Nobody blends good science with bad puns as brilliantly as Spider Robinson, as his legion of devoted fans will attest. Now from the creator of the Callahan series comes an improbable tale of impending doom, a road trip, space, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Callahan's Key The universe is in desperate peril. The United States' own defense system, orbiting above an unknowing populace, is more vulnerable than its creators could have envisioned. Now, bombarded by a freakish cluster of natural phenomena, the ultimate protection has become a perfect doomsday machine. Its target: not just the U.S., not just Earth, but the entire universe. And only one man can stop the devastation this unholy weapon will wreak. Unfortunately, he's not available. So the job falls instead to bar owner Jake Stonebender. And his wife, Zoey, and superintelligent toddler, Erin. Not to mention two dozen busloads of ex-hippies and freaks, Robert Heinlein's wandering cat, a whorehouse parrot, and misunderstood genius-inventor Nikola Tesla, who is in fact alive and well. It'll take a move to Key West, an experiment in mass telepathy, and hundreds of gallons of Irish coffee to save everything-as-we-know-it from annihilation. But it's nothing Jake Stonebender hasn't done before.... Callahan's Key is the story of a group of humans-more or less-who band together in a cosmic adventure-more or less-to make the universe safe for...well, probably more of the same. What's Jake Stonebender's standard fee for saving the universe? That's easy: "A bar, and enough money and clout to run it." It's time for Jake to save the day yet again, with a lot of help from the rest of his pun-happy, cosmically strange crew. And no more kiddie stakes like in the previous Callahan books , when mere humanity was on the line. Nope, Jake needs to save the totality of the universe. From, of all things, the quest for knowledge. What does that mean? Well, it's got something to do with a classified satellite called the Deathstar, a hurricane named Erin, a superenergetic cosmic ray in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Soviet space station Mir, and a shamelessly enormous volume of Irish coffee. But as any Callahan fan will duly attest, all of this is really beside the point. Books in this series (this one included) showcase the Münchhausen-style storytelling skills of Nebula- and Hugo-winner Spider Robinson. Putting one of cinema's most robust tropes into service--calling the team back together, à la Oceans 11 --and doing a bang-up job at it as usual, Robinson should please old fans and win new ones. If nothing else, you'll surely come to love the eclectic cast of dozens, including everybody from a talking baby (Jake's teleporting, superhacker daughter) to a talking German shepherd (Ralph Von Wau Wau) to--why not?--the forgotten father of the 20th century, Nikola Tesla. --Paul Hughes The universe faces total annihilation, and Jake Stonebender, former proprietor of the now-defunct Mary!s Place, his wife, Zoey, and an assortment of oddball friends answer the call to arms"after they relocate from Long Island to the warmer climes of Key West. The latest addition to Robinson!s Callahan novels features his usual blend of homegrown wisdom and laconic humor and includes a guest appearance by the late Nikola Tesla ( Uncle Nikky ). Series fans will welcome this unabashedly rollicking sf adventure. Recommended for most collections. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. What's the new Callahan novel about? Longtime fans will point out that the plot isn't particularly important; what is, is the characters' interactions and wordplay (mostly puns--real groaners). Jake Stonebender is mourning the closing of his bar, Mary's Place, and cursing the depth of the Long Island winter. A series of chance and purposeful encounters collects him, wife Zoey, their wildly precocious daughter, and the usual suspects--Ralph Von Wau Wau the talking dog, immortal scientist Nikola Tesla, Fast Eddie the monosyllabic fixer, etc.--and points them toward Key West, to prevent the earth's destruction, as usual. A ginger tomcat--a dead ringer for the late Robert Heinlein's pet--completes the entourage, and the fun comes from assembling a fleet of school buses, evading state troopers, and exploring NASA's shuttle launch system. Robinson resembles Heinlein in his mild anarchism; oft-cited, never described sex; and characters that think they're smarter than the rest of us--and are. His personal touch is recreational drugging. The results delight Callahan devotees. Others may find them a trifle tedious. Roberta Johnson Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Another outing (Callahan's Legacy, 1996, etc.) for bullet-proof bartender Jake Stonebender, his wife Zoey, their superintelligent 14-month-old, Erin, and the eponymous bar that, thanks to a vindictive licensing inspector, has been closed and shuttered for 18 months. Still, some of the regulars will show up: reconstituted ge