middle-aged retired cop who spends time online connecting with 'desperate Filipinas.' Lily: Charlie's other employee, Lily is a goth teenager and later a goth chef. She is the only person besides Minty Fresh and Sophie who knows that Charlie is a death merchant. Mrs. Korjev and Mrs. Ling: Middle-aged women who live in Charlie's building and frequently care for Sophie while providing comic relief. The Morrigan: Babd, Macha, and Nemain, Celtic war deities and denizens of the underworld. Along with Orcus, they are the villains of the novel. Orcus: Husband of the Morrigan, and powerful force of darkness. Appearances of characters from previous novels A few characters from Moore's earlier novels participate in this story: Minty Fresh from Coyote Blue and, because of the story's San Francisco setting (where Bloodsucking Fiends took place), Jody (unnamed in a cameo appearance), The Emperor (and his two "soldiers", Bummer and Lazarus), and detectives Alphonse Rivera and Nick Cavuto. Jody's meeting with Charlie Asher is seen from her perspective, in You Suck: A Love Story, the continuation of Bloodsucking Fiends. Charlie Asher is referenced several times in Bite Me: A Love Story. External links Author's own website for the book, including excerpt of first chapter The Beta-Male Manifesto (in the author's blog, drawn partly from the novel): Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 (conclusion) Memory book with photographs from Moore's book-signing tour for the original hardback edition during 21 March-23 April 2006 Audio MP3 podcast of Moore's appearance on 28 March 2006 at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, Colorado The "sartorial creature" dolls of Monique Motil, which provided the inspiration for the "squirrel people" in Moore's novel Absurdist fiction Novels by Christopher Moore 2006 American novels 2006 fantasy novels Novels set in San Francisco HarperCollins books