Finished: American Gods (Gaiman) What a good book! The story of 32 year old inmate, Shadow, who is released from his three year prison sentence early, only to find himself on an airplane with the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who is in reality the old Norse god, Odin...or at least an incarnation of Odin. The wild tale begins there as Mr. Wednesday talks Shadow into coming to work for him as he travels the country stirring up all the other old gods to prepare for the coming battle with all the new gods like money, technology, media, drugs, etc. We find out that the old gods arrived in America through many different channels in the minds and hearts of people who traveled here ages ago and brought their beliefs and worships of gods with them. However, once living in America, with each generation, the beliefs and stories faded until most of the old gods and their powers were forgotten. However, the gods still existed! Manifested in human bodies, they lived among the people. When the newer gods started growing strong and prevailing in the forefront of the human's minds, the new gods became brazen and cocky. They decided it would be okay to get rid of the old gods and provoked them into war. This is what Mr. Wednesday would have Shadow believe, anyway. In reality, Mr. Wednesday's Odin drew his power from other gods dying, and he relished the impending battle. He didn't really care which side won as long as more gods lay dead in the aftermath. His partner in crime in provoking the old gods is another old god himself, Loki...the god of chaos! Together these two pit the old gods and new gods against each other and almost get their way with an incredible battle until Shadow figures it all out and puts a stop to the battle. I love Shadow! From the first moment I feel very compassionate towards him...in the same way I feel compassionate about the suicidal Quentin Compson in The Sound and the Fury. Shadow was basically talked into being the driver of a bank robbery by his beloved wife, Laura. Though Laura was never associated with any crime, and Shadow was not convicted of the bank robbery due to lack of evidence...Shadow was convicted for beating up the two guys who robbed the bank and cheated him out of his portion of the money. No money was ever found, hence the no bank robbery conviction. Once in jail, Shadow's cell mate is a wise inmate, about ten years his senior, Low Key Lyesmith. Yep....that's Low Key, as in Loki!! It turns out that Mr. Wednesday ("Day of Woden" (Odin, get it?)) and Loki have been following Shadow since his birth and have big plans for him. Shadow is going to be their distraction to all the other gods while they pull the big one over their eyes and work together to start the big battle. As it turns out, Shadow's mother (who died when he was 16) had a one night stand with Mr. Wednesday and Shadow is his son! I can't possibly recap the whole book here, but there are so many things that were interesting. Shadow gets out of prison early because his wife, who he is about to see in three days when he's released, is killed suddenly in an automobile accident. Yep, Mr. Wednesday's doing. They couldn't afford to have Shadow distracted. To pour salt on the wound, though, and no doing of the gods...Laura is killed while driving in a car and performing one last sex act on Shadow's best friend, who she'd been having an affair with! Shadow, distraught by her death, is even more distraught to find out about her infidelity. Shadow tosses a gold coin given to him by Mr. Wednesday into Laura's grave before it is covered in dirt and low and behold, the dead, but undead Laura follows Shadow throughout the book. She still loves Shadow and actually helps him out of at least three scrapes. Independently of Shadow, Laura figures out that Loki is no good and she ends up killing him. We meet loads of colorful characters in the form of old gods...Mr. Ibis the undertaker and his partner Mr. Jacquel, Egyptian gods Toth and Anubis; Easter, the Germanic goddess of the dawn, Eostre, who brings Shadow back to life; Mr. Nancy, aka, Anansi, a trickster from African folklore; Bilquis, the man-devouring Queen of Sheba, and on and on. Throughout the book we also get glimpses of some of the stories of the actual old gods, what their legends and powers were, and at the same time, the people they supposedly traveled with over to America. At one point, Wednesday places Shadow to live in a Wisconsin lake town where the people are very friendly. He meets some characters there...Mr. Hinzelmann and police chief, Chad Mulligan, who he befriends. And, he meets a hitchhiking female named Sam on his way to the lake town who comes back into play again. He also gets peripherally involved in the mysterious disappearance of a local 13 year old girl and figures out that the disappearances of local teens in the town are a yearly thing, same time each year, and have been going on for decades! Needless to say, Hinzelmann ends up being a supernatural figure as well, and responsible for the "sacrifices" of the children. Anyway...far too much to put into words except to say that Shadow really does end up being a good, honorable guy who I really rooted for. So glad that he didn't stay dead after sacrificing himself to to keep his word and hold vigil for Mr. Wednesday in an outrageous way! I hear that Gaiman is working on a sequel to the book, but not sure if I want to read it or let Shadow live on the way he was at the very end of the book. :-)