Will Fight Evil for Food

Will Fight Evil for Food, Atk Butterfly, Oak Tree Publishing, 1999

This is the story of Jake Mordant, a private eye in Spaceport City, at least until the aliens came. They though the best way to make friends with humans was to solve crimes (even domestic surveillance cases), which reduced Jake's workload to nearly zero. But Jake, his beautiful blonde secretary Sherry, and his ex-wife Connie, do manage enough work to keep away the bill collector, just barely.

Along with Aaannnkkk, an alien whose ship crashed on Earth, and is saving money for an interstellar cab ride back home, the trio have plenty of adventures. Much of the book takes place at a nudist club, which is just fine for Jake, because he is one of those who usually has One Thing On His Mind. On one occasion, he is called to the club because Pan is playing his magic flute, and the women at the club can't stop dancing. Jake gets turned into various things, including a dragois, an elfis (half elf, half Elvis impersonator) and Santa Claus.

Jake investigates the disappearance of a gargoyle from the top of a building, and finds it alive, and not in a good mood. A group of people at a Demons & Dragons convention are suddenly transported to France, far in the past. The nudist club is also attacked by bikers and satanists.

This is quite a change of pace novel. It's a quick read, it's humorous (a la Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett), it has something for everyone and it's quite well done.