Ralph Pincus, Occultist Extraordinaire is Book One of Marcus Lambert's dark horror comedy series, The World of Ralph Pincus, Book 1. It's Christmas Eve, and Ralph was otherwise involved with an erotic quintet of digitized beauties when his parents called. Terry, his roommate, answered and then neglected to put the phone on hold so Ralph's parents got a lot more information than Ralph would have liked. Terry was a good roommate for the 32-year-old Ralph; at least, he wasn't the worst. That title would have to go to the college roommate who set the two of them up for a session with a hooker in a creaky double-wide trailer. While he was tempted to stay in, watch some television and eat left-over pizza, Ralph decided to honor his family's Christmas Eve ritual of going to a movie. On his way out, he noticed the lovely neighbor he hadn't really gotten to meet yet. She was having trouble getting her keys out of her bag and her companion's behavior, once she did get the door open, made Ralph realize that he needed to do something to help her.

Marcus Lambert's dark horror comedy, Ralph Pincus, Occultist Extraordinaire, The World of Ralph Pincus, Book 1, is not for the faint of heart nor is it for the pious or those who are easily shocked. Ralph's world is a strange one, and it gets even stranger when he goes to the aid of his neighbor. There are weird, diminutive vampires who hold fast to the tradition of promise rings and chastity until marriage, and Santa Claus is somewhat less jovial than many have been led to believe. At times, Lambert's style of writing reminded me somewhat of Robert Anton Wilson, but it's infinitely more dark and biting. The scene with the travelling Bible-Time Magician who guest-stars at vacation Bible schools is admirably and authentically spooky, especially as seen through the eyes of the five-year-old Gabe, whose family is part of the Consortium of Christians Opposed to Occult Attacks. The pace of this story is sometimes hectic and, at times, I found myself having to backtrack to identify the panoply of strange and wondrous characters found therein. Those who are not offended by sex, violence and sacrilege, and who also like their humor of the horrific kind may find this a tasty and off-the-beaten track story; they may even find themselves looking forward to the next installment.

Marcus Lambert introduces a new savior to the world: Ralph Pincus, a Jewish occultist extraordinaire, who teams up with an unlikely diabolical duo - an evangelical sorcerer and a noble vampire - to form a trio with the task of saving the world. It's a task few are born to achieve, and sometimes they have this task thrust upon them because it won't be easy. Plus, there's a hint of exploitation of zombies.

Ralph Pincus, Occultist Extraordinaire by Marcus Lambert does not fit into an established branch of writing. Like all acknowledged supernatural thrillers, many of the identifiable components of such work - hidden diabolism, supernatural horrors, other powers of darkness, and exotically beautiful women - reside in these pages. But, these are also intertwined with more earthly and natural human encounters, much of which being related to sexual exchanges.

Ralph Pincus, Occultist Extraordinaire by Marcus Lambert is a story of beyond the world experiences of humans, vampires, and other earthly and unearthly beings. As can be expected from a book of this genre, the author has succeeded in transporting the reader to a glamorous era of aristocratic manners, gorgeous women, regally-appointed apartments and other accompaniments. Much of the ambiance provided by the unearthly elements of this story, in fact, has been neutralized by the rather raw exchanges in the sexual domain.

Ralph Pincus just doesn’t fit the status quo. When society expects him to look left, he’s not just looking right; he’s upside-down and looking behind him. You’d think hell had come to earth when an evangelical sorcerer and a vampire team up to defeat evil, and it does take the threat of apocalypse to get them to that point. They need Ralph Pincus’ help, but does Ralph even want to get involved? Ralph Pincus is not really an anti-hero. He’s a reluctant hero who grates on your nerves constantly until you grudgingly admit that he’s scraped his way into your heart and you actually care about the indecent beggar. Ralph Pincus, Occultist Extraordinaire is sure to get your mind a-fluttering.

With shocking, sometimes mind-numbing and very daring humor, Marcus Lambert explodes onto the scene with an irreverent look at the “savior-ism” pervading our culture. The narrative reads more as a stream of consciousness than from one character’s perspective, and you feel as if you’re zapping around at the speed of a thought. Zombie exploitation. Revenue streams. Vampire heroes. It’s all a little zany, but a lot of fun. This trash-talking and generally vulgar tale is entertaining, but in the way that you’d want to hide the book from view should your mother come poking around and asking questions about it. One of the more peculiar issues discussed (or really just implied over and over again) is how Ralph’s being Jewish affects his relationship to being the savior. If you remember, the Jews already had one savior and it didn’t work out very well that time. It’s one of those books that you can’t quite tell if it’s ridiculous, or so philosophical that it’s far too brilliant for your pathetic, mortal brain to comprehend.