Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef (Gods and Monsters) Kindle Edition

Cassandra Khaw takes us into the magical underbelly of Kuala Lumpur in Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef as part of Abaddon Books Gods and Monsters series. Picture Jet Tila (a Thai chef Food Network fans should recognize) with magical know-how, acting as ambassador for the Ten Chinese Hells in between his culinary duties for a family of mobster ghouls.Our introduction to Wong finds him tasked with locating the murderer of the Dragon King's daughter. Heady stuff, to be sure, and one that finds Wong calling upon various Chinese deities as he unravels the mystery. As is tradition with the noir tropes that have inspired, and been somewhat upended by Khaw, it doesn't take long for Wong to find himself in way over his head and under assault by various forces, living, dead, and otherwise. And holy crap, does Wong ever get assaulted... [insert maniacal laugh]Wong is a fun character to spend a few hours with, and this novella is the perfect bite-sized serving of urban fantasy horror mayhem. Khaw does a terrific job creating some uncomfortable scenes, but is even better at bringing to life the mythological denizens inhabiting Kuala Lumpur (the God of Missing People in particular is very neatly crafted). It's this mythology that makes Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef completely aces in my eyes. The cultural and religious practices in which the Chinese honor their dead are vividly realized here, and lay a solid foundation on which to build a superb urban fantasy. I also felt that I got to know a little bit about Kuala Lumpur as a setting, and I could easily picture myself wandering the alleys and Chinatown alongside Wong and some unwelcome companions. All in all, this was a terrifically immersive read!My only complaint is a slight one, involving my own misreading of the title. I had thought going in that Wong was a cannibal andchef, rather than a chef for cannibals. That said, I still got to read a little bit about the preparation of fat, white tourists for some ghoulish company, even if I had expected way more dishes with long pig as the central ingredient.... It's also entirely possible I'm just a weird-o.

This is a gloriously crazy romp through...well, I'm not sure actually. It is a horror/noir/mystery mash up with random asides that could make an entire novel on their own.As a novella it works well. It could easily have been expanded into a 500 page novel (think of the novella and novel of The Big Sleep-same story expanded to full length) but it isn't hurt by the lengthI've looking forward to learning more about Rupert, the Boss and family, his wife and the whole ball of worms.This author is a very strong talent.

If a hard boiled style tale about a guy who literally cooks people for his demon employers is your jam, this book will delight you. There are ghouls! Dragons! Gods of every sort! And beneath it all a mash smoky ethnic religious conflicts that flash in and out of focus.A few of the secondary characters are surprising to the point of confusing, presumably in the service of setting up a serial. All told a fun ride through SFF horror.

This was a fun romp of a gruesome urban fantasy. (If that sounds like a contradiction, yeah.) Rupert Wong is a family man working two jobs, but his family is a ghost woman who he loves dearly, and her unborn bloodsucking son, ditto. And the jobs involve ghouls and Hell. Set in Kuala Lumpur and drawing on Malaysian mythologies, it reminded me a bit of a South Eastern version of some of Simon Green's Nightside books.The action was fast-paced, the gore gory but not graphic, and the story a good read. Situations and characters pile on thick and fast, and in the end, I found it confusing but entertaining. On to the next book!

An intricate world and a lot to digest in such a little bit of time (it is pretty short), but the main character is interesting and clever, the monsters are wonderfully horrid, and the supporting cast is pretty amazing--I'd really rather read about the spooky evil ghost boy than Rupert himself, but that's often the case. Though the tone is often light and verging on silly, the humor is all gallows and both the themes and the horrors are pretty gruesome, but all complete unto themselves as well as building an interesting universe.

Just from reading the first couple of chapters you know Rupert Wong is man who has done wrong in the past and is about to do even more wrong – and that’s not even counting the fact he cooks humans for a living.Rupert Wong starts the story as a simple chef who turns humans into delicious tartare and other delicacies. But as the plot quickly develops it becomes clear a religious war is erupting in the mean streets of Kuala Lumpur and our protagonist becomes inextricably tied at the center of it all.As the story progresses, Rupert is pulled every which way by players in the divine world. Though he's a puppet, ultimately his decisions are driven by his self interest and desires.Rupert feels remorse and regret for certain things he’d done and about to do, but he’s not driven by moral obligations. He takes on a form of community service not out of the goodness of his heart, but to avoid toiling in hell. Similarly, Rupert dives headlong into an investigation not to bring justice and the truth to light, but for money and promises.In these ways Rupert is relatable as an entirely fallible person caught up in things so much bigger than himself.The pacing of the novella is frenetic with twists at every turn and never stopping for a moment. It’s a great fast read filled with exotic backdrops and deities characterized in ways you’d never expect for their godly statuses. Cassandra paints a vivid picture of Kuala Lumpur brimming with smells and tastes – though, be warned: the author expends equal amounts of rich detail to describe delectable morsels of food as she does a rotting corpse.

Thankfully there's a lot less cannibalism than the title implies (in my head it doesn't count if it's the undead eating people, okay?) and there are plenty of laughs to go with the wall to wall squick. Because this _is_ hella gory and frequently downright sick. Those who aren't comfortable with body horror and undead babies should steer clear, but those who stick with it will get a gutsy thrill ride through more mythology than you can shake a stick.It's really NOT my thing (I don't like horror or cannibals), but the outright extravagance of the prose and the exuberance of imagination kept me spellbound. The things Cass Khaw can do with words. I can't even.

I’d like this to be a TV show just to hear kids saying, “Did you see ‘Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef’ last night?”. Then again, given that this unusual and gripping novella starts with the arguments of a gang of undead babies for starting their own union it’s unlikely to be on before the 9pm watershed anyway.Until this book, part of Abaddon’s ‘Gods and Monsters’ series, I had only read Cassandra Khaw’s short fiction and been struck by her extraordinary ability with rhythmic, poetic language that seemed familiar and universal despite inhabiting a culture that seems partly Asian but is probably as much the author’s own creation. ‘Rupert Wong’ achieves those effects and more, with a turbo-charged narrative in which the titular Wong, who is not just a chef but a kind of bagman cum agent for the various Gods and Monsters of the series’ title, is engaged by the Dragon King to find his daughter’s killer. Cassandra Khaw does disdainful power very well and it is a credit to her characterisation that I found myself caring whether Rupert succeeded for reasons other than his survival.Rupert Wong’s own family life is a combination of the ordinary and ghoulish. His partner is a beautiful zombie and the child she was pregnant with when she was murdered a tiny, violent succubus called George who is actually kind of cute in a fittingly twisted sort of way. The novella humanises the unknowable and unspeakable while all the time keeping the reader on edge with sheer visceral invention.Its pace, cynical tone and neon-lit capital setting reminded me of a shorter, fleshier version of ‘Neuromancer’ only with Kuala Lumper instead of Tokyo and black magic instead of computer code. In each case the protagonist is swept along in a tide of otherworldly insanity that is barely within his control or understanding. There are enough twists to satisfy a thriller fan as well as a horror reader and if that’s not enough ‘Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef’ is also very funny.The protagonist is almost completely compromised but what sustains our empathy is his calm response to the outrageous events in the story and ability to occasionally pull one over on his many tormentors. Like the author, he does not dwell on the obvious body-horror elements of the story and the wry detachment of both actually makes much of what happens both weirdly beautiful and also moving.Despite the comparison above I haven’t read anything else quite like this novella but I’m glad I checked it out. It fits as neatly into the urban fantasy genre as it does into horror and is a step forward for both. Since Rupert takes the ill-fated job as much for his beloved as for his own survival puts it firmly in the romance camp as well. That the object of Rupert’s love is already dead and doomed does not detract from the tension at all. Cutting edge stuff in a ghoulishly delectable number of ways.

This is glorious. For something so short it certainly crams in a lot of ingredients: gods, monsters, down-at-heel ex-mob chefs, gluttons, gourmands, angry ghosts, colonialism, assimilation, ancient vs modern, a bustling cityscape both bright & wild and grimy-drab...It's got everything and all of it is mixed to perfection to produce a noirish yet numinous tale of one strangely compelling not-exactly-hero caught in the midst of a grand parade of terrifying grotesques.Cassandra Khaw brings incredible depth to her world; a turn of phrase or well crafted image hinting at onion skin layers of history and politics and meaning and mystery, all waiting to be revealed beneath every place and every action. Despite the supernatural subject matter, this reads always as a story of real place, and real (strange) people.Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef rattles along in fast and thrilling style and manages to skip from visceral horror to easy violence to genuine heart-breaker pathos whilst never missing a step or leaving you behind. Highly recommended.

Rupert Wong just wants to live the normal life, which leads to him experiencing anything but. I loved this funny and gory story, which never goes too far in either direction. Both the central and supporting characters are fleshed out, with George being a particular highlight. Cassandra is able to paint vivid pictures of the many strange people whilst keeping the story flowing.This is more than worth the price and I look forwarded to reading her future works.

Buy yourself a copy, thank me later