Article first published as Book Review: 666 Charing Cross Road by Paul Magrs on Blogcritics.

666 Charing Cross Road is a light hearted take on the gothic and supernatural. The action is split between London and New York, and starts in Manhattan. Shelley works in a museum, and is dating her boss, Daniel. He's stuck up, but she puts that down to him being a posh Englishman. Things are going reasonably well until Shelley's aunt Liza gets in touch with a weird old bookshop on London's Charing Cross R More...

I was lucky enough to win this from Book Chick City's blog which I follow avidly. I was surprised when the book arrived as it was a large paperback, it was the size of a hardback.
I started reading this only 2 days ago and nearly finished it in one sessions I just couldnt put it down. Shelley is your run of the mill New Yorker working in a museum albeit a rather different one to the norm. The centrepiece of her show is somewhat unusual and rather lifelike although also rather scarecrow in appear More...

Im not really sure what to make of this book in general. It seemed to have something of high interest about it in that it was clearly a fantasy based novel. But to me it came across as a mediocre sort of book, one that was meant to take the mickey out of all the fantasy novels and show how stupid they were in some respects. There were however lots of bits within this novel that really made me chuckle and caught my attention in so many ways and made me think about all the concepts of fantasy nove More...

This is the first book I have read by Paul Magrs, and I have to say I hope this is not indicative of his other works. The book is advertised as a fun frolic through the busy cities of New York and London, but in actual fact is one of the slowest books I have read in a long time.

My impression was that this book was supposed to be a charming comedy, that was a light-hearted peek into the paranormal world. Yet as the book went on it actually started to really depress me, as there was nothing remot More...

Bookshop assistant Jack befriends an eccentric book critic Liza, and also meets a sexy new bloke Ricardo. While Liza's niece Shelley, unearths a strange effigy of a Scottish Bride at the museum she works, and falls for Daniel, the distant museum curator.

Liza's love of supernatural tales leads Jack puts her in touch with the proprietor of 666 Charing Cross Road, who starts sending Liza parcels of rare books. Things are going well until one of Liza's parcels contains a grimoire soaked in blood.

Dan More...

I thought this book would be something I would really enjoy, and at first I did. By the time I decided it wasn’t living up to expectations I’d read almost half and felt obliged to carry on and finish it. It tells the tale of Shelley and Daniel, who work together at a museum where Shelley displays the Scottish Bride, an old effigy in her Women and Madness themed exhibition.
Shelley’s aunt Liza Bathory corresponds with a London book shop, who send her an old grimoire, which brings the Bride to life More...

I had high hopes for this, cause reviews I read, sadly they were not filled. Book takes place at twho cities, first at NY and then London.
Magrs writing style just didn't hit me and besides occationally bits of good wits, I found the american part of the book slow paced and even boring. When characters arrive to London the story immidiately gets better and more intresting, but eventually get's killed by stupidity of the main characters. If you really have years of experience to hunt and kill evi More...

A rather disappointing new novel from Paul Magrs. We have new characters in Liza and Bessie who are a rehash of his Brenda and Effie characters so I didn't see the point. There's a joke about 666 and 66b Charring Cross Road getting mixed up, but then at other points they seem interchangable which doesn't make sense. Didn't like the American setting - one of the things I love about Magrs is his British locations. We do move to Charing Cross Road London for the climax, but the majority is set in A More...

I found this a frustrating read. It had so many of the things I like: a creepy underground bookshop, a quirky undead being, lurking vampires, and tomes of ancient magic. But why do we have to wade through the daily lives of some very dull New Yorkers to get there? All that strolling around SoHo wondering about relationships made for a very slow start. And then the plotting felt timid too.

This was either a book of dark magic that was too quotidian or a light-hearted gothic romp which didn’t have More...

Two thirds of the way in and it's all characterisation and no plot. Scenes end on damp squibs as the characters mull over what they will do, might do, should do, but don't actually do. Too many times the plot is stalled because Magrs keeps reining his characters back, and they seem constantly surprised over things the reader was informed of several chapters ago. If this is meant to be the first of a new series then sorry but I won't be buying any more.
Heartily sick of it now.
Finally finished, t More...

It all starts with a book. Liza prefers her books old and fusty but she must make do with the shiny editions at Fangtasm, her local fantasy and mystery bookstore. But when bookseller Jack sees a classified for a bookshop at 666 Charing Cross Road, she writes to them begging for some new old reading material. Amongst the paperbacks with lurid covers she received a slightly moldy tome that fills her with dread. Her beagle, Rufus, knows it's trouble but he's only a dog and everyone just thinks he's More...

I read this book after seeing it pop up in the news feed after someone else had read it. I was a little unsure about it as I generally steer clear of vampires, werewolves and the like. But I was presently surprised!

This book is split between New York and London and follows a girl who works in a museum, her aunt who loves strange books about the paranormal and her boyfriend who is originally from London. With a museum and a book shop being large parts of the story I was hooked early on!

The story More...

Liza Bathory loves books. The older, more gothic and mysterious, the better. Her niece's boyfriend, Daniel also likes old books, but this will never endear him to Liza. She just doesn't like Shelley's man. She likes him even less when she learns that Shelley is rushing things and has moved in with him on the Upper West Side, giving up her own shitty apartment. If this relationship fails, which Liza is sure it will, then where will Shelley go? To Liza's own little sanctuary on the Upper East Side More...

Originally posted on Book Chick City.

I have been a big fan of Magrs’ writing ever since I read his ‘Brenda & Effie’ paranormal mystery series. Magrs writing style is quirky, with an old fashioned touch, articulate and descriptive. “666 Charing Cross Road” has all of these qualities.

New Yorker, Elizabeth Bathory, loves books, especially the supernatural kind and when her friend, Jack, gives her the address of a book shop in London who specialises in old out of print books in her favourite ge More...

Hands up here (another Paul Magrs title) I knew Paul at university, so I am a little biased, but this book was absoluately brilliant. It actually had me cheering out loud it was so good. I couldn't put it down, which is a good sign, if you look at my reading of late. I don't see myself as a fantasy fan - just a fan of good writing - but this book made me want to do a PhD on the subject.

Hmmm. I really wanted to like this book, and managed to get all the way through it, but I don't think I would read either it, or anything else by this author again. I can't decide whether the authors writing style is deliberately sparce and tongue in cheek, or if his writing talents stopped developing at age 12. Shame really, good idea poorly executed.

An entertaining, comedic tale of vampires and bookshops. Though I found the resolve pretty quick compared to the rest of the book, it was really about the relationships between the various characters, and as usual there were a variety of brilliantly depicted characters and several members of the undead.

This book was alright with some chuckles in places, but my main problem with it is that all the 'good guys' seemed to be so incompetent. Everything seemed to be so easy for the evil, as the good guys hardly ever did anything right. It did get annoying after a bit.

Once again Mr Magrs has used his brilliant characterisation to conjur up two eccentric old biddies to take us on a fantastical trip to the dark side! The subtle introduction of familiar characters makes me think that a meeting of our new heroines with Brenda and Effie is on the (tarot)cards .... I look forward to it!

This had a prologue which was in effect a plot spoiler and then the beginning part of the book explained how the prologue came about. Unfortunately, this plot structure doesn't work too well for me. I just wanted to know what happened next. Once the plot got past the point of the prologue it picked up, but up to then it plodded along as far as I was concerned. Overall I enjoyed it, but I think he's written better (e.g. any of the books set in Whitby).

Fantastic read, if you love the Brenda and Effie series you will just love this. Cursed books and well loved characters from other Magrs' books. I love the way this other weaves his charaters into his other novels.

Swooped this one off the 'quick picks' in the library, and munched through it in a day. Pretty quick and funny; not my usual choice of reading material, but I liked it!

Not really for me, I think I've read so many vampire books that now anything vaguely supernatural is somewhat boring (though there are exceptions!)

A stand alone novel from Magrs that I felt it was a little darker than his Brenda & Effie books but certainly in the same Gothic territory.

I enjoy Magrs style and especially how comfortable he is writing older female characters. Liza was a delight and I wanted to learn more about her history, which could probably spawn a series of its own.

He also pokes some fun at the paranormal romance genre. Of course without ruffling any identifiable egos.

The ending does allow for a sequel, so who knows w More...

A good fun read, took a bit of time to get into...but once in didn't want to put it down.

I really enjoyed this gripping and fascinating read.

Oh my gosh, had SO much potential to be SUCH a better story ... but it wasn't! Let the genre down big time, and the main female character was incredibly annoying!!

Great read and lots of laughs!