Ten Dead Comedians

by Fred Van Lente

Overview

Fred Van Lente’s brilliant debut is both a savagely funny homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a thoroughly contemporary show-business satire.

As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy “blue collar” comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why?

A darkly clever take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and other classics of the genre, Ten Dead Comedians is a marvel of literary ventriloquism, with hilarious comic monologues in the voice of every suspect. It’s also an ingeniously plotted puzzler with a twist you’ll never see coming!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781594749742
Publisher:	Quirk Publishing
Publication date:	07/11/2017
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

FRED VAN LENTE is the #1 New York Times best-selling writer of the comics Odd Is on Our Side, Archer & Armstrong, and Action Philosophers! He also cowrote the graphic novel Cowboys and Aliens, which was made into a film starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig.

Read an Excerpt

A bleep, a boop, a shudder, a swoosh, and there it was, on each of their phones:
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Ten Dead Comedians"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Fred Van Lente.
Excerpted by permission of Quirk Books.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

05/15/2017
Comics author Van Lente (Action Philosophers!) makes his fiction debut with a high-concept riff on Agatha Christie’s classic Ten Little Indians. Dustin Walker, an actor who’s best known from an improv comedy TV series and a movie franchise that started with Help! I Married a Cat, has invited a variety of prominent comedians to an isolated island in the Caribbean, including Janet Kahn, an insult comic; Oliver Rees, the creator of the Orange Baby Man character (which he’s successfully franchised); and William Griffith, who performs in character as the redneck Billy the Contractor. The murders begin soon after everyone arrives, and their host accuses them, via a recording, of being guilty of crimes against comedy. Before long, the guests conclude that the killer is one of their own. Christie fans may enjoy seeing how Van Lente redoes Ten Little Indians for the digital age, and others will appreciate the entertainment industry satire, but the humor may be just too broad or tasteless in places for some. Agent: Jason Yarn, Jason Yarn Literary Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Original, funny, and - like all great comedians - Van Lente slays the audience”—David Quantick, Emmy award-winning writer of Veep, The Thick of It, Brass Eye, and Harry Hill's TV Burp

“Fresh, funny, and entertaining.”—Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

“Van Lente’s strength is in his narrative ability [...] and his sharp, acerbic humor. The mystery is pretty fun too!”—BookRiot

“Van Lente’s look at the selfishness and misery of show business is sure to be a hit with mystery lovers who savor unusual setups; the side of snark provided by the bitter islanders adds to the atmosphere.”—Booklist

“This book is like if Agatha Christie was funny, which is to say that it is infinitely better than Agatha Christie. If you're in the comedy world you'll feel that you know some of the characters firsthand. Hell, if you're a 21st century human you'll feel you know some of the characters firsthand.”—Jennifer Wright, author of It Ended Badly and Get Well Soon

“Ten Dead Comedians is a funny and nail-biting front row seat to the bloodthirsty world of professional comedy ... and that's BEFORE the murders start.”—Daniel Kibblesmith, writer for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

“An homage not only to stand-up comedians everywhere but to Agatha Christie’s original mystery, Van Lente’s novel is hilarious and suspenseful—all at once.”—BookTrib

“Fred Van Lente takes an old idea and drags it kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. So assured, so fresh and so inventive, it's hard to believe this is his first novel.”—Kevin Wignall, best-selling author of A Death in Sweden and The Hunter’s Prayer

“Spinal Tap meets Agatha Christie. I loved it.”—Martyn Waites, best-selling author of Born Under Punches and the Tania Carver series

“Fred Van Lente delivers an Agatha Christie twisty mystery filled with all the cruel, horrible, and violent deaths that only stand-up comedians truly deserve.”—Grady Hendrix, author of Horrorstör, My Best Friend's Exorcism, and Paperbacks from Hell

“[This] debut fiction could possibly become, in its own way, as much of a classic as the novel it honors.”—New York Journal of Books

“Ten Dead Comedians is an ingeniously plotted puzzler with classically unanticipated twist ending.”—Midwest Book Review

“I flew through this book, anxious to uncover the identity of the killer, and that is perhaps the highest recommendation I can give. I couldn't put it down.”—Geeks of Doom

“It’s a bit guiltily we admit that watching a handful or two of hack comedians be slowly picked off is a delight.”—Cool Material

“Tense, startling and relentlessly hilarious.”—HiLowBrow
 
“A fantastic debut and a fun ode to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None that provides plenty of comedy to go along with the rampant murder.”—Four Letter Nerd

“This book [is] oddly mesmerizing.”—Mystery Playground

“Written with savage wit and skewed humor, Ten Dead Comedians is an uproarious treat.”—Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

05/01/2017
Van Lente's first foray into mystery is both a tribute to Agatha Christie and a dark showbiz satire. Nine comedians (recognizable archetypes) with varying levels of success are invited to the island retreat of renowned comic Dustin Walker. The motley group arrives to find the island deserted and that they are cut off from all communication. And soon they are murdered one by one in brutal traps cleverly related to their individual lives and style of comedy. VERDICT A nifty twist at the end completes this black-humored and cutting-edge homage to Christie's And Then There Were None. Humor is subjective and not everyone will be amused, but the grisly plotting is strong, as is some of the language.—ACT

Library Journal

2017-04-18
In an homage to And Then There Were None, a group of comedians is picked off one by one as they try to out-personality one another.When a disparate collection of nine comedians receives the invitation to join in a collaborative enterprise organized by the famed Dustin Walker on his little Saint Martin island, it seems like the chance of a lifetime. Each of the invitees seems to fit in with a modern stand-up archetype. For example, Ruby Ng, the loudmouth lesbian, ditches her own wedding to hoof it down to paradise. When the group arrives, they're greeted by Meredith Ladipo, Dustin's assistant, who tells them that Dustin's indisposed but will meet with them soon, and the performers settle in the best way they know: one-upping each other with tales of fame, fortune, and funny. Some members of the group, like formerly famous Steve Gordon and feminist funnywoman Zoe Schwartz, pair up and get to know each other better, while others, like high-strung William Griffith, are more concerned with their connections back home and complain bitterly about the lack of Wi-Fi. Gathered to watch a video left by their host that's broadcast live via GoPro, the whole bunch bears witness to Dustin's death and wonders what's next. As their stay on the island continues, members of the group are picked off one by one, leaving the survivors to wonder how long each one can last and whether it's even worth figuring out who's behind the murders. Van Lente, a comic-book writer publishing his first mystery, focuses more closely on the big picture than its components. Even so, his plot requires so many moving parts that readers may feel he should have included a Cast of Characters, like all those Agatha Christie paperbacks he's emulating.

Kirkus Reviews

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