Ack-Ack Macaque

The cigar chomping No.1 ace Spitfire pilot of WWII and defender against incessant waves of Nazi ninja paratroopers is a monkey - code name Ack-Ack Macaque. If that doesn't on it's own make you want to read this book then I suspect it's not for you. But! There's more! Way more. Nuclear powered airships. Conspiracies. The Prince of Wales. Bad Facelift Man. A weird cult. Possible armageddon. A rocket to Mars. well, I don't want to mention all the fun stuff - let's leave some surprises.

My only complaint is that such an amazing title character really should have more time in his own book. Still, there are two more novels and a couple of shorts in this omnibus.

Hive Monkey

Another rip-roaring sci-fi adventure, this time with as much cyborg WWII flying-ace monkey as you could want! It moves along faster than Ack-Ack Macaque's Spitfire can fly, which is almost enough to make you not notice that the new characters and ideas are largely under-developed and unoriginal. It's over in a flash and it's fun but it's pretty flimsy.

Macaque Attack

Another bizarre mix of the original and the epically derivative as we get more unexpected revelations and gung-ho adventure with the now aging artificially enhanced macaque that likes beer, cigars and fighting those intent on genocide and universal domination. It's a fitting conclusion for the gun-toting monkey, even if some of the other characters' stories are left unresolved.

There's a bonus story that was the first to feature Ack-Ack, published prior to the novels. It has a different conception of the character and doesn't fit into the world of the novels, but it's a good story.