Amberville

Amberville, by Tim Davys, is a highly original noir novel in which all of the characters happen to be stuffed animals. Eric Bear thought that he had settled into a secure life with his wife, Emma Rabbit, and a good job, when his mobster former employer Nicholas Dove comes to him with an offer he can't refuse unless he wants Emma to be ripped apart. Dove has received a tip that his name is on the Death List that determines which stuffed animals are picked up by the red vans, never to return. Eric's orders are to find the list and remove Dove's name, but does the list even exist? This is a surreal, sometimes philosophical book, but it is sometimes brutal in odd ways as well (example: an animal beaten up until he coughs up stuffing). In spite of some slightly uneven pacing, it's like no other suspense novel you've read before.

-- Kristen, Main Library