Better than the first one; still not as good as Hitchhiker

This is not really a sequel, as it has nothing at all to do with the first Dirk Gently book. This is a totally new adventure: one that makes slightly more sense than the first one, but still isn’t as good as the Hitchhiker series. That seems unfair, though – what could possibly be as good as Hitchhiker?

Kate is an American living in London who becomes embroiled with a large blond man who claims to be Thor. Why Thor takes a shine to her is kind of glossed over, but hey! It’s funny, so who cares. Dirk Gently is still a holistic detective who strives to do as little as possible in his day-to-day life, but even he feels guilty when his only client is beheaded, and feels obligated to solve the murder. The dead record executive, Thor, Odin’s stay in a senior living facility, and the buying and selling of souls all…kind of…tie together. The ending is rushed, and the dots are sometimes a little hard to connect, but you really don’t read Adams for the plot, right? It’s all about the journey. And the journey is great. We get to know Dirk a little better, Kate’s rants about the lack of English pizza delivery are wonderful, the bits with the eagle are hysterical, and there were many lines I had to read out loud to my sweetie or email to a friend.

It still has absolutely nothing to do with the show, but that’s okay. I like all versions of Dirk.

Also, both Dirk Gently books were in my old room at my mom’s. The first one had a tiny picture of a high school crush stuck inside. This one had the attached picture. Don’t you just love books that double as time capsules?