Secondhand Souls: A Novel

Paperback, 368 pages

Published May 10, 2016 by William Morrow Paperbacks.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-177979-4

(1 review)

Something really strange is happening in the City by the Bay. People are dying, but their souls are not being collected. Someone, or something, is stealing them and no one knows where they are going, or why, but it has something to do with that big orange bridge. Death Merchant Charlie Asher is just as flummoxed as everyone else. He's trapped in the body of a fourteen-inch-tall "meat puppet" waiting for his Buddhist nun girlfriend, Audrey, to find him a suitable new body to play host.

4 editions

Thom reviewed Secondhand souls by Christopher Moore

Review of 'Secondhand souls' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Enjoyed the first book of this series, though it dragged at times. This book had all of the sophomoric humor and added an Egyptian background and many other things that don't make sense. The one plus was the narration of Fisher Stevens.

Yes, it was good to see the characters again. This book was released 9 years after the first. In one way, it brought the story to a better conclusion than the first book did. I can see where the author was trying to go with a plot, and even commentary on Buddhist rebirth - Christopher Moore has described himself as a Buddhist with Christian tendencies.

So where did it fail? The first half of the book is mostly people talking - very little action. The omnipresent sophomoric humor gets in the way of the narrative, the rebirth, and even the action at times. The powers of the characters …

Enjoyed the first book of this series, though it dragged at times. This book had all of the sophomoric humor and added an Egyptian background and many other things that don't make sense. The one plus was the narration of Fisher Stevens.

Yes, it was good to see the characters again. This book was released 9 years after the first. In one way, it brought the story to a better conclusion than the first book did. I can see where the author was trying to go with a plot, and even commentary on Buddhist rebirth - Christopher Moore has described himself as a Buddhist with Christian tendencies.

So where did it fail? The first half of the book is mostly people talking - very little action. The omnipresent sophomoric humor gets in the way of the narrative, the rebirth, and even the action at times. The powers of the characters change without explanation, convenient to the plot but confusing to the reader. And just how does the "Great Big Book of Death" rewrite itself all the time?

I rated the first book 3 stars, with the narration. I think it was fine without this book, and would advise against reading this. 1½ stars.