This book was chaotic, hilarious, and one of my favorite reads this year. It follows Carl, a retired Coast Guard vet, who breaks up with his girlfriend after discovering she is cheating on him while she’s on vacation in the Bahamas. His exgf’s cat, Princess Donut, decides to jump out the window at 3 am, so he has to brave the frigid December weather to retrieve her, only for the end of the world to happen two minutes after he steps outside. The majority of the world’s population dies in an instant when every building, car, and structure is squished to the ground, and the only survivors are people who were outside at the time.
They are given two options: try to survive on the surface or join the dungeon crawl, which is essentially a fantasy Survivor that is broadcast to the rest of the known universe. The crawlers must survive each level of the dungeon in hopes of surviving long enough to earn their freedom.
Carl decides to risk the dungeon and brings Donut along. He wins a pet prize box for entering with the cat, and it contains a special pet biscuit that gives Donut sentience. So they fight through the dungeon as a dynamic duo – Carl & Donut.
I cannot recommend this book enough. If you love pop culture, gaming, anime, or Dungeons and Dragons, you will love this book. Every time you think you know what will happen, it goes off the rails. You see the best and worst of humans, along with how creative humans can get when they suddenly have access to magic.
It’s chaos incarnate. You’ll thank me later for reading it.
Book 1 covers the first two floors of the dungeon crawl.
Katastrophe Chef 
Leave a comment