Wild Ride

A novel by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer.

Welcome to Dreamland Adventure Park! We've got the best ice cream to be found anywhere, a fortune telling booth that's very accurate, the Dragon Roller Coaster, and everyone loves the Tunnel of Love, right?

Oh, and did I mention that the entire park is a prison for five Sealed Evil in a Can demons? And that five people (known as the Guardia) are magically chosen to keep them imprisoned?

Of course, Halloween is coming up again, and you know what that means...


 * Action Girl: Weaver
 * The Alcoholic: Ethan and Glenda have tendencies towards this at the start.
 * Badass Family
 * Berserk Button: Tura about cheaters (see below), Vanth about kids
 * Bond Creatures: Frankie the raven, also has Mysterious Animal Senses and Amplified Animal Aptitude.
 * But We Used a Condom:
 * The Chosen One: the Guardia members
 * Color Coded for Your Convenience: though the colors don't exactly line up as listed here.
 * Cruel and Unusual Death:
 * Deal with the Devil: Ray
 * Demonic Possession
 * Devil in Plain Sight:
 * Disney Owns This Trope: one ride at the park bears a significant resemblance to the It's A Small World Ride. Frequently prompts the question, "Hawaii is a country?"
 * Disney Villain Death:
 * The Easy Way or the Hard Way: "I always wanted to say that."
 * Embarrassing First Name:  Weaver.
 * Emotion Eater
 * Evil Uncle: Ray
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Fire and Brimstone Hell: subverted
 * Five-Bad Band: the Untouchables
 * The Big Bad = Kharos
 * The Dragon and The Brute: Selvans
 * Evil Genius = Fufluns (okay, this is a stretch, but he does think differently from the rest)
 * The Dark Chick: both Vanth and Tura
 * Five-Man Band: the Trickster, Seer, Hunter, Sorceress, and Keeper of the Guardia.
 * The Hero and The Big Guy = The Hunter
 * The Lancer = The Keeper
 * The Smart Guy = The Trickster
 * The Chick is done by both The Sorceress and The Seer.
 * Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Weaver, of all people.
 * The Glasses Gotta Go: Mab likes it when Oliver has his off.
 * Goggles Do Something Unusual: spot demon activity
 * Government Agency of Fiction: Department 51
 * Grand Theft Me:
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Heroic Lineage: most Guardia members are related to/descended from each other.
 * High Octane Nightmare Fuel
 * Holier Than Thou: Mab's mother
 * Humanity Is Infectious
 * Human Mom, Nonhuman Dad: interesting variation on this.
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Mab, or at least be able to fake normal.
 * Innocent Bystander
 * Kaleidoscope Eyes: indicate when a demon's inside someone or something.
 * Killed Off for Real
 * Last-Name Basis: Weaver and  Oliver.
 * Leitmotif: "What Love Can Do."
 * Living on Borrowed Time: Ethan, at first.
 * Living Toys:
 * Long Lost Sibling:
 * Mama Bear: Vanth
 * Married to the Job: Mab
 * Meaningful Name: Ethan John Wayne. Well, his mom did know what he was going to grow up to be...
 * The Medic: Oliver
 * The Mole
 * Mooks: the minions
 * My Beloved Smother: Vanth
 * Our Demons Are Different
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * Preacher's Kid: Weaver
 * Prequel: "Wild Night"
 * Prophecy Twist:
 * Psychic Powers: Delphia
 * The Reveal
 * Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear
 * Sixth Ranger: Weaver and Oliver
 * Stranger in a Familiar Land: Ethan
 * Take Over the World: Kharos's goal, of course.
 * Team Mom: Glenda
 * Technical Pacifist: Oliver would prefer to keep demons alive for study purposes, but is well aware of the difficulties of this.
 * Those Two Guys: Skinny and Quentin
 * Trademark Favorite Food: ice cream for Cindy
 * Trickster Archetype: Fufluns and the Trickster Guardia member
 * True Companions
 * Unexplained Recovery:
 * You Said You Would Let Them Go: Fufluns to Kharos
 * Your Cheating Heart: Tura's job in life is to take care of these people. Permanently.