It’s boring.Īnd then we have the premise itself. It follows an extremely familiar story pattern following a Special Heroine that finds herself in a situation where she Must Learn and who is then Guided by a Wise Personage and everybody seems to “just know” that she is Special. There is after all, humour t be had with zombies turned travel writers, right? But the execution of this story leaves a lot to be desired. I know that there might a fun book here somewhere.

Because even a light romp about a travel writer taking on a job at a shady publishing company in NY ran by a vampire and which caters to a (not so much) underground world needs to have internal logic, make sense and be competently written. There is so much silliness to Mur Lafferty’s debut novel The Shambling Guide to New York City that I ask myself: do I review this with any degree of seriousness? But everything turns south when she finds herself in the middle of a deadly fight for the soul of the city itself. Now she needs to learn everything she can about this new world and about the coterie so she can do her job properly. As it just so happens, the publishing house is owned by a vampire, most of its employees are other assorted creatures and human Zoe simply doesn’t belong.įinding out that NY City has a subculture of monsters – the coterie – doesn’t really faze a desperate-for-a-job Zoe that much and desperate-for-a-managing-editor Phil hires her. But every time she attempts to apply for the job she stumbles on several people telling her not to, including the owner Phil. She comes across a position as a managing editor for a new series of travel guides in a new publishing house. in tears, after she had an affair with her boss, who turned out to be married). Zoe is searching for a fresh start and a new job as travel book editor now that she moved back to New York City after her last job ended badly (i.e. Why did I read this book: Because it sounded liked it could be camp, fun, light and funny. How did I get this book: Review copy from the publisher Stand alone or series: First in the Shambling Guides series But her job turns deadly when the careful balance between human and monsters starts to crumble - with Zoe right in the middle.( Not to be put off by anything - especially not her blood drinking boss or death goddess coworker - Zoe delves deep into the monster world.

After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position though, Zoe is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can’t take off her resume - human. Title: The Shambling Guide to New York CityĪ travel writer takes a job with a shady publishing company in New York, only to find that she must write a guide to the city – for the undead!īecause of the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a fresh start as a travel book editor in the tourist-centric New York City.

The shambling guide