The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death: A Novel Audiobook

" At a time when forensic crime mysteries abound, The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death is different. Webster Fillmore Goodhue, a man on his way to hitting bottom, finds himself taking a job with the Clean Team, and learning who cleans up after the CSI team has left the two week old corpse of an elderly hermit who has taken to hoarding, EVERYTHING. This odd little tale reveals the Webster's efforts to begin the climb out of his post traumatic hell by way of cleaning up other's horrors. Complications and incompetencies arise along the way. The dialog uses profanity as punctuation as much as description and is not for the easily offended. Webster's story is complicated and touching. While entirely grounded in a rough, violent real world, Huston's irreverent humor will be popular with fans of Christopher Moore. "

" sometimes the overly witty snark of the dialogue got a little old, but ultimately i was quite surprised and delighted by the mystic arts of erasing all signs of death. i liked that the back story unfolded slowly and the way the main character grows and changes without it being told as a ridiculous moment of catharsis. "

" This was classic Huston, which was good and bad. Great story itself, quick paced and interesting characters. It's just that his dialogue is so...odd. You get used to it quickly, but if one more person spoke. In partial. Sentences. Ack, you get the picture. So it should be three and a half stars. Huston's Hank Thompson trilogy was one of the joys of my reading life...check it out. It is his masterpiece. "

" Certainly not high literature, but a fun, fast, pulp noir read. At times I was reminded of "The Big Lebowski"...this books strikes me as being written with the intention of being turned into a screenplay. I noticed other reviewers commenting on the constant f-bombs and other language; I didn't even notice it much. I don't know what that says about me or the books/movies I enjoy. It seemed to fit the characters. "

" This book was weird and I could only get through the first couple of chapters. Not sure if it's one I'll ever pick up again to finish. "

" I couldn't get past the format--no punctuation, etc. I suppose it's brilliant, but I just found it confusing. "

" Reads like a screenplay, not at all mystic "

" Very good, whatever style it's called. Pulp, noir, hipster mystery... "

" I'd actually give it 3 1/2 stars, if this program allowed. Gritty and intense, yet leavened with a black sense of humor -- another gripping book by Charlie Huston. "

" A very quick read--I finished it in one day!--funny dialog, interesting characters. I definitely recommend this book! "

" I really enjoyed this book, I thought the main character was pretty interesting. "

" I can honestly say I have never enjoyed a character as much as Web Goodhue. He is a complete smart-ass/asshole. I absolutely loved him.(Reminded me of myself). I laughed out loud many times while reading this book. *****5 stars "

" This book didn't really do anything for me. There's not much of a plot, and the dialog seems forced (the book is mostly dialog). I read a little more than half before giving up. It's overdue at the library and not really worth the 15 cents a day. "

" A slacker takes a job cleaning up crime and other gruesome scenes. His new job leads to his meeting a young woman, the daughter of a recent suicide, who brings him to sordid business. A great and gruesome twist on a classic noir set-up. "

" Even on audiobook, I just couldn't get into this. The main character is just too much of an asshole. "

" Weirdly good. Nasty subject matter but so honest that you wish you could live that way (just a little). "

" Started strong and really interested then got mired in a plot that didn't fit. "

" Weirdly good. Nasty subject matter but so honest that you wish you could live that way (just a little). "

" Parts were good....some not so good. The author needs to embrace punctuation though- especially quotation marks (there are none!) "

" Fun to read but in retrospect, the story wasn't that great. Great writing style. "

" Reads like a screenplay, not at all mystic "

" I can't recall much about it; probably bec I listened to it, and I'm more a visual learner. I would read another book by him in the future. "

" You might not think you want to read a book about trauma cleaners, but you do. This will satisfy my noir fix for a couple months. "

" Charlie Huston. If you enjoy Stephen King, Huston will blow you away. "

" I couldn't really tell if I liked this book, actually, because I was so distracted by the author's refusal to use quotation marks. It made it impossible to lose myself in the content. "

" The dialouge was difficult to keep up with at times. I found myself going backwards to determine who said what to create the current conversation I was reading. That was frustrating. The guy is a real asshole too. It received really great reviews, but kind of forgettable for me. "

" An interesting read, far better and deeper than I thought it would be. I'll have to check out some more Charlie Huston in the future. "

" I really enjoyed this book, I thought the main character was pretty interesting. "

" The best part of this book is the title. It's all down hill after that! "

" Great style. great pace and one cool story. "

" Very entertaining, but it's similarities with another novel, Steve Erickson's Zeroville, worked against it in my mind. Nonetheless, it's a good read. I'd definitely like to read more Huston, but as fresh as the dialogue is, the loser-in-over-his-head plot feels stale. "