The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death - by Charlie Huston (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this "shockingly original" (The New York Times Book Review) novel from the author of Caught Stealing, a former teacher takes a job as a crime scene cleaner--and soon becomes embroiled in a diabolically twisted mess even he can't scrub his way out of.

"A comic masterpiece."--The Washington Post
"Authentically great."--Stephen King
"Smoking hot."--The New York Times

With his teaching career derailed by tragedy and his slacker days numbered, Webster Fillmore Goodhue makes an unlikely move and joins Clean Team, charged with tidying up L.A.'s grisly crime scenes. For Web, it's a steady gig, and he soon finds himself sponging a Malibu suicide's brains from a bathroom mirror and flirting with the man's bereaved and beautiful daughter.

Then things get weird: The dead man's daughter asks a favor. Every cell in Web's brain tells him to turn her down, but something makes him hit the Harbor Freeway at midnight to help her however he can. Soon enough it's Web who needs the help when gun-toting California cowboys start showing up on his doorstep. What's the deal? Is it something to do with what he cleaned up in that motel room in Carson? Or is it all about the brewing war between rival trauma cleaners? Web doesn't have a clue, but he'll need to get one if he's going to keep from getting his face kicked in. Again. And again. And again.

Review Quotes

"Shockingly original . . . The outlandish characters . . . are brazen originals, and the dialogue is the roar of a death-defying talent."--The New York Times Book Review

"A comic masterpiece . . . Like all the best comic fiction (Catch-22 and Portnoy's Complaint come to mind), at bottom it is deadly serious. Life is violent, messy, and all too short, and laughter is the best revenge."--The Washington Post

"Authentically great . . . a runaway freight train that feels like a combination of William Burroughs and James Ellroy."--Stephen King

"The dialogue is terrific. . . . Cleaning up blood and broken body bits becomes the subject for restorative comedy--who knew?"--Los Angeles Times

"Smoking hot . . . a tart, quick-witted, sharply funny trip . . . a book that anyone can admire."--The New York Times

"Hilarious . . . [Huston's] way with characterization and plot are so sure-handed and appealing, you'll find yourself desperately hoping [his characters] survive to live another day and star in a sequel, Clorox at the ready."--The Dallas Morning News

"As darkly funny as it is graceful . . . a work that is sly, twisted, and surprising."--The Denver Post

"Huston's novels are among the most imaginative and compelling in the mystery and thriller genres. . . . In The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death, Huston finds pathos and the sublime in a story about an occupation for which there is no training or career path."--Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"Huston, one of his generation's finest and hippest talents, shows in grisly detail what cleaning up after the dead entails. This one should appeal to Chuck Palahniuk fans as well as hard-boiled crime readers."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"It's a pretty neat trick to avert your eyes while you read, but The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston is so fresh, funny and original that I managed. . . . The characters range from the slightly odd to the bizarre-doesn't- even-begin. You might feel ashamed of yourself for laughing, but I won't tell. Just take a bath afterward, and remember to scrub out the tub."--Cleveland Plain Dealer

About the Author

Charlie Huston is the author of The Shotgun Rule, the Henry Thompson trilogy: Caught Stealing, Six Bad Things (an Edgar Award nominee), and A Dangerous Man, and the Joe Pitt novels: Already Dead, No Dominion, Half the Blood of Brooklyn, and Every Last Drop. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, the actress Virginia Louise Smith.

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