“Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Friend” by Christopher Moore

FM's ratings:

1. Premise 10
2. Prose 10
3. Plot 10
4. Characters 9
5. Overall 10

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

With this novel, Christopher Moore has shot up to one of my top 5 favorite authors. Pretty much perfect, the “9” for Characters is possibly unfair; a fast-paced comedy of this type would become unwieldy with deeply wrought characters. The pacing is perfect, cramming a LOT of story into about 400 pages. Many authors would have taken twice this many pages for the number of plot points here – a huge mistake in my opinion. And yet, the pace never seems rushed. The amazing humor somehow eclipses the wonderful complexity, depth, and brilliant structures of this book. It just didn’t have to be this good. It’s my third book by Moore, each one better than the last. Next up: “Practical Demonkeeping.” What fun!