The Wrong Dead Guy

by Richard Kadrey

Overview

In this fast paced sequel to The Everything Box—the second entry in New York Times bestselling author Richard Kadrey’s comedic supernatural series—chaos ensues when Coop and the team at DOPS steal a not-quite-dead and very lovesick ancient Egyptian mummy wielding some terrifying magic.

Coop, a master thief sort of gone legit, saved the world from an ancient doomsday device—heroism that earned him a gig working for the Department of Peculiar Science, a fearsome top secret government agency that polices the odd and strange. Now Woolrich, Coop’s boss at the DOPS, has Coop breaking into a traveling antiquities show to steal a sarcophagus containing the mummy of a powerful Egyptian wizard named Harkhuf. With the help of his pals Morty, Giselle, and a professor that’s half-cat, half-robotic octopus, Coop pulls off the heist without a hitch.

It’s not Coop’s fault that when DOPS opened the sarcophagus they didn’t find the mummy they were expecting. Well, it was the right mummy, but it wasn’t exactly dead—and now it’s escaped, using a type of magic the organization hasn’t encountered before. Being a boss, Woolrich blames his underling for the screw up and wants Coop to find the missing Harkhuf and make it right, pronto.

Digging into Harkhuf’s history, Coop thinks the mummy is hunting for an ancient magical manuscript that will help him bring his old lover back to life.

Which wouldn’t be so bad if she wasn’t a warrior sorceress hell-bent on conquering the world with her undead armies.

Coop would very much like to run from the oncoming chaos. It’s one thing to steal a mummy, but another to have to deal with head-hunting bureaucrats, down-on-their luck fortune tellers, undead mailroom clerks, and a rather unimpressed elephant. Unfortunately, there’s nowhere to run. If he wants the madness to stop, he’s going to have to suck it up and play hero one more time. But if Coop manages to save the world AGAIN, he’s definitely going to want a lot of answers. And a raise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062389589
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/05/2017
Series:	Another Coop Heist
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	612,876
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard Kadrey is the New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim supernatural noir books. Sandman Slim was included in Amazon’s “100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books to Read in a Lifetime,” and is in development as a feature film. Some of his other books include The Wrong Dead Guy, The Everything Box, Metrophage, and Butcher Bird. He also writes the Vertigo comic Lucifer.

Editorial Reviews

Absurdly entertaining and entertainingly absurd” — Locus Magazine on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

“Kadrey has done a fine job building on the momentum, humor, and premise of the first book, and frankly I can’t wait to see where he takes it in the third...It’s a damn good read from a damn good author.” — Tor.com on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

“This book is great fun. Kadrey makes magic, humor, and crime mix effortlessly.” — Seattle Book Review on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

“I love Kadrey’s sense of humor, and that’s why this book worked so well for me. It’s a fun read, and a series I hope continues for at least a few more installments.” — Pop Culture Beat on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

“[The Wrong] Dead Guy is a riot. It’s just plain dangerous fun — like playing drunk in a bouncy castle or running too fast downhill.” — NPR.org

From the Publisher

Absurdly entertaining and entertainingly absurd

Locus Magazine on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

Kadrey has done a fine job building on the momentum, humor, and premise of the first book, and frankly I can’t wait to see where he takes it in the third...It’s a damn good read from a damn good author.

Tor.com on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

This book is great fun. Kadrey makes magic, humor, and crime mix effortlessly.

Seattle Book Review on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

[The Wrong] Dead Guy is a riot. It’s just plain dangerous fun — like playing drunk in a bouncy castle or running too fast downhill.

NPR.org

I love Kadrey’s sense of humor, and that’s why this book worked so well for me. It’s a fun read, and a series I hope continues for at least a few more installments.

Pop Culture Beat on THE WRONG DEAD GUY

01/02/2017
Kadrey’s follow-up to 2016’s fantasy-caper romp The Everything Box strives for the same charm as its predecessor but ends up feeling flat. Mystical burglar Coop is on the receiving end of a mummy’s curse after a job for the Department of Peculiar Science (DOPS) goes awry. While the mummy, Harkhuf, attempts to resurrect his lover and an army, Coop and his friends race against the clock to save humankind. Meanwhile, various colorful characters in and out of the DOPS continue assorted illegal shenanigans, and it’s in those scenes where Kadrey’s dialogue uncharacteristically falters: in his attempt to imbue every exchange with wry, cynical sarcasm, Kadrey ends up making his entire cast speak in the same voice. To his credit, his plotting is as deft as ever, weaving eight broad story arcs into one overarching narrative that’s entertainingly unpredictable (and somewhat impenetrable for new readers, as previous plot points, such as Coop’s immunity to magic, are glossed over). Especially entertaining are two forgotten DOPS employees whose steady descent into delusional paranoia is only marginally less amusing than the vaguely-defined horrors lurking in their office, but sheer quirkiness isn’t enough to save this sequel from sophomore slump. Agent: Ginger Clark, Curtis Brown. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2016
Coop is a thief with an immunity to magic who works for the Department of Peculiar Science (DOPS). Because he steals for the feds, Coop has lost some of his disrespect for authority, but girlfriend Giselle mostly keeps him on mission. Coop's job this time out is to remove a mummy from a low-rent Los Angeles museum of antiquities. But the mummy, once a powerful Egyptian sorcerer named Harkhuf, has plans of his own, starting with finding his mummy bride and enslaving the world. Kadrey, who began this series with The Everything Box, and who also writes the "Sandman Slim" series, gives readers a great tour of the seedier bits of L.A. VERDICT Some readers will find the nonstop barrage of quips, wordplay, and banter a blast, but Kadrey's story might have been better served by occasionally playing it straight. [See Prepub Alert, 8/22/16.]—MM

Library Journal

2016-12-07
Supernatural agent "Coop" Cooper returns in an overstuffed, hyperkinetic sequel to The Everything Box (2016). To recap, inveterate thief Coop is a fast-talking criminal making his way through a supernatural substratum of society. Last time around, he saved the world and has now reluctantly been seconded to the Department of Peculiar Science, a Los Angeles-based task force that deals with all things spooky. "I don't want a desk," Coop protests. "I'm a crook. Crooks don't have desks. We have tools and cars and six ways out of town." The gang's all here, including Coop's partner in crime Morty Ramsey, fellow agents Bayliss and Giselle, and a new addition: Dr. Lupinsky, an Egyptologist who got mixed up in some bad juju and is now a half-cat, half cybernetic octopus, as happens sometimes. There's not much to the plot, carried along as it is by Kadrey's manic dialogue, phantasmagorical imagery, and the occasional dirty joke, but it's plenty for fans of this strain of comic horror. Coop's boss, Woolrich, orders his team on a new mission: "A simple theft. A local museum has a mummy on display. We'd like to have it instead of them." What sounds like a simple heist quickly becomes mortal danger when they accidentally awaken Harkhuf, an evil mummy imbued with dark magic, which is totally the worst kind of magic, apparently. Harkhuf seeks a powerful amulet and an ancient book to resurrect his queen, Shemetet. (Yes, this is pretty much the plot of the Brendan Fraser movie; it's a book that name-checks Bubba Ho-Tep, so just go with it.) Other figures in this cavalcade include an undead mailroom manager plotting revenge; a car salesman given to dressing like the Electric Cowboy; and a cop named Jim Rockford, no less. Readers who appreciate restraint may find this cartoonish adventure overwhelming, but those who want a Quentin Tarantino joint crafted with the juvenile humor of Christopher Moore will find themselves in good company. A goofy, flamboyant, and breathless horror adventure by one of the genre's sharpest creators.

Kirkus Reviews