<p>Charlie Asher is a pretty normal guy. A little hapless, somewhat neurotic, sort of a hypochondriac. He's what's known as a Beta Male: the kind of fellow who makes his way through life by being careful and constant -- you know, the one who's always there to pick up the pieces when the girl gets dumped by the bigger/taller/stronger Alpha Male. </p><p>But Charlie's been lucky. He owns a building in the heart of San Francisco, and runs a secondhand store with the help of a couple of loyal, if marginally insane, employees. He's married to a bright and pretty woman who actually loves him for his normalcy. And she, Rachel, is about to have their first child.</p><p>Yes, Charlie's doing okay for a Beta. That is, until the day his daughter, Sophie, is born. Just as Charlie -- exhausted from the birth -- turns to go home, he sees a strange man in mint-green golf wear at Rachel's hospital bedside, a man who claims that no one should be able to see him. But see him Charlie does, and from here on out, things get really weird. . . . </p><p>People start dropping dead around him, giant ravens perch on his building, and it seems that everywhere he goes, a dark presence whispers to him from under the streets. Strange names start appearing on his nightstand notepad, and before he knows it, those people end up dead, too. Yup, it seems that Charlie Asher has been recruited for a new job, an unpleasant but utterly necessary one: Death. It's a dirty job. But hey, somebody's gotta do it.</p><p>Christopher Moore, the man whose Lamb served up Jesus' "missing years" (with the funny parts left in) , and whose Fluke found the deep humor in whale researchers' lives, now shines his comic light on the undiscovered country we all eventually explore -- death and dying -- and the results are hilarious, heartwarming, and a hell of a lot of fun.</p>
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5 stars for the story and 5 stars for the narrator Fisher Stevens
This book was given to me by my son-in-law. When I started reading it I did not understand why he would give me such a strange book? I could not get into it. But I did not want to disappoint him so I resolved to at least give it a try. Since I love audio books, I added audio to this book and voila, the book took a totally new meaning. I love the narrator Fisher Stevens and listening to him brought the book to live. The book is funny and sweet and strange and I loved Charlie Asher. The story takes place over number of years where newborn Sophie is growing up on top floor of Charlie’s second hand clothing store. She is being cared for by two immigrant ladies Chinese and Russian. The talent of Fisher Stevens is so great that all character voices and accents are tailored to the characters, recognizable and in case of babysitters very funny because they were so real sounding. Charlie Asher is identified as Beta male, which according to the book description is dependable, loyal, responsible and sensible individual. It sounds boring but Charlie is far from it – Charlie is a Death Merchant and Soul Collector. Since Charlies wife Rachel died right after Sophie was born, Charlie is raising her himself and she is the most important person in his life, but his job sometimes takes him away from Sophie under most unusual circumstances. The writing is very good. The dialogue between the different characters is so real and entertaining that it reminded me of my own family gatherings. All characters are worth mentioning – Lillie, the Goth girl; Ray, the retired disabled detective; Charlie’s sister Jane who can’t decide on her life partner and Charlie’s daughter Sophie, who just by saying word “kitty” makes people and animals disappear. And the ending did not disappoint. 5 stars for the story and 5 stars for the narrator Fisher Stevens Read more
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