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The Rook

(The Checquy Files #1)

Daniel O'Malley

4.10 · Rating details · 51,157 ratings · 6,828 reviews

"The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is ...more

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Hardcover, 1st Edition, 496 pages

Published January 11th 2012 by Little, Brown and Company

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Jul 27, 2016 Emily May rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-uf, 2016

“Yes, Minister, it turns out that there was a mysterious force that caused that plane to crash. We call it gravity.”

I can't believe no one has recommended - or even mentioned - this book to me before! It's a creative, complex urban fantasy with an hilarious and likable protagonist, monsters, and an intriguing mystery.

The Rook grabbed me immediately. Myfanwy Thomas awakes surrounded by bodies with no recollection of who she is or what she's doing there. All she has is a letter in her pocket; ...more

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Apr 23, 2014 Khanh, first of her name, mother of bunnies rated it really liked it

Shelves: assassin, magic, sci-fi, boarding-school, kick-ass-heroine, fantasy, gender-bender, adult, psychic, mystery

This is ridiculous, she thought. I’m possessed of terrifying powers. Why am I relying on a ridiculous little gun that I picked because I thought it was cute? I don’t need this thing. She threw it contemptuously over her shoulder.

There’s something foul wandering the underground tunnels beneath my office, something that’s invisible to my vaunted powers.

Crap.

Where’s my gun?

This book is X-Men meets X-Files meets The Bourne Identity meets Johnny English. And that may sound like a clusterfuck to e

This is ridiculous, she thought. I’m possessed of terrifying powers. Why am I relying on a ridiculous little gun that I picked because I thought it was cute? I don’t need this thing. She threw it contemptuously over her shoulder.

There’s something foul wandering the underground tunnels beneath my office, something that’s invisible to my vaunted powers.

Crap.

Where’s my gun?

This book is X-Men meets X-Files meets The Bourne Identity meets Johnny English. And that may sound like a clusterfuck to end all clusterfucks, but somehow it works, or maybe my mind is just trying to make it better than it is because I'm coming off a massive chain of horrible books. Whatever. I loved it.

If this book were made into a movie, I can totally see Tina Fey in the lead role.

The good:

- Witty, dry, humorous writing
- A female assassin/secret agent not afraid to kill- A fun and interesting secret agency, think "paranormal MI5"
- A well-executed amnesia premise
- A racially diverse and fun suporting cast of characters
- NO ROMANCE. CAN I GET A FUCK, YEAH?!

The not so good:

- Questionable character development
- The length: it's a good book, but it could stand to be cut by a good 100 pages
- The infodump: It's a fun infodump, but it's still an infodump

The Summary:

Dear You,
The body you are wearing used to be mine.

A woman stood shivering in the rain, surrounded by a circle of dead bodies. She has no idea who she is. A letter inside her pocket informed her that she is a Myfanwy Thomas, pronounced miff-UN-nee . The letter gives her instructions, where to go, what to do. She checks herself into a hotel, as instructed, finds more letters. The next morning, she leaves the hotel, and is promptly attacked by four people, one of them the receptionist.

Myfanwy's reaction is a little unexpected. She almost kills them.

When she opened her eyes and took a breath, she realized that there was no one holding her. Instead, the four people were lying on the ground, twitching uncontrollably.

Interesting.

These letters will continue for the rest of the book. They tell Myfanwy who she was, how she grew up, most importantly, they tell her that Myfanwy now works for a secret agency known as the Checquy Group. They've been in existence for hundreds of years, and Myfanwy is a Rook. One of the highest ranking members of the group. Once you're in the Checquy Group, you don't get out.

I’ve only ever heard of three people who tried to leave the Checquy, and I know the history inside and out.
The first was a powered individual called Brennan the Intransigent who made a break for it in 1679. He was crucified on the cliffs of Dover.
The second was a soldier in 1802. He was carefully brought back to the Checquy stronghold and then buried alive in his village’s graveyard.
The third was a woman who could grow tentacles out of her back and exuded some sort of alarming toxin through her fingertips. Her stuffed body is currently displayed above the mantelpiece in one of the London offices.

The Checquy Agency employs normal, loyal people, but the epistle of its powers lies in those with special powers, such as Myfanwy.

I gained the power to touch people and possess instant control of their bodies. I could make them move however I pleased. I could read their physical condition, detect pregnancy, cancer, a full bladder.

Only, instead of being a super secret special agent, the old Myfanwy appears to be nothing more than a "glorified paper pusher," albeit a very powerful one. So what happened? How did she lose her memories? Why did the old Myfanwy plan so carefully for such a scenario?

Lots of questions. Few answers. But for now, Myfanwy's still got a job to go to. She has to step into her former life without a beat, while avoiding her colleague's questions.

“Yes?” said Myfanwy. What, do these guys keep tabs on my comings and goings? “Well, I...had an appointment.” They regarded her with expectant eyes, and she was suddenly filled with a desire to shake up those proprietary stares. “A gynecologist appointment.” She smiled triumphantly at the twins. “To have my vagina checked.”

And it has to be confessed that Myfanwy isn't altogether convincing at times.

“I’m sorry, Rook Thomas, but your car is here,” she said.
“My car?” Myfanwy said.
“It’s time for your dinner with Lady Farrier.”
“Oh, crap,” she sighed, then noticed Clovis’s shocked expression. “I mean, oh, good, this should be delightful.”

There's a lot of weird crap thrown at her, including horrifying colleagues who wouldn't hesitate to literally rip someone's face off, and acquaintances who have been alive for thousands of years.

“… past century she is notable for having kneed Joseph Stalin in the groin during a drinks reception, and she played a large part in the South African diamond industry,” Ingrid went on. “She also cured one member of our royal family of cancer in the 1950s, and infected another with syphilis in the 1960s.”

On her quest to find the truth about her memory loss, Myfanwy will face terrifying danger, manipulative colleagues, plagues, vampires, werewolves, mold monsters, and company parties.

I can’t wear this!” Myfanwy exclaimed in horror.
“You can’t wear that!” the housekeeper exclaimed.
“It’s like all the material that’s supposed to be on top migrated to the bottom,” said Val.
Any wedding in which this dress appeared on the bride would have to be pretty damn open-minded, thought Myfanwy. And might well incorporate the honeymoon on the altar.

The Setting: This book is an infodump. I usually hate infodumping, but it was done exceedingly well in this book. Through a series of letters, the old Myfanwy explained the inner workings, the history, and the stories surrounding the infernal Checquy Agency. It's a pretty typical paranormal agency, but it is so well-presented, from the internal politics, to the ranking, to the little-known details only an insider would know. It's an old agency, it is resistant to change. Paranormal or not, some things remain the same.

Occasionally, someone will point out these flaws and attempt to institute a change, but that person is slapped down. The reasons for this down-slappage are:

If you’re in the Court, you have an impressive title, and you don’t want to change it for something generic.

Tradition.

It’s supposed to remind us of the importance of strategy and of rank.

It’s cool.

The premise of the superpowers are similar to that of the X-Men. While most of them lack the extent of the full mutant appearance, the players within the Checquy Agency are quite dangerous and abnormal. Like the fabulously Children-of-the-Corn Rook Gestalt.

Three boys and one girl. Two of the boys were identical. That’s not the weirdest thing, however. The weirdest thing was that when all four pairs of eyes opened, only one mind was looking out from behind them. This was Gestalt.

Gestalt is kind of disconcerting, because it/he/she/they is/are spread over four bodies.

f you wanted people with freakishly awesome powers who aren't afraid to use said power to maim, torture, and kill, you won't do much better than this book.

Myfanwy:

The good:

- She is hilariously average. She is quite plain in appearance (and no, nobody falls in love with her), her body is nothing special. She has terrible taste in clothing. She likes bunnies. She loves Toblerone chocolate. She has a tendency to stumble. While the old Myfanwy was a wallflower, the new Myfanwy is more apt to put her foot in her mouth, with a preference to run and hide rather than do anything heroic. But she can't, because she's a powerful person without being able to remember it. Crap.

She is jealous sometimes while never, ever slut shaming or hating another female for her appearance. In fact, one of the women with whom she works.

Please let her have slept her way to the top, thought Myfanwy. No one deserves to be this beautiful and clever too.

Turns out to be not only beautiful, but awesome, nice, and a great friend.

- She is super super super deadly, and is kind of a special snowflake at times.

My God, you were the most exciting find in decades! All of us knew about your potential. The tutors at the Estate were babbling about you to everyone!”

But it doesn't piss me off because she doesn't really give a fuck. The old Myfanwy is scared, she chokes, she hates using her powers to harm. The new Myfanwy doesn't have those reservations, but she's still not inclined to get into dangerous situations because 1. She doesn't want to, and 2. She really doesn't have a clue what's going on most of the time.

- Blending in: When you're an amnesiac, trying to get back into the swing of things at your paranormal MI5 workplace is kind of hard, especially when you have multiple-body-psychic-colleagues. I mean, what are you supposed to do when they're mentally killing something in front of you?

Finally, after a high-pitched kiYAA!, they settled back, breathing heavily, and explained that Eliza had just broken the neck of the leader of the antler cult, and that the complex was secured.
“Wow. Great,” said Myfanwy. “Nicely done.”
“Hmm,” said Tidy Twin absently. “Eliza has blood on her boots.”
“That’s lovely, Gestalt,” Myfanwy said, trying to keep her cool. “More coffee? Or more orange juice? No? Perhaps I could have Ingrid fetch you a couple of moist towelettes.”

The Not-So-Good: Really, there's only one thing. Her personality change. She has amnesia, and as mentioned, Myfanwy has trouble trying to get back into things and appearing normal. She's clumsy, but sometimes, she is far, far too competent and take-charge very early on when she largely hasn't a fucking clue of what's going on. Like during her first meeting, when things get out of hand, Myfanwy decides to take charge.

“Gentlemen!” she finally shouted, and her voice cut through the noise like a scythe through a poodle. There was dead silence, and everyone stared at her, stunned. “You all need to shut up and stay focused on the task at hand. Dr. Crisp, if you will turn your eyes back toward the interrogation, I wonder if you could revive the subject and question him.”

This is entirely too confident, too much for me to believe. I can understand a personality change, but I can't accept that Myfanwy can be so utterly silly and incompetent-sounding on one page, while being competely take-charge in the next.

The Writing:

It was an old room in an old building and was decorated in a very specific style that showed the decorators were lacking both imagination and a second X chromosome.

It's hilarious, but it's not like ha-ha hilarious. The author is American, but he does a damn fine job of replicating dry, deprecating British wit.

The Romance: THERE IS NONE! HALLELUJAH! ...more

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Aug 05, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, favorites, fantasy-all

Audio re/read so I can carry on with the next book. There are too many next books I need to get read!

I freaking loved this book!

I can't believe this was the author's first book =) It's got all kinds of cray, some ewww, some funny parts. Well, I almost peed my pants at times but I digress.

Myfanwy Thomas, known as Rook Thomas, wakes up not knowing who she is. There are dead bodies all around. There is a note in her pocket and lots of instructions and letters through-out the book. Rook Thomas has ...more

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Apr 24, 2012 carol. rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: people who like all those movies I mentioned

Shelves: fast-and-fun, thriller, female-lead, urban-fantasy, my-library-kindle, to-buy-hardcover, favorites

Finally! First great read of the year. Admittedly, that's because I'm hoarding Days of Blood & Starlight and The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There like a survivalist with canned goods, or a chocoholic with a secret stash of Toblerone in the back of the freezer (not that I'm speaking from experience). And while I tempered down my five stars to a more reasonable four, the fact is this was a perfect read the first time through.

I'll save the detailed summary; this is one time ...more

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Sep 10, 2012 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: secret-histories

page turner, page turner! lady wakes in park with no memory! battered & bruised & bloody! surrounded by dead people! that she killed with her bare hands! cause she has special powers! the same special powers that i have often imagined myself having if dreams came true! quelle coincidence!

the narrative is propulsive. the ideas are automatically right up my alley. the whole thing is clearly built for fun; i gave it to a colleague and he immediately halted the book he was reading because the jacket page turner, page turner! lady wakes in park with no memory! battered & bruised & bloody! surrounded by dead people! that she killed with her bare hands! cause she has special powers! the same special powers that i have often imagined myself having if dreams came true! quelle coincidence!

the narrative is propulsive. the ideas are automatically right up my alley. the whole thing is clearly built for fun; i gave it to a colleague and he immediately halted the book he was reading because the jacket description alone was enough to give him a massive boner. same here. but... i could have been challenged or surprised a bit more. the narrative goes back and forth between the present day actions of the woman before us and past letters that the woman she used to be wrote to her - which could have opened up many interesting possibilities. not even necessarily literary possibilities but maybe something along the lines of a potboiler-cum-meditation-on-memory like Memento. but nope, all those letters from the past serve a very straightforward function: infodumps. hella infodumps. entertaining and intriguing infodumps, and nothing more.

but... page turner, page turner! young woman is named Miffanwy, rhymes with Tiffany! she works for a secret government agency that is staffed by people with super powers and whose goal is to protect the world from super-powered and supernatural threats! including the evil Belgian Grafters! the high-level administrators have titles named after chess pieces! cool! my favorite is one who lives in multiple bodies and whose name is Gestalt! Miffanwy is in charge of domestic operations and her title is The Rook!

you know what i hate? well, many things, but in this instance the answer would be cheap snarkiness. ugh, i even hate the word. "snarky"... such an ugly word, like it was made up by a 12-year old. the only cheap snarkiness i appreciate is the kind that pops out of my mouth or from my keyboard; otherwise, it needs to be good or the eye-rolling will commence. Good as in the films of Howard Hawks. or Joss Whedon, some of the time. unfortunately, most snark is of the CW or SyFy networks variety, which to me is just lazy, shallow writing. unfortunately this novel is full of cheap snarky dialogue that comes out of nearly every character (that is when they are not sounding like The Lord and Lady of The Masterpiece Theater Manor). and so characters end up sounding just like each other and as if they just stepped out of one of the Scream films. it grew tedious. and hey, Daniel O'Malley, listen: high-level government administrators in both the U.S. and the U.K., particularly ones who are women, probably do not refer to other women as "chicks" on a regular basis. now that was just intolerable to read.

but... page turner, page turner! ignore the bitching above! this book was all kinds of fun and i read it like reading was going to be declared illegal at the end of the night! pure pleasure! i can't wait for the sequel! plus no tedious romance to speak of! yay! woot! win!

...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Amy Warrick rated it did not like it

I tried to like this book, I really did. I have disliked so many books lately that I am afraid of becoming a book curmudgeon. But this book deserved my dislike - it ASKED for my dislike.

This book reads like the beloved project of the geeky high school junior who has been told by too many English teachers that he has talent and should be a WRITER. What little action takes place, does so between enormous wads of italic description. You know how you've read books in which a character finds lette ...more

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Jan 27, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: all-aboard-the-superpowers-train, fantasy

$2.99 Kindle sale, July 14, 2019. Loved it! Review posted at www.fantasyliterature.com:

As Daniel O’Malley’s supernatural thriller The Rook (book one of THE CHECQUY FILES) begins, Myfanwy Thomas comes to herself with complete amnesia. She’s standing in a London park at night. Surrounding her is a ring of motionless bodies. They are all wearing latex gloves.

Myfanwy (“rhymes with Tiffany”) finds two letters in her jacket pocket from her former self:

Dear You, The body you are wearing used to be m

...more

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May 23, 2013 Felicia rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, urban-paranormal

I mean, I loved this book. Myfanwy Thomas wakes up with a note that says, "This body used to be mine". YEAH! I LOVE AMNESIA PLOTS! Except this is a bit more than that. Secret societies are kind of my fave, and this book builds a GREAT one. The secret Chequey (I love all the chess terms) battle supernatural forces in the world, and this new amnesiac is now fully immersed in it. I definitely felt like this could be a TV show, the richness of the world is so good! The tone is a bit hard to grasp, b ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Cy rated it did not like it

Honest to god, I'm both confused that I'm still reading this book and appalled at how highly rated it seems to be everywhere. The praise this book has been getting got me interested in reading it, and within a few chapters I had to wonder if there was some massive conspiracy...

To put it quite simply, the book has an intriguing premise that's destroyed by a hackneyed writing style, a juvenile approach to character, and a narrative that is grossly overshadowed by the writer's apparently high opini Honest to god, I'm both confused that I'm still reading this book and appalled at how highly rated it seems to be everywhere. The praise this book has been getting got me interested in reading it, and within a few chapters I had to wonder if there was some massive conspiracy...

To put it quite simply, the book has an intriguing premise that's destroyed by a hackneyed writing style, a juvenile approach to character, and a narrative that is grossly overshadowed by the writer's apparently high opinion of his own talents.

The main character is not even remotely likeable. When she's not being a high school prom queen (regularly calling technical people "nerds"; repeatedly criticizing the dress sense of the former occupant of her body), she's delivering "oh snap" wisecracks. She's just strong enough to take command of a situation when a story needs it, but also nicely "feminine" enough to need to be rescued. She confronts the leader of the enemy forces and her primary concern is the gross goop getting on her clothes. She appears commanding and independent, and in the next scene is naked in front of a stranger for laughs and then subjected to intrusive and demeaning physical exams for more comedy. She's strong-willed enough to be attractive, but not so much that she's truly an independent character. Her sexuality is regularly, and offensively, used as a tool to humiliate her for laughs, and that makes her non-threatening. In short, she's not a character so much as she's a collection of tropes designed to make her the perfect female character for the male audience.

To make matters worse, none of the secondary characters are anything more than one to two word tropes. Ingrid: motherly secretary, Shantay: sassy friend, Alrich: mysterious vampire, etc. None of these characters develop from these descriptions into anything memorable.

Setting aside the issue with characters is the issue with plot: Myfanwy goes from knowing absolutely nothing to be a confident and controlled leader of a powerful government organization? How much time has passed between her waking up and her turning into this bombshell in a suit? We're told it's been several weeks and it's here that we arrive at the crux of the problem with the narrative: we're told too much. We're told everything. We're not left to learn anything. Practically overnight, she turns from this terrified mouse whose every third thought is "DO THEY KNOW MY SECRET?!" to this confident administrator. When her sister appears, we're told, suddenly, that she is lonely and wants friends and family. There's no buildup. There's no sense of this given to the reader through dialogue and emotional description. I had no idea this was coming. We're told that she suddenly wants to be with friends and family, just as we're told that she becomes confident in her new role. These are just two examples of many.

This goes further than just the author hamfistedly handing us important facts about the characters as though we're moving our way down a checklist. The book redefines what it means to infodump. Nearly every chapter is interrupted by what is essentially an encyclopedia entry giving us the history of the character Myfanwy just met or the term she just encountered. When it's not an infodump about a character, it's a letter written by the pre-amnesia Myfanwy telling the current Myfanwy some story that is rarely connected with the plot at hand, and it's usually written in such exacting, narrative detail that violates the nature of the epistolary format that these sections are written in.

Finally, there are just so many parts of the plot that make ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE: you're hunted by the same person who made you lose your memory and just killed a bunch of your friends and you decide to go out clubbing? (and then the author spends four pages talking about how ruined her clothes were and her struggles to get her car back from a hotel garage). In what world would this be even slightly logical?

An unequivocally awful book. Avoid, unless you're looking for something for kindling. ...more

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Jun 02, 2014 ✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: br-2016, what-a-rip-off, boredom-fest, let-s-bail-snail, self-preservation-is-the-key, urban-fantasy, 2016, dnf-graveyard, set-sail-for-disappointment

● Epistolary Buddy Read courtesy of the BBB masochists ●

DNF at 62%.

Introducing...the Be Happy Little Barnacles for this Shall not Be a Pit-Stop Requiring Review Review (BHLBftSnBaPSRRR™)! Because I don't have time to write yet another Oh Bloody Hell this Review is so Long I Might Have Great Grandchildren by the Time I Finish Reading it Review (OBHtRisLIMHGGbtTIFRiR™)! And because I've wasted enough time on this book as it is! So let's do this! Let's…

☢ Warning: yes, the crap shall be cut in this ...more

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Mar 25, 2016 Robin (Bridge Four) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-5-stars, uf-pnr, buddy-read

Sale Alert: Oct 13, 2019 Kindle Deal for $3.99

You’ve woken up and are surrounded by a handful of dead people wearing gloves and have no idea who you are or how you got there. But luckily there is a note and with this note and a few others you learn about a world you had no idea even existed.

Dear You,
The odds of your reading this are slim to none. Who would choose uncertainty and vaguely worded warnings over a new life of wealth and luxury? I can only assume that you were put under a massive

Dear You,
The odds of your reading this are slim to none. Who would choose uncertainty and vaguely worded warnings over a new life of wealth and luxury? I can only assume that you were put under a massive amount of stress, touched someone’s skin, and they were paralyzed. Or blinded. Or lost the ability to speak. Or befouled themselves. Or one of several other effects that I won’t outline right now.

Well the good news is that at least you woke up awesome with some kind of superpower. The bad news is that you now have to impersonate someone you have never met, figure out what happened to you and who is probably trying to kill you…since whoever ‘they’ are they don’t seem to have any idea that you are no longer her.

Confusing? Nah, not really. What it is IS a wonderful set up to a completely interesting idea. Myfanwy (the W is silent) Thomas is going to pretend to be a member of a super-secret government agency that deals with supernatural and paranormal situations and disturbances. She is going to try and figure out who tried to have her killed and why, just as soon as she figures out how to be Myfanwy Thomas.

I enjoyed a very large section of the story because I found it fascinating on quite a few levels. But, since I read this in a group there were varied opinions on the layout of the story and I will say that while it didn’t bother me it did bother a few of them. See there is a lot of infodumping. But I’m going to give it a pass because of the way it was presented. Thomas wrote letters to herself after a psychic told her she would lose all her memories and in those is where we get a lot of history to the Checquy (Her Majesty’s Supernatural Secret Service) and Thomas’s position in it. Not every letter ends up being pertinent to the story because how was Thomas supposed to know and sometimes I think it reads a lot like a journal of someone’s day. So while I liked this aspect of the story because of the extra details and such I think others got bored with it since some of it had nothing to do with the story. I was completely entertained and so I will allow it.

For me this is a great blend of humor and Urban Fantasy. Myfanwy is easy to like and I enjoyed even the times she is fumbling through her life. Seeing this world around her as she discovers everything that you never knew existed was a fantastic tale and I really wanted to get to the bottom of who on the inside is trying to bring it all down.

“This should be a pleasant little interview. All I have to do is put on my scary face."
"You have a scary face?" Ingrid sounded skeptical.
"Yes," said Myfanwy indignantly. "I have a very scary face."
Ingrid surveyed her for a moment. "You may wish to take off the cardigan then, Rook Thomas," she advised tactfully. "The flowers on the pocket detract somewhat from your menace.”

SO IN CONCLUSION: If you are looking for something with a solid premise the has some new takes on lore, mythology and such and doesn’t really have any romance looming in the wings than this might be for you. I enjoyed all the extras we get from Thomas as she tried to lead her new self after the amnesia creates a new person in her body and I’m pretty interested in seeing what becomes of Myfanwy in the future. ...more

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May 15, 2017 Ginger rated it really liked it

Shelves: library-book, 2017

I can’t believe this book has been under the radar for so long. Why haven’t more people read this duology? It’s a crying shame!

It starts off with a bang with the first line in the book. A fantastic way to start in my opinion.

"Dear You,
The body you are wearing used to be mine."

Myfanwy Thomas wakes up surrounded by dead people that are wearing rubber gloves and has no idea who she is. The lucky thing about the plot is you’ll find out who she is, who she works for (a paranormal MI5) and why this ...more

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Aug 24, 2019 Jeffrey Keeten rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, thriller

“‘You,’ he said. ‘Your memories will be taken. They’ll be licked out of you, everything that makes you who you are. Gone forever. You’ll flee to a park, and there, in the rain, someone new will open the eyes that used to be yours.’ He spoke in a voice that cracked, and I stared at him in horror. “‘They’ll open your eyes, your black eyes, and see corpses all around them. Corpses wearing gloves.’”

It is always unsettling when one receives portends of doom and gloom, but to have them related to ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Mary ~Ravager of Tomes~ rated it really liked it

Shelves: 4-star, year-2017

“Rook Thomas, you look different somehow."
"Well, I recently got the shit kicked out of me," she said.
"Ah, that would be it then.”

MAYDAY! MAYDAY! Mary has found an Urban Fantasy book that she actually enjoyed!

Seriously though, this is a great book. And a debut, nonetheless!

Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany) Thomas wakes up in the middle of the street, surrounded by dead bodies, all of which are wearing latex gloves. But the person looking out from behind Myfanwy's eyes has no memory of being Myfanwy T ...more

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Oct 02, 2016 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, alternative-history, thriller, urban-fantasy, paranormal

4.5 stars. What was THAT?! High speed, high octane..a brilliant urban fantasy of a different ilk. I was going to try and explain the story but there are so many great summaries of it already. So, just go and read this! Skilful blend of Sci Fi, urban fantasy and the paranormal, the chatty relaxed style of this book will carry you along effortlessly. And it's funny. What more do you need? ...more

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May 29, 2016 Lyn rated it liked it

Fun.

Weaving together a paranormal urban fantasy with clear references to X-Men, The Atrocity Archives, MIB, Lovecraft and Theodore Sturgeon author Daniel O’ Mallley takes us on a fun-ride concerning a secret English governmental group that has been around for centuries and protects the realm from all kinds of boogeymen.

The title comes from the Chess inspired hierarchical leadership cell called “The Court”. Protagonist Myfanwy Thomas is a supernaturally powerful, but administratively gifted membe ...more

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Sep 14, 2015 Bradley rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, fantasy, biopunk, sci-fi

I'm going to have to be honest with this one. I didn't love it. Perhaps I came in upon the UF bandwagon too early or too late, and while I think it's a fairly polished and frankly never ending tale (which I do like, on occasion,) but it just comes across as more secret service urban fantasy schtick. No amount of amnesia gimmicking or clever info-dumps will disguise it for what it is, and I was saddened by the lack of underlying, grab you by the balls, tension.

It did pull off a very well-done pie I'm going to have to be honest with this one. I didn't love it. Perhaps I came in upon the UF bandwagon too early or too late, and while I think it's a fairly polished and frankly never ending tale (which I do like, on occasion,) but it just comes across as more secret service urban fantasy schtick. No amount of amnesia gimmicking or clever info-dumps will disguise it for what it is, and I was saddened by the lack of underlying, grab you by the balls, tension.

It did pull off a very well-done piecemeal of episodic tv-like modern fantasy, though, and I'm sure I'd have really enjoyed it if it was a prime-time CW hit, but the fact is, a 31 year old amnesiac shouldn't actually read as a YA protagonist. I like YA when its centered around an actual youth. There are only a mere handful of protagonists that I can accept as the exception to this rule, such as Herne's Iron Druid, who happens to be a few millennia old, but I'm afraid Ms. Thomas has none of the required personality traits to pull that off.

I will say that I do appreciate the long plot, new developments, and above-average enemies, but I am completely spoiled by the whole chess plot after reading Dan Simmon's Carrion Comfort. This novel just can't compare. But that isn't to say this novel doesn't have a lot of excellent points.
It is very readable. A lot happens. It's full of action and revelation. It ought to be the primary focus for anyone just now getting into the YA/UF scene. It packs an awful lot of story in such a small package.

Unfortunately for me, I never quite connected with the MC. I didn't really care about this secret English agency. I never really got the sense of urgency, despite all the calls out into the field, the underlying terror of the grafters, or whatnot. But because this novel was well above the average crap that is out there, I still appreciate it for what it is, and I'll support and read its sequels to come. I've read a LOT worse.

Until then, it was a pretty fun ride! (But to put things into a bit of recent perspective, the movie Kingsman was much more enjoyable, even if it didn't have psychic fungus.)

...more

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Mar 02, 2015 Choko rated it really liked it

Shelves: advanture, urban-fantasy, kick-ass-ladies

*** 4 ***

A buddy read with the Urban Fantasy enthusiast at BB&B!!!

“I’m not bipolar, I’ve just had a bipolar life foisted upon me.”

This was very surprising and a bit unusual UF read. M. Thomas is a supernatural secret agent for a Paranormal agency in the British government. She wakes up and has no memory of who she is and what is her life. Luckily, once she puts her hands in her pockets, she finds letters obviously addressed to her. Every letter gives her a clue and she mostly blindly stumb *** 4 ***

A buddy read with the Urban Fantasy enthusiast at BB&B!!!

“I’m not bipolar, I’ve just had a bipolar life foisted upon me.”

This was very surprising and a bit unusual UF read. M. Thomas is a supernatural secret agent for a Paranormal agency in the British government. She wakes up and has no memory of who she is and what is her life. Luckily, once she puts her hands in her pockets, she finds letters obviously addressed to her. Every letter gives her a clue and she mostly blindly stumbles into a life and job which have expectations of her and know who she is much better than she does... She also knows one of the people in her close acquaintance has erased all her memories and is no friend of hers... But who, and will they want to finish destroying her?

“We weather the vagaries of history, welcoming new rulers and bending knees to those in power, whoever they may be. We are a tool of the nation, an asset of the British Isles. Those who work within the Checquy can accomplish what no one else can, and so they are the secret arm of the kingdom.”

This book was well written and in places utterly hilarious, but the format with the letters providing information and supplementing memory for Rook Thomas, was a bit heavy on the information dumps and tended to slow the story down at some frustrating intervals.... Also, there were couple of side stories which, although funny and entertaining, had absolutely no relevance to the plot what so ever!!! It was a bit puzzling what their purpose was and I am hoping they were there in order to build a base for story-line to come in the next books...

Overall, it was imaginative, the characters well rounded and some of them very likable!! There was one particularly fascinating character called Gestalt, whose creation alone gives this book an extra star!!! A very memorable one for sure!

I will recommend this to all UF fans, but also to those who enjoy Sci-fi Fantasy as well. All ages appropriate as long as you can tolerate a bit verboseness....

I wish you all happy reading and may every book enrich your life!!! ...more

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Jul 18, 2013 Maggie Stiefvater rated it it was amazing

Shelves: recommended, adult

How agreeable this was.

It was all Ghost Busters + Men in Black + Austin Powers.

I'm trying to think if I want to do a list/ recommendation/ thing with actual content, but really, it is just this: how diverting this is. How amusing. How entertaining. ...more

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Jun 12, 2017 Jack +Books & Bourbon+ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Oh The Rook, you genre defying timesink...I have a feeling this is going to be a difficult review. Not because I didn't like the book (spoiler alert...I did), and not because I had issues with it (I had some of those too), but primarily because it's just so hard to pin down. It's a book that fits into a bunch of genres, and handles most of them quite well, but it definitely suffers from occasional pacing issues and a large focus on exposition/info-dump segments.

As usual, this is as spoiler-free ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Jeanette (GR isn't sending comment notifications) rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction, all-fiction, did-not-work-for-me, europe-and-british-isles

Latex gloves...They're not just for proctologists anymore.

This was a promising plot idea from a decent writer who got carried away by his own cleverness. He lost me after about 100 pages. ...more

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Jul 05, 2019 Jenna marked it as abandoned

Dear You,
I cannot abide books where strong and powerful female characters are portrayed as either mega bitches or fluff-headed bumbling idiots who need a man to rescue them, no matter their super powers or high positions. This book has female characters in powerful positions who can kick all sorts of ass.... but..... yeh, they still need a man to come save them!

Our main character, who despite having a powerful position and possessing supernatural powers that inflict fear in most people, comes ac ...more

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May 14, 2014 Lois Bujold rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: readers who like contemporary fantasy in British settings

Recommended to Lois by: assorted internet reviews

OK, that was more fun than I'd expected.

The tone of this book might be summed up "X-Men meets Charlie Stross's Laundry Files". Adventures within and with a secret British organization dedicated to protecting the country, and its public, from the supernatural, very inventively imagined. I kept running across reviews of it, none of which quite conveyed the level of humor deployed; since I am hungry for humor at present, this hit the spot, despite its occasional dark or gross-out nature. (Also its ...more

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Mar 31, 2016 Eilonwy rated it it was ok

Shelves: frustrating, too-freaking-long, occasional-moments-of-brilliance

A woman wakes up in a London park, surrounded by dead people all wearing latex gloves … and with no idea who she is or how she got there. A letter in her coat pocket informs her that she is in danger, and offers her two choices: start a new anonymous life, or step into the letter-writer’s highly unorthodox life and try to figure out what happened, and why.

Sounds good, right? An urban fantasy mystery-thriller about X-Men-type superheroes taking down truly frightening supernatural baddies … how c

A woman wakes up in a London park, surrounded by dead people all wearing latex gloves … and with no idea who she is or how she got there. A letter in her coat pocket informs her that she is in danger, and offers her two choices: start a new anonymous life, or step into the letter-writer’s highly unorthodox life and try to figure out what happened, and why.

Sounds good, right? An urban fantasy mystery-thriller about X-Men-type superheroes taking down truly frightening supernatural baddies … how could it go wrong?

Oh, no, you just had to ask!

This book has everything. Everything that makes me groan out loud while I’m reading in public, and that makes the editor in me want to red-pencil the entire novel, that is. The writing and storytelling are just so incredibly clunky. It left me half laughing at how earnestly bad it is, and half just cringing in embarrassment. It's an intriguing, ambitious story completely ruined by terrible execution.

The biggest problem with the book is how the story is “enhanced” with infodumps. Lots and lots of infodumps. At first they seemed clever and useful, since the original Myfanwy Thomas lived a pretty complicated and occasionally exciting life as an overseer of the Checquy, the British Supernatural Secret Service, and the idea of the old Rook Thomas writing letters to the new Rook Thomas was a creative way to integrate this background into the present story. But then the infodumps continue. And they are LONG. And not nearly as entertaining as they need to be to justify their intrusive presence. So the book ends up reading like this: Three pages of actual storyline, things start feeling interesting -- NOW STOP RIGHT THERE! Read this long, boring anecdote about the heroine's childhood, or a dossier about another character, or the full history of one of the supernatural agencies, instead. Will any of it become important to know as the story goes on? Probably not, but it's part of the author's worldbuilding and by golly, you readers will read it!

Add to this a zillion "As you already know, Myfanwy" dialogues; "burly detective" syndrome (using descriptions rather than a name to indicate a character); constant reminders that the heroine is speaking "truthfully" or "honestly" when she says she doesn't remember things (the reader is fully aware she has amnesia, thank you); too many "she thought" tags when it's obvious that the line is the heroine's thought, etc., etc., and you have a novel that I can hardly believe was accepted by an agent and then successfully sold to an editor.

The tone was also a major problem for me. Is this supposed to be a gripping, dark thriller? The monsters invading the UK are truly terrible, the situation dire. And yet, there is a light, fluffy, dare I say silly tone to this entire book that detracts from the suspense and gave the book a sort of identity crisis. Was I supposed to feel any fear or urgency when Myfanwy certainly didn’t?

I’m also left wondering if part of the tone problem was the author’s choice to try to write from a female perspective. I never quite believed the female voice; I kept stumbling over slightly sexist constructions; and I’m positive that had this book been about “Michael Thomas” rather than Myfanwy, Michael would have been focused on what mattered even with his amnesia and introversion, not nattering on about how he didn’t know how to dress himself or do his hair or put on makeup, or going out dancing as the world burned. This whole “cutely incompetent girl” schtick wore real thin for me real fast.

I’ll mention here that I was extra-offended by the problems with this book because I’m a writer, and I feel a bit angry to see something like this published, because it’s full of everything that’s supposed to make agents and editors reject a manuscript out of hand, and has a just-not-ready-for-publication feel to it that aggravated me personally. It is interesting to me to see that the general reading public seems happily oblivious to most of the issues that bothered me with this book, since it’s got an average 4-star rating; clearly, I’m a writing snob.

So far as I can tell, most of the enjoyment or not for this book comes down to all those infodumps. Either you’ll find them funny and entertaining, or you’ll find them boring and disruptive.

I can hardly believe I finished this book -- it took me forever! -- but I did, so at least this is a fair review. But by the end, I just didn’t care about any of the plot threads any longer, or who the villain was, or anything at all. I just wanted it to be over. I am definitely not on board for any sequels.

Sob. I was doing so well this year with the 4 and 5-star reads, until this! ...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Mogsy (MMOGC) rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban, audiobook, paranormal, mystery

4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/05/27/...

The Rook was a novel that had been sitting on my shelf for years, lying forgotten in spite of the repeated calls from my friends urging me to pick it up and read it. It finally took the arrival of a review copy of Stiletto to spur me into action, because nothing lights a fire under my butt quite like the news of an impending sequel. And in reading The Rook, I learned a couple of important lessons: first, I should always 4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/05/27/...

The Rook was a novel that had been sitting on my shelf for years, lying forgotten in spite of the repeated calls from my friends urging me to pick it up and read it. It finally took the arrival of a review copy of Stiletto to spur me into action, because nothing lights a fire under my butt quite like the news of an impending sequel. And in reading The Rook, I learned a couple of important lessons: first, I should always listen to my friends because when they tell me that a book is awesome, they are usually right; and second, sometimes it’s perfectly okay to procrastinate because at least now I don’t have wait as long to jump into book two. So there.

Seriously though, The Rook was a bucketload of fun. I was initially a little worried when the book opened and immediately I was plunged into an amnesia-type story, as I’ve had enough experience with those over the years to know they can be hit or miss. However, the writing was clever and tantalizing, encouraging me along despite my misgivings until other elements in the story kicked in and my doubts were dispelled altogether. The intro features our protagonist Myfanwy Thomas (rhymes with “Tiffany”) coming to in the middle of a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. Clutched in her hand is a letter addressed to her, apparently written by herself.

Myfanwy has no memory of who she is, but thanks to the letter she is able to piece together enough of her identity to work out what to do next. Thomas (the name she has taken to calling her pre-amnesic self) was something called a Rook, a high-ranking member of a clandestine government organization known as the Checquy—kind of like MI5 except they are charged with protecting the United Kingdom against all kinds of supernatural threats. Many of the Checquy’s agents are super-powered as well, including Myfanwy, who discovers from Thomas’ letters that she is endowed with a rare but potentially dangerous talent of her own. She soon learns that someone in the Checquy had betrayed her, and in order to find out who it is she must reintegrate herself in the organization and hope that no one would suspect her memory loss while also hiding the fact she knows more than she lets on as not to alert the traitor.

As I said, amnesia stories can either work really well for me or they can fall flat on their face, and happily this was a case of the former. Although the idea of a character working backwards to recover her lost memories is nothing new, the way it is done in The Rook feels very natural and creative, making this novel feel refreshingly original. Thomas’ letters to Myfanwy go beyond simply filling her in on who she is and what she does for a living; they also expand the world-building by providing a background to the Checquy and the other people who work there. Luckily for us, before her amnesia Thomas appears to have been something of an organizational wizard, putting together a binder of information about anything and everything about the Checquy, from employee profiles to the way the agency is structured. Myfanwy gets to find out more about her colleagues than she’d ever want to know, though as the reader I was completely fascinated by some of the details about those she works with, such as Rook Gestalt (a single mind who inhabits the bodies of quadruplets), Bishop Grantchester (who can expel chemical gases from his pores), Alrich (a vampire), Eckhart (who can manipulate metal with his bare hands), Lady Farrier (a leader of the Checquy who can enter dreams), Shantay (an American Bishop from the US version of the Checquy who can turn her body into metal), and many, many more.

In addition, some of Thomas’ anecdotes about her past experiences can almost be considered short stories themselves, and while I can understand how some readers might find such chapters superfluous and distracting, I personally adored them. A few of the stories, like the one about ill-fated dragon hatching or the incident with the fortune telling duck were downright hilarious in dark, morbid ways that meshed well with my sense of humor. As well, the various letters written by Thomas often contain hints or reference overlying themes that tie into the ultimate conclusion, letting the reader play detective along with Myfanwy as she pieces together her life and try to find clues to catch the traitor.

Best of all are the differences between Thomas and Myfanwy. Even though deep down Myfanwy knows they are the same person, her pre-amnesic self might as well be a complete stranger, which is why she gave her past self a separate identification in the first place. The Thomas she knows from the letters was a talented Rook but also painfully shy, which held her back from her full potential and made her fellow Court members look up on her with pity or scorn. However, the post-amnesic Myfanwy is more outspoken and confident with her supernatural abilities, making it extremely satisfying to watch her co-workers react to her new personality and stronger grasp of her powers.

It’s true that I didn’t know a whole lot about The Rook before I started it, but still, I hadn’t expected to be so thoroughly entertained. Now I can’t wait to dive into the next book! In the end Myfanwy accomplishes what she set out to do, but over the course of the novel she also mixes herself into a greater conspiracy involving the Grafters, a group that poses the greatest threat ever known to the Checquy. This larger storyline promises a lot more to come, and I’m really looking forward to continuing the series. ...more

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Jun 22, 2012 Amanda rated it liked it

Shelves: blog

To open your eyes in the middle of a downpour, beaten and bruised, surrounded by dead bodies wearing latex gloves and realizing you have no idea who you are, how this happened, or whose body this is has to be a tad disconcerting. This is exactly the situation facing the new consciousness inhabiting the body of Myfanwy Thomas at the beginning of The Rook.

Fortunately, the former occupant of Myfanwy's body knew her memories would be wiped clean and thoroughly prepared for this event. In the pocket To open your eyes in the middle of a downpour, beaten and bruised, surrounded by dead bodies wearing latex gloves and realizing you have no idea who you are, how this happened, or whose body this is has to be a tad disconcerting. This is exactly the situation facing the new consciousness inhabiting the body of Myfanwy Thomas at the beginning of The Rook.

Fortunately, the former occupant of Myfanwy's body knew her memories would be wiped clean and thoroughly prepared for this event. In the pocket of her coat, the new Myfanwy finds a letter offering advice from her predecessor: how to obtain money, where to go, of whom she should be wary. It also offers her a choice: she can take on a new identity and live her own life, or she can resume the life that had belonged to Myfanwy Thomas. The complication is that the life of Myfanwy Thomas comes with unbelievable power, but also with at least one powerful (and unknown) enemy. Myfanwy learns that, prior to the betrayal that led to her subsequent amnesia, she was a Rook, a high ranking agent of the Chequy, a secret organization of superpowered individuals charged with protecting the British Isles from supernatural threats. She also learns that she her particular gift is the ability to control the actions of others. The new Myfanwy must uncover a traitor in their midst if she's to learn who took her memory and why.

Holy shit, has it been a long time since I picked up a book with such a kick ass beginning! However, the problem with such a beginning is that the narrative must continue to rise and kick substantially more ass from that point forward. Alas, The Rook does not. The momentum and intrigue created by the beginning started to taper off within 100 pages as I began to realize that, despite an awesome premise, the best part was already over.

The first issue that I had with the novel is that it is difficult to pin down the tone. The beginning, despite a few welcome flashes of humor, seems serious and I settled in for what I presumed would be an intelligent supernatural thriller. Once Myfanwy returns to the Chequy, however, the humor becomes more prevalent and broad. At times I felt as though I were reading something more akin to Monty Python or Christopher Moore, which would have been fine if this tone had been consistent throughout. The supernatural threats seem better suited to the sort of thing one would find in young adult literature: inventive, sure, but their almost cartoonish qualities lessen the suspense as one realizes there's no real menace here for either our heroine or Britain itself. The abrupt shift in tone from potential thriller to "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" cleverness lost my interest early on.

Another factor that decreased my enjoyment of the novel is the manner in which Myfanwy's amnesia is handled. To have a superpowered agent for a secret organization bumbling around with no memory would normally offer for some delightful possibilities. However, because Myfanwy knew ahead of time that she would lose her identity, she had time to prepare. And, boy, did she prepare. She wrote an entire series of letters to her new self and even put together a handy-dandy purple binder outlining every intricacy of the Chequy. Using these letters and the purple binder, the new Myfanwy is seldom caught off-guard. In fact, she becomes so good at pretending to be the old Myfanwy that one can forget for entire chapters that she has amnesia. The letters are presented throughout the book in standalone chapters that serve as info-dumps or side stories that have nothing to do with the present day narrative. I began to dread the sight of italics because I knew it was another letter that would only slow down the momentum of the novel. The entire amnesia conceit simply serves as a framework for these letters; the novel may have been better off without both.

Despite these flaws, the novel has some admitted flashes of brilliance and humor. Plus, Myfanwy is a very likable heroine. It suffers from "too much," though, as it tries to be all things at once. Just a read through the reviews that describe it as a Jason Bourne-meets-Ghostbusters-meets X-Men-meets Harry Potter-meets The Vampire Chronicles can pretty well sum up how much is going on within the narrative. Unfortunately, it doesn't juggle the mix well enough to pull it off.

Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder ...more

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Jul 03, 2020 Lisann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

"The body you are wearing used to be mine."

After thinking about it for a while I will increase my rating to 5 stars. Other similar books I have given 5 stars to also had their little flaws!

Imagine that you have lost your memory and only have the keys to two lockers. One contains all the information about your life, your supernatural abilities and instructions on how to work undercover in your own job as an agent at a secret organisation that battles supernatural forces, to find out which of ...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Deborah Harkness rated it it was amazing

Loved this! A bit of Jasper Fforde, a bit of X-Files, and a lot of droll action and tongue-in-cheek dialogue as we follow the heroine, Myfanwy Thomas, through her adventures. Thoroughly enjoyable, and highly recommended.

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Dec 04, 2011 Theresa rated it it was amazing

"The Rook" is basically the story of two Myfanwy Thomases. The first one we never officially meet: she exists in the letters (a suitcase full) that she writes to the second Myfanwy-- the one who wakes up with two black eyes and her memory scrubbed. The idea of having Myfawny write letters to herself is a clever device that neatly side-steppes the common predictability of a story centered around an amnesiac. Myfawny has the information she needs at hand-- If only she can read the letters fast eno "The Rook" is basically the story of two Myfanwy Thomases. The first one we never officially meet: she exists in the letters (a suitcase full) that she writes to the second Myfanwy-- the one who wakes up with two black eyes and her memory scrubbed. The idea of having Myfawny write letters to herself is a clever device that neatly side-steppes the common predictability of a story centered around an amnesiac. Myfawny has the information she needs at hand-- If only she can read the letters fast enough.

But there is so much more to "The Rook" than someone trying to shake loose some lost memories. The Myfawny who only survives through the letters is as distinct a personality as the one who wakes up. The letters she writes, each starting with the salutation Dear You, are meticulously detailed and act as a window to the past and introduce each key character along the way. The structure of the story is inventive and greatly satisfying because Myfawny literally acts as her own protector and doesn't need to rely on some half-baked romantic interest to save her.

The story is an urban fantasy, of sorts, in that it is set in modern day London. But the supernatural agency that Myfanwy works for exists in its own little world with posh offices and an elaborate boarding school that churns out a devoted army of supernatural agents ready to defend the world against all otherworldly threats. The old Myfanwy had the power, but not the motivation to use it, and made her way up the power structure by an uncommon talent for organization. But the new Myfanwy only has the letters, written by her hyper-organized alter-ego, to guide her and a new willingness to use her powers--and her journey is by turns harrowing and hilarious.

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Rook." I loved the way the story was told from the alternating perspectives of Myfanwy's letters and the real-time person trying to sort out her bizarre circumstances. But it isn't only that literary device that makes this a great book. It's also tremendously imaginative. There might be times where certain ideas seem borrowed, like that of a boarding school for super-powered children, but O'Malley's version is gloriously strange and humorous in its own very unique way. This is a book with dragons and vampires and people with tentacles and tear-gas emitting sweat. This isn't some lightweight paranormal fantasy, it's a book you can sink your teeth into. It's complex, original, sometimes violent and altogether satisfying. The minute I was done with it I wanted to sit down and read it again.

4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars. ...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, urban-fantasy, read-in-2012, supernatural

The Rook by Daniel O’ Malley is a startingly well executed and engaging debut novel with a Jason Bourne like spy, but set in a supernatural urban fantasy setting. The spy in question, Myfawany Alice Thomas is one of several fantastical beings who guard unknowing England from supernatural and otherworldly attacks. But she has been mindwiped by one of her fellow guardians and must both discover who the traitor is and why she was targeted before it is too late. Her predecessor in body, a chief admi The Rook by Daniel O’ Malley is a startingly well executed and engaging debut novel with a Jason Bourne like spy, but set in a supernatural urban fantasy setting. The spy in question, Myfawany Alice Thomas is one of several fantastical beings who guard unknowing England from supernatural and otherworldly attacks. But she has been mindwiped by one of her fellow guardians and must both discover who the traitor is and why she was targeted before it is too late. Her predecessor in body, a chief administrator of the Supernatural spy service, has left her detailed notebooks filled with bios of the main characters and information about her life and the world she now lives in.

When she awakes in a field surrounded by unknown dead people, she must fool her closest allies and enemies into thinking she is still the Myfawany that they have known all their lives. The notebooks allow the author to provide the reader with the same information that Myfawany is learning. They provide both a way to describe the world and are a marvelous guide. Her fellow Lords are otherworldly in every way.

The other Rook is a multibody being controlled by one mind, who is able to control each body separately. The Lady in charge of the organization is a powerful dream walker who invades dreams. Another Lord was a famous warrior. There is a vampire as well. It will not be easy to find who killed her mind.

Although the old Myfawany has been a power for her whole life, she does not like to use her mysterious powers against others. The other Lords have looked down on her, but she was able to become a Rook because of her genius of organization. The old Myfawany is something of a wimp. The new Myfawany has inherited her predecessor's genius of organization, but is also much more kick ass and as she discovers her powers and their uses, she learns that her powers are much more powerful than the ruling elite understood. The little mouse has gained big big teeth.

The mystery is well thought out, the action scenes are engaging and often funny and although this reader was able to figure out the clues to the bad guy before the conclusion, the fun of this book is in the story, the character, the verve of the story telling and the language of the novel. At times a mystery, spy novel, urban fantasy and funny to boot, the novel never failed to hold my attention.

It will be interesting to see how O’Malley can handle the next book without relying on the informational paragraphs that infused this novel. I have no doubt he will handle it well.

This is a great read and should be on your to read very soon pile.
...more

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About Daniel O'Malley

Daniel O'Malley

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Dan O'Malley graduated from Michigan State University and earned a Master's Degree in medieval history from Ohio State University. He then returned to his childhood home, Australia. He now works for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, writing press releases for government investigations of plane crashes and runaway boats. ...more

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“This should be a pleasant little interview. All I have to do is put on my scary face."
"You have a scary face?" Ingrid sounded skeptical.
"Yes," said Myfanwy indignantly. "I have a very scary face."
Ingrid surveyed her for a moment. "You may wish to take off the cardigan then, Rook Thomas," she advised tactfully. "The flowers on the pocket detract somewhat from your menace.” — 173 likes

“This duck tells me nothing!” — 139 likes

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Preview — The Rook by Daniel O'Malley