title: Rastus Reilly -- or -- Dashiell Hammett, Charles Dickens, H.P. Lovecraft, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy on Bad Acid
author: Steven Kelly
description: Tired of reading good books? Check out this ridiculous, politically incorrect, and remarkably pointless novel. It's a general cultural satire, in the guise of a 'hard-boiled detective' mystery spoof. The mystery has to do with the 'Secrets of the Elder Gods': fans of the Lovecraftian 'cosmic horror' corpus (which does lie in very ripe ground, after all) and everybody who enjoys irreverent humor, ought to read this one. Take off your fedora, pour yourself a glass of rye, light up a smoke, and laugh along with 'Rastus Reilly' as you develop esophageal lesions. You only live once, kid!
zlib_text: **ALSO BY LEE GOLDBERG**
  
  _Dead Space_
  
  _The Walk_
  
  _Watch Me Die_
  
  _McGrave_
  
  _Fast Track_
  
  _King City_
  
  _The Dead Man: Face of Evil_
  
  **The Ian Ludlow Thrillers**
  
  _True Fiction_
  
  _Killer Thriller_
  
  _Fake Truth_
  
  **The Eve Ronin Series**
  
  _Lost Hills_
  
  _Bone Canyon_
  
  **The Fox & O'Hare Series (with Janet Evanovich)**
  
  _Pros & Cons_
  
  _The Shell Game_
  
  _The Heist_
  
  _The Chase_
  
  _The Job_
  
  _The Scam_
  
  _The Pursuit_
  
  **The Diagnosis Murder Series**
  
  _The Silent Partner_
  
  _The Death Merchant_
  
  _The Shooting Script_
  
  _The Waking Nightmare_
  
  _The Past Tense_
  
  _The Dead Letter_
  
  _The Double Life_
  
  _The Last Word_
  
  **The Monk Series**
  
  _Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse_
  
  _Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii_
  
  _Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu_
  
  _Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants_
  
  _Mr. Monk in Outer Space_
  
  _Mr. Monk Goes to Germany_
  
  _Mr. Monk is Miserable_
  
  _Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop_
  
  __ _Mr. Monk in Trouble_
  
  _Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out_
  
  _Mr. Monk on the Road_
  
  _Mr. Monk on the Couch_
  
  _Mr. Monk on Patrol_
  
  _Mr.