Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Niel Gaiman
This little comic novel is at its most basic a pastiche of the horror movie The Omen.
However it rises way above simple pastiche through virtue of assured wit, intelligent writing and a warm sense of good morals.
It is also suffused with a rose tinted view of british childhood.
The authors have drawn fondly on their own youth to create the small comfortable world of the novel\'s hero,an eleven year old boy setting out to enjoy the summer holidays, only to see it, and possibly the whole of existence slowly destroyed as the guardians of good and evil intrude to do battle over the fate of the world.
This book is so much more than the sum of its parts. The emerging understanding of good and evil and personal choice allow the characters to develop in a pleasing manner.
It is most definitely easy reading rather than high literature but manages to encompass many themes of moral philosophy within its pages.
I would reccomend this book to any teenager or adult looking for a fun read about good and evil, friendship, growing up and what to do when you discover that the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea.