Published on November 30, 2024 with Rowanvale Books ( https://www.rowanvalebooks.com/#/)

This third book by Sam Sumac might best be described as a classic bar joke. However, in Sam’s case the joke would go like this: 

“Three timeless psychic mediums, the world’s richest man, a phallically insecure insurance salesman, a Truman Capote doppelganger, a black graduate student from Boston, and a bunch of feuding aliens with their own agendas all walk into a bar in Vincennes, Indiana. They’re there to find an ancient dagger, build a new Stonehenge, and – oh, yeah — cause the end of this world.” 

Doesn’t sound very funny? Hey, if that old adage is true – “the keys to good comedy are volume and repetition” — then Sam Sumac has successfully used his brand of dark comedy here to loudly and repeatedly poke fun at the way the characters in the story all exhibit the seven deadly sins – qualities that Sam clearly believed were universal. 

In the end, perhaps the best way to view this book should come from what Sam himself wrote in his notes about it:

“Reading this book might make you happier than a possum (Didelphis virginiana) up a pant leg.

Another wonderful Kirkus Review: ”https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sam-sumac/who-drew-the-short-straw/