so something was definitely up. I got up to investigate. I wasn't wondering what it could be, I learned early on not to since there was always something going on in here.When I got downstairs and towards one of the BR rooms I heard Sh3lly "Is this still on? WTH were we thinking?". Hmm, that could refer to a really large number of things but most were delt with already. All except one. It had to be the Sailor Moon Toaster Bob got for us as a New Year's gift. It played the Sailor Moon theme song at random times throughout the day very loudly. Somehow we kept it in the downstairs kitchen. We thought it was funny & kind of cute. I was sure it wouldn't last long. Maybe Sh3lly reached her limit. When I entered the room I saw it wasn't the toaster (which was quiet until that very moment whence it started up), it was just Sh3lly being bamboozled about how we managed to have a years' worth of BRs crammed into the shortest month of the year. I also - belatedly - noticed that the room was for a Richard Kadrey book BR. I got out my pink A5 notebook that says "My Unicorn Stabs People with its Horn" on the cover and checked the schedule. Yeap, I had it noted down. To read or not? I decided to read even though I knew a certain someone will be apoplectic when she heard I did.So, I read. I honestly don't regret reading this. On the contrary I felt kind of guilty. You see this is my very first Kadrey book but it wasn't supposed to be. I was peer pressured tasked to read Sandman Slim last year by Shrimpy. I kind of didn't. I thought she would remember I didn't the minute I walked into that room. Turns out she forgot all about it. Hence her going apoplectic when she read this. In fact, at that moment I heard her shout "WHAT?!? FLUFFYYY!!", followed by some weird noises I don't want to dwell on, ever. Then something breaking while the toaster started up once again and Bob yelling "The yellow sheep got high on blue grass again!". What the fuck?! Not my problem. Nope. It was Shrimpy's idea to allow him to get those sheep here, she deals with it while I finish "reviewing" the book and then proceed to hide in the attic while she calms down.What to say about this? It is a masterpiece. Fucking hilarious. It is one of those extremely rare books that you not only have to highlight from the very first to the very last word but also one were every single character is just fan-fucking-tastic. Every. Single. One. From heroes to villains to random guys and monsters. They came to a row of elevators and one of the doors opened for them. Nelson pushed Coop inside and hit the button for the sixth floor. The floors they passed were labeled ELDRITCH HORRORS, INTERDIMENSIONAL HORRORS, SUPERSCIENCE HORRORS, MISCELLANEOUS HORRORS, and PING-PONG TOURNAMENT. Coop braced himself for whatever kind of grotesque shit would be waiting on 6.@42% Well written with a flow out of this world, twists and turns and people coming out of nowhere being awesome and so matter of fact hilarious. The hero, Coop, is just fucking awesome. He takes the punches (sometimes quite literally) as they roll in from all directions and just goes flying over them while having no idea what was going on half the time.What else? Hmm.. Did I mention this was hilarious? Yeap. Well I have nothing else to add then. I am not a writer or anything. Oh oh oh! You know how you always have someone you like besides the hero? You know the one. He/She/It is adorable, mong other characteristics, and you just wanna wrap them up tighter than a burrito and croon to them like they're fuzzy little kittens? For me that person was Qaphsiel. So adorable. I even tweeted to Kadrey to ask for more Qaphsiel, cause I am a twat and regret nothing. *Usually*.*hears voices near the attic door*Welp. That is all I have to say about this. Go read it. Or don't. I don't really care. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to move up one of the these trap doors we have in here and go through a portal to one of the three subdimensions available to us, cause Shrimpy's was one among the aforementioned voices. Get Peanuts Here: (view spoiler)[Jorge pointed to the side of one drawing. “Why are we meeting by a duck? Whose duck is it?”“Yeah. A duck is a lousy landmark. They wander off,” said Steve.“Not ‘duck,’” said Lloyd. “Dock. We’ll meet at the loading dock.”“It looks like duck to me too,” said Jerry.“Well, it says dock. D-O-C-K.”“That makes more sense,” said Steve.@27%“I suggest you find this Morton or, better yet, Cooper and clean up this mess. The object is the department’s responsibility. You need to get it for us.”“By any means necessary,” said Salzman.Bayliss felt a little cold inside. “By any means, you mean . . .”“Any.”She looked at Nelson. He shrugged.“You ever shoot anybody?” he said.“No.”“You’ll love it. It really clears out the sinuses.”@37%They came to a row of elevators and one of the doors opened for them. Nelson pushed Coop inside and hit the button for the sixth floor. The floors they passed were labeled ELDRITCH HORRORS, INTERDIMENSIONAL HORRORS, SUPERSCIENCE HORRORS, MISCELLANEOUS HORRORS, and PING-PONG TOURNAMENT. Coop braced himself for whatever kind of grotesque shit would be waiting on 6.@42%Nelson remained on Salzman’s side of the room and pointed at the others. “These three are up to something. I don’t know what, but they’re all in on it together.”Salzman looked them over with his milky eyes. “Excellent. A conspiracy demonstrates real teamwork and initiative. Congratulations. It sounds like you’re off and running.”@60%The Magister scratched his ear, pondering the situation. “Good. When they come in, tell them to thaw out Fluffy.”The Magister heard a satisfying gasp on the other end of the line. “Fluffy? Are you sure, Dark High One?”“Very sure. And don’t tell anyone about him. I want it to be a surprise.”“Oh, it will be, Magister. It will be.”@86% (hide spoiler)]

Most excellently fun! The Everything Box is a caper novel in the grand tradition. Coop is a professional thief who's good at his job, until a heist goes wrong--there was a dragon. And imps.--and lands him in prison. A secret government agency offers him freedom in exchange for the theft of a small box. But it will mean working with his ex. And there's more than one group who want the box to bring about the Apocalypse. What could go wrong?This supernatural caper novel has it all: action, romance, plots, snappy dialogue, angels, demons ... Kadrey is best known for his Sandman Slim novels, but this book marks the beginning of a new series. Coop and his associates are a fine cast, well worth spending mental time with. The book flows along smoothly and the dialogue had me grinning from ear to ear. Recommended!

I love every book that Kadrey has published, this one included. If you are a fan of humor, the supernatural and satire; and not easily offended by colorful language and risqué subject matter, you will love it. If Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Terry Pratchett & Stephen King had book babies together, Kadrey's books would be their spawn! The Everything Box is awesome!

Human beings had turned out to be a bit of a disappointment to heaven so 4000 years ago, Qaphsiel, the angel normally in charge of heavenly office supplies, was sent to finish off the human race. It should have been an easy assignment since a flood had already done most of the work for him. Unfortunately, he lost the box that would accomplish the task. Fast forward to modern day Los Angeles. Charlie ‘Coop’ Cooper is just out of jail when he is hired by Mr. Babylon to steal the box from a well-guarded vault. Not only is Coop a very good thief, he is immune to magical traps so this should be a piece of cake for him and his crew. But Babylon is not the only one looking for the box. Qaphsiel is also on the trail because, until he completes his task, he can’t return to heaven; a couple of destroyer god cults want the box so they can be the first to bring about the apocalypse and prove their god loves them best; the Department of Peculiar Occurrences (DOPS) has their own plans for it; and there’s a mysterious Stranger headed their way although he takes the occasional side trip to do some sightseeing and complete a few renovations to the landscape on the way. Suddenly what had seemed like a simple heist has become a veritable sh*tstorm for Coop.The Everything Box by author Richard Kadrey is something of a departure from his Sandman Slim series. It has the same urban fantasy/noir feel with the added bonus of a comedy crime caper but it is a lot lighter in tone. Just as the titular box seems to be everything to everyone who wants it, the story has a bit of everything to keep the reader wanting more: Girl Scout vampires, werewolves, mobsters, magical traps, angels, demons, doomsday cults, witty dialogue, quirky characters, and Fluffy. Add to this, laugh-out-loud humour and you have one heck of an exciting and entertaining read. The novel works well as a stand-alone with all of the major plot lines tied up nicely at the end but here’s hoping this is just the first of a series because I for one didn’t get nearly enough of Coop and company.4.5With thanks to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

This book makes me happy.As a huge fan of the Sandman Slim series, and why haven't you read them?!?!?!?! This somewhat lighter take on some of the same tropes previously hit on in that series made me smile from beginning to end. THIS SHOULD BE A TELEVISION SHOW..someone get on this already.Fun characters, great world, the snappy dialogue and snarky fun you have come to expect with Mr. Kadrey's writing. This book is a blast and there honestly, very simply, isn't enough fucking fun reads now a days.one of my highest possible recommendations, if you don't enjoy this you are probably are dead.

This book is a blast (pun intended because, you see, it's about this box that can, sorry, no spoilers here). It's a refreshing read, unlike anything else unless you maybe compared it to Carl Hiaasen, but Hiaasen's stuff is hyperbole of events that happen and this is true fantasy. Well, I hope it's fantasy. This book had me laughing out loud beginning to end and I almost hope it's the start of a series. It would be a pleasure to follow our crook/hero and his crew of crazies through another adventure.

Sandman Slim meets Dresden Files meets Good Omens meets Oceans Eleven all tied up in a ridiculously comedic bow. Fun read chock-full of heists, kidnappings, and sarcasm.

Charlie Cooper—"Coop" to his friends—isn't Richard Kadrey's Sandman Slim, but they could be cousins. Coop is a sardonic, wisecracking Angeleno too, given to fast-paced banter with friends and enemies alike, even when he might do better to keep his mouth shut. Coop's also denizen of a Los Angeles that contains—that is, arguably, infested with—magic. And, like James Stark, Coop possesses a quality that makes him uniquely able to handle the magical side of the City of Angels.Oh, and yes, there are angels as well. In Coop's L.A., as in Stark's, the Christians' version of the Bible is literally true—at least as far as it goes.The Everything Box starts out with an angel, in fact. Qaphsiel, loyal though not too bright minion of Jehovah, has been sent to Earth just after the Deluge to (heh) mop up the few surviving remnants of humanity. But humanity gets lucky—Qaphsiel loses the weapon Jehovah gave him, and turns out to be extraordinarily bad at getting it back. Like, thousands of years of searching bad. Meanwhile, human beings, unaware of their close escape, happily multiply and replenish the Earth...Cut to 2015 A.D. Coop's newest job (and that's one difference between him and Sandman Slim—Coop actually has a profession that keeps him steadily employed) is to steal a mysterious and magical object from a heavily-warded mansion. Yep (you saw this coming, right?), the weapon Qaphsiel lost, all those millennia ago, has turned up again in Los Angeles. Coop's been tapped to steal the Everything Box...Hijinks, as they say, ensue.The Everything Box is Richard Kadrey doing Christopher Moore—there's even a quote from Moore on the dust jacket. That isn't a bad thing. If you like either author, I think you'll like this novel, too.Coop's exploits get wrapped up pretty well in The Everything Box, but I hope it's not too much of a spoiler to tell you that there's already a sequel—The Wrong Dead Guy came out in February 2017.

Qaphsiel, God's angel of heavenly office supplies, has been sent to Earth after the great flood to purge the bits of remaining humanity. He has been entrusted with the Everything Box, a device that when opened will unleash the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. However, when Qaphsiel reaches into his robe's pocket, he discovers that it is missing. This incompetence gets him barred from heaven until he can recover the box, which he has failed to do for the last four thousand years.While the angel continues in present day to find the box; Coop, a thief skilled in the theft of magical objects, has been hired to skill the box, which will be sold to the highest bidder. This task will be difficult since several groups hope to thwart his plans by stealing it first, including the Department of Peculiar Science, a covert governmental agency; and two paranormal creature-worshiping cults hoping to initiate the apocalypses in the name of their respective deities. If you are a fan of Christopher Moore's novel, this novel is a must read for you. It's farcical plot had me chuckling from cover to cover.

This was silly. Ok, as silly as the possible end of the world can be. Angels, crooks, doomsday cults and more want to bring about the apocalypse and we only have Coop standing between them and certain explosions...we might be doomed.

While there’s a bit of repetitiveness that comes with chasing/stealing the titular box for all involved parties, the razor-sharp wit and heavenly humor come through in spades.