[.ca] The Dead Fathers Club (ISBN 1598870874)

From Amazon.com:
The story of Hamlet is not usually thought of as one meant for laughter. But Matt Haig's able retelling of the tale in The Dead Fathers Club will make you laugh, though it might also evoke a tear. Eleven-year-old Philip Noble is at his father's funeral when who should appear but his father's ghost, who wastes no time in telling Philip that his Uncle Alan, an auto mechanic, tampered with his car, causing the accident that killed him. He warns Philip that Uncle Alan will shortly be tampering with his mother too, because Unctuous Uncle Alan wants the pub that Philip's father owned. The solution to this problem, according to Philip's dad, is that he must kill Uncle Alan. If he doesn't do it before Dad's next birthday, 11 weeks away, Dad will be consigned to the Terrors for all eternity. Philip agrees, in principle, but killing someone, especially without getting caught, isn't easy. But a promise is a promise, so Philip gives it a whirl, in fact, several whirls. Real life interferes in the persons of two school bullies, truly nasty and perverse thugs, who seem ready to kill Philip because they think it's funny that his father died. Philip also falls in love, and his Ophelia (named Leah) thinks that shoplifting is tons of fun. Poor Philip is in over his head in every way possible. There are many encounters with other Dead Fathers in a great sendup of ghostly dealings, Hamlet-like, on the moors, and several sly references to the play. There is even a character named Dane. The ending is not pure Shakespeare, but it is pure Haig and that is very good indeed. --Valerie Ryan

IMAGINATIVE, HUMOROUS, AND TOUCHING:
British writer Matt Haig makes his American debut with The Dead Fathers Club, a story that owes a bit to Shakespeare (Hamlet) and a great deal to Haig's fertile imagination, humor, and ability to tug on heartstrings. Protagonist Philip Noble is an 11-year-old boy who lives above a pub, the Castle and Falcon, which his family owns. He has just lost his father. Death came in an automobile accident but Philip's father isn't totally gone as he appears to Philip at his wake. It seems that when fathers are murdered they become members of the Dead Fathers Club, and this is not an association that Philip's dad wished to join. He informs his son that his death was not an accident but was planned by sneaky, conniving Uncle Alan, an auto mechanic, who put the kibosh on his car. Further, Philip is told that he must avenge his dad's death and he must do it rather quickly - before his late father's next birthday. Now, this is a pretty tall order for a young boy who is already having difficulty dealing with life let alone death. There are school bullies, pretty girls, lessons to be done, panic attacks to be overcome and other attendant vicissitudes of simply being a pre-teen boy. Nonetheless, when he realizes that the villainous Alan has eyes for his mother and to taking over the pub, Philip realizes that something must be done. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke