Review: Rupert Wong, Cannibal ChefReview:

Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book as part of a story bundle collection.

I haven’t read any of the other books in the “Gods and Monsters” universe, but (as one of the ads at the back of the book says) it’s somewhat similar to American Gods. The gods of various religions and traditions are real and interact with humanity. This book (more like novella) takes place in Malaysia where Rupert Wong cooks humans for some gods or demi-gods. Interestingly, this story has almost nothing to do with that.

Instead we follow Rupert Wong throughout the city as he investigates a murder because he was tasked by another god and one does not tell them no. It was perfectly comprehensible to me (American with familiarity with European mythology), but I’m sure I was missing a lot of easter eggs that someone from Southeast Asia would have caught.

Overall, I had fun with the mystery and the various indignities that Wong has to endure in order to get various spirits, gods, etc to help him (a measly human) solve the murder case. If there was one thing keeping it from being 5 stars, it’s the fact that it seems like it’s just a chunk of a story. As a short story I think I’d be OK with all that’s left open-ended. As a novella it’s just long enough that I felt there was too much left unresolved at the end of the story.

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