A humorous fantasy noir stories from Kevin J Anderson, best known for his work on Star Wars expanded universe. These books are, obviously, completely different. They are just fun stories for a few laughs. Nothing more, but nothing less.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review the latest by Kevin J. Anderson - Slimy Chicken Zomnibus.

This zomnibus consists of two Dan "Shambles" Chambeaux, Zombie Detective stories: "Slimy Underbelly" and "Tastes Like Chicken". And all of the regular players are back: Dan Chambeaux, Robin Deyer (his attorney associate), Sheyenne (his ghostly girlfriend) and Officer McGoohan (McGoo) his BHF (Best Human Friend) and go-to cop.

Slimy Underbelly, the first of the stories, is one that I had read before and involves his work on behalf of a would-be Super Villain/Mad Scientist named Jody Caligari who has been evicted from his Mad Scientist Laboratory in the sewers of the Unnatural Quarter by a tentacle-faced demon named Ah' Chulhu who is trying to corner the market on underground real estate in the UQ. At the same time, the offices of Chambeaux & Deyer are best by horrible smells from the sewers under their building where their enterprising landlord has created subterranean office space.

A frog demon named Lurrm has taken over the Zombie Bathhouse, renamed Recompose.

The Weather Wizards are fighting an election campaign that sees the weather in the Quarter change on an almost minute-by-minute basis, and one of the candidates wants to have his opponent investigated.

Dan and Robin are also on the hunt for a lost voice - the great Stentor, an ogre opera singer's voice has been taken, and left in its place was a frog - so Dan goes to visit the Wannovich sisters (who we know from previous stories) to see if they have any input.

Oh, and there's a gang of lawn gnome stick-up artists terrorizing the Quarter.

In "Tastes Like Chicken", Chambeaux & Deyer are called to help one of the owners of a chain of blood bars who has been ousted by his partner and board because he's unfortunately become a ghost; and, at the same time, they are investigating the disappearances of a number of denizens of the Unnatural Quarter, and on the trail of Ma Hemoglobin and her sons who are caught hijacking a shipment of blood. Also, there's a company producing 'Monster Chow" in varieties aimed at every different 'monster' - Vampire, Ghoul, Zombie, Werewolf.... but it's strangely addictive. (There is a great riff on A Soylent Green and The Twilight Zone.)

Add into this a - possible - daughter for Dan and/or McGoo, who's also a pre-teen Vampire.

Both stories are excellent entries in the Dan Chambeaux Zombie Detective series and recommended.

Slimy Chicken Zomnibus is a re-release and reformatting of two earlier Dan Shamble novels in a double book edition. Released 1st Jan 2019 in this edition (original release dates 2014 & 2017) on Wordfire, it's 456 pages and available in hardback, paperback, and ebook formats.

These are my guilty pleasure reading. I know book bloggers who secretly read the sappiest HEA harlequin romances who would never admit it in black and white. These are mine(but I'm ok with admitting it :). There are a number of absolutely no-holds-barred series which are full of unapologetic punnery that make you moan and writhe in agony. They're more or less in the same genre. Of those series, including those by Glen Cook, Robert Asprin, Phil Foglio, Charles Stross, etc, these are my favorites. They're funny and full of awful puns and send-ups. They're mood lifters. (I work in a histology lab looking at cancer biopsies most every day - I read a lot of funny books to balance my work day).

Honestly the books go to the same place in my brain as MST3K and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-o-Rama. If you're in the mood for complete silliness, they're just the thing.

The Dan Shamble books are all standalones. The author does refer back to things which happened earlier, but there aren't any deal-breaker spoilers. Mr. Anderson is a hugely prolific author, though much (most?) of his oeuvre is more serious fantasy/science fiction.

I heartily recommend these books as long as readers are fully aware they're very silly and full of groan-worthy puns and in-jokes.

Five stars. I'd give more if I could. They're goofy books. They're perfect.