The Rook: The Rook Files

By Daniel O'Malley

NOW A STUNNING TV SHOW streaming on Stan. The thrilling, hilarious, genre-busting Aurealis Award-winning novel about a supernatural MI5. 'Just outrageously good' Lev Grossman, Time magazine; 'I love this book!' Charlaine Harris.

'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 a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Checquy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare and deadly supernatural ability of her own.

THE ROOK was published in 2012 to wide international acclaim. It was one of Time magazine's books of the year, and authors from Lev Grossman ('outrageously good') to Charlaine Harris ('I love this book!') lined up to sing its praises. In 2012 it won Best Science Fiction Novel at the 2012 Aurealis Awards, and in 2015 it reached the eighth most borrowed adult-fiction title position in Australian libraries. In 2019 the all-star TV series aired on Stan in Australia and Starz in the US.

'[An] impressive debut, a supernatural detective thriller distinguished by its adept use of humour ... Dry wit, surprising reversals of fortune, and a clever if offbeat plot make this a winner' Publishers Weekly

'Inventive and unstoppable ... A sequel? Yes, please' Herald Sun

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Australia
• Release date: Jan 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781743095911

Daniel O'Malley

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.

Reviews for The Rook

[ben_a_11 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A page-turner, with a great premise, poor writing, and some lazy characterization.

[reading_fox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

very weird. One of the best opening scenes in urban fantasy (or anywhere maybe). It basically goes downhill from there but not too far. It does get overly contrived, unnecessarily weird, and a bonus Mary Sue, but remains entertaining fast paced and engaging.Our heroine opens her eyes to find herself surrounded by a ring of bodies wearing gloves in a park in the dark in the rain. She doesn't know who she is, what her name is, how she came to be, or anything at all. However there are tow notes in her jacket pocket, one describing a little about her, and the other offering two choices - to run now and forever, or to assume the life of the person she was without any of the knowledge that got her into this position. It's a great dilemma - what would you choose? But it does also highlight some of the book's central flaws - all her memories are gone, so how does she know what gloves are? or why they're inappropriate in that setting? how taxis work? and ATMs? and hotels? all actions that she takes before she reads any of her former self's other notes. Likewise unexplained is how and why she's totally changed in personality, and gained new abilities.It turns out that she (of silly name) has super powers, as do a select few others, and they have become secret tools (and a cabal) of the government. Someone was trying to kill her former self, presumably from within this secret cabal, and also an enemy power is preparing a covert assault. The assumption seems to be that sufficient media influence can prevent the widespread knowledge of human powers, and also of the spontaneous manifestations of various equivalents that threaten ordinary people. However these events seem so frequent as to be unbelievable even within the confines of the plot. Which is always a problem for superpower based tales - how do you keep the disbelief real enough. O malley seems to have gone for the very fast plot approach which does kind of work, our heroine rushes from one thing to the next, and suddenly she's stumbled on the answer, and the dramatic showdown arrives.It is fun. It's nearly as clever as it thinks it is, if a bit too much over the top, but worth reading anyway,

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Almost a 4 star read. Just not quite, maybe 3.75 stars for me. Shows a lot of potential but I found it too easy to put it down.In a Jason Bourne meets Torchwood meets urban fantasy-esque scenario, a woman wakes up in a London Park, dripping wet, badly bruised but alive, unlike the corpses surrounding her, in her coat pocket is a letter from herself, Myfanwy Thomas who is a senior member (Rook) in a supernatural agency that keeps the Supernatural from invading the lives of too many of it's citizens. She discovers that she knew she was going to lose her memory so she prepared for this, with her best skills, organisation. She is given a choice, run or play with the cards she's dealt and she has to learn, fast, what's going on.Best excuse for some of the infodumps you get in the form of lletters., also best excuse for having to explain the organisation to the audience, because she doesn't know anything more than she uncovers. What kinda lost me was the way the bad guys didn't seem to have a motive beyond "because they want to". No mention of what happened to a shadowy organisation during the conflicts of the 20th century Huge potential lost in where the shadowy organisations would possibly have had to work together against Nazis); if you poke the plot hard enough it starts to crumble a bit. There's a lot of history of now, but before that has a lot of handwaving and you can't do that when you root a story in the known world.It's interesting, shows potential and the main character is growing an interesting backbone.

[zina_40 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Men In Black meet Monty Python - satisfying read - imaginative!

[jdifelice-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was so good! I really enjoyed the story, the world building and the characters. They were all on point. The way the author present information and showed us this world was kinda cool - even if it was a bit info dumpy, I still really liked it and didn't mind. Mifanwy (she pronounces it Miffany) was such an intriguing character because of her amnesia and the fact that you get to read her voice from before as well. It was a really cool concept, that I've never really read before and I really really liked it! I liked that there were actual female friendships and Daniel O'Malley did a great job writing a female protagonist. She was realistic (even if the story and what was happening to her was supernatural) and it was woven together really well. Great read! Definitely looking forward to Stiletto!

[darby3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this one.

[skraft001 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the more imaginative books I've read in some time. Always like the plot that begins with someone loosing their memory. The Checquy and the Court with its structure of King, Queen and the rest of the chess pieces was brilliant. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[claudia.anderson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

odd story but kept my interest; great narrator

[pat_f. · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

How much did I love this book? Let me count the ways:

1. A female protagonist who's strong, smart, funny, vulnerable, and scared, often in the same paragraph. This book passes the Bechdel test in spades. The fact that it was written by a guy is even more impressive.

2. Partly epistolary. Turns out that the "original" version of the protagonist, Myfanwy Thomas, has written letters to her future self because she knows that an evil enemy is going to destroy her memory soon. These letters are used to excellent effect. One of the things that makes this book great is how the letters show Myfanwy coming to terms with the fact that "she" is going to die. The last letter made me cry.

3. A thoroughly enjoyable setup. "Her Majesty's Supernatural Secret Service" reminded me of Torchwood a bit, but this organization was more what Torchwood would be like if Microsoft took it over--the petty politics, arcane policies, obstructionist agendas, etc. It was a hoot, if creepy in places.

4. A good story. This is a nice twist on the murder mystery--in the vein of the Bourne Identity, but done by the enemy instead of the organization, complete with infiltrators and turncoats. Anyone could be the Big Bad--dun, dun, DUN....

5. The first in a series! The author has sent the first draft of Book 2 to his editor (as of Jan 2013), so there's more Cecquy adventures to come.

I got this book from the library, but I think I'll buy it. I want to read it again.

[cc123-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Myfanwy Thomas - the best kick-ass female character I've read in years!

Spies, sci-fi, mystery, transformation, self-discovery, humor and a delightful protagonist; The Rook has it all! I spent the weekend reading every second I could manage; Husband, family and chores completely ignored.

[anissaannalise-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a fun & clever read! I'm not really a supernatural or superheroes person (I like aliens, vampires & wearwolves but I've never seen or read X-Men & the like) but this novel was so amazing I may be a convert.

The opening of the story has our heroine, Myfanwy Thomas, having just survives a rather harrowing ordeal & awaking drenched in the park surrounded by dead people wearing laytex gloves. And she has no memory of who she is. The story takes us along as she learns about her predecessor & also becomes her own person. I won't go into the spoilers because I think the story's strength is in the reveals. There was plenty of wry wit to go around & I actually laughed out loud. I found the other characters very compelling. Gestalt is both attractive & squick inducing, from beginning to end & the field ops Myfanwy finds herself on will not be forgotten for some time. The author's descriptions are very well done.

My only departure of thinking this was all-time were two things. As another reviewer mentioned, Ms. Thomas is thirty-one but she seems to have no sense of her own womanhood. I wanted to allow that according to what we read, the first incarnation didn't have any either but the second version seemed to be able to come into her own & break away from the first so much, I didn't understand why she retained the rampant prudishness. No accomplished, 30 year-old with so much power should repeatedly blush & threaten to lose composure when she simply realizes that a man in the room happens to be handsome. I get that probably she had baggage due to the way the training she endured & has intimacy issues but she seemed pretty keen to embrace completely-unknown-sister, Bronwyn. So quickly & with so little credulity that I was worried it was a ruse. Maybe this was set up to show that it was another break from Myfanwy 1.0 but I wasn't sold. I did like that she & Shantay struck up a friendship. I'm holding on to the hope that the card she finds in the shirt pocket means she'll give the man from the hotel who lent her the shirt a call & get herself a little romance.

Other than those two little things, I think it was outstanding & very much enjoyed this.

[bell7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A woman wakes up in a garden, surrounded by several men in latex gloves, and with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Fortunately, Myfanwy (rhymes with "Tiffany") Thomas left her future self some notes: she is a Rook of the Checquy, a secret society who takes care of supernatural threats to Britain. The only trouble is that someone in the court is out to kill her. Can she find the traitor in time?I almost don't want to say anything more about the book, because seeing how everything develops is more than half the fun. I found it hilarious, page-turning fun and loved the inventive premise of a whole new personality just dumped into a woman and trying to figure out how to use her supernatural powers and deal with a life already there while trying not to let anyone know she was different. I also liked the former Myfanwy, and the way her letters and meticulous notes allowed the present Myfanwy and reader to learn more details (contrived, yes, but in a good way). On the one hand, I can't believe I missed this book when it was new, but on the other it was perfect timing to read this now when the sequel comes out in a few months. This may be a fun recommendation for fans of zany mashups like Thursday Next.

[tadad_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Where to put this novel? On one hand, the plot and action tend toward spy thriller. On the other hand, the clandestine organization involved employs individuals who would be at home in the X-Men, so there's the fantasy aspect. On still the other hand, it's reality fiction about self-discovery, or about coping with impending death, or both. On the fourth hand (stick with me, four is not out of the question), some are going to plop for a bit of satire. This could have been the cafeteria Mystery Stew or it could have been bouillabaisse. I'm going with the bouillabaisse...maybe not from a restaurant with multiple Michelin stars but definitely from one that knew the basics of cooking.Despite the wide-ranging setting, Daniel O'Malley has enough skill at world-building to carry it off and has given us a thoroughly likable heroine to inhabit it. The story is suspenseful, quite funny at appropriate moments, tongue-in-cheek silly in others, and poignant when it needs to be. I don't know if this is a single book or the start of series—it could go either way—but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[yarmando_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A woman opens her eyes and finds herself standing in the rain, surrounded by dead people wearing latex gloves. In her pocket is a letter that begins, "The body you are wearing used to be mine." Why I picked it up: Pam recommended it, describing it as a "supernatural MI-5." I liked the letters and documents that Myfanwy left for the post-amnesia occupant of her body; great exposition gimmick. The setting is intriguing, and lives up to the splashy start.Why I finished it: The story is a little too episodic, and I have a tough time believing that the main character wasn't unmasked as an impostor and security risk early on. I was assured that this was satisfactorily explained, and I kept going, watching how the new personality unfolded and the mystery started to sort itself out.I'd give it to: Traci, Jeremy, Darla...pretty much anyone who likes all the paranormal settings out there. This series begins with a bang, and I'm a little worried that later entries won't measure up, but I'm willing to give them a try.

[annasazi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A woman wakes up in the rain surrounded by dead people wearing latex gloves, with no memory of who she is and how she got there. Fortunately, her former self prepared for this by keeping letters for the amnesiac in a safe. She discovers that she is a Rook, a sort of high-level executive in a supernatural spy agency charged with dealing with freaky shit discretely. They come up against the Grafters, a Belgian outfit run by mad scientists who like splicing and dicing normal people until they have as much if not more power than their agency. The audio book was narrated by Susan Duerden and I found her narration unbelievably grating at first because of all the upspeak. Her voices for the male characters were good, but her narration made me actively dislike the former Myfanwy (pronounced Miffany) Thomas.

[michele.juza · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a read! A supernatural law enforcement agency in England? Why of course! This is an imaginative & fun read. Action packed & very clever. How can you not love a book whose 1st sentence is "Dear You, The body you're wearing used to be mine."

[karenrinn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a must read! A fresh mystery for those of us who love to solve them :) O'Malley's use of the absurd and unusual to create unique characters is refreshing. I didn't see who the bad guy was in the end until the end, hence the 5 stars! I'm looking forward to seeing what else he comes up with.

[delphica · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At least ten times, I found myself saying "huh, I was expecting something different" and finally realized it was because the first review of this that I read was probably not that coherent, and so I ended up with a lot of misunderstandings about what was going on with this. Fortunately, it turned out to be a lot more enjoyable than I was expecting. The book opens with a woman waking up surrounded by dead bodies, and discovering she has no memory of her past, or how she got to that place, but by reading some letters she prepared earlier, sussed together that she is an agent of a secret supernatural society charged with protecting the U.K. from various supernatural evil forces. One main wrong impression I had is that this was going to be one of those high concept books - I don't know, something about people not knowing who they are and being involved with covert operations made me think this was going to be very grim and hard. But it's more like a Jim Butcher thing -- the danger posed by the supernatural creatures is very serious and deadly, but it also involves a lot of puns.My other big sticking point - which, again, turned out to be completely wrong -- is that I've seen this described in a way that made me think that the narrator of the story is someone else, like Woman A, the secret agent, supernaturally disappeared, and some other person, Woman B, found herself in the agent's body with no memory of her own past. And there's something about the way that the author describes the agent that let me keep believing that for a long time, she never talks about "I lost my memory," it's always in the third person. But I guess this was a way of demonstrating the disconnect of being a person with essentially no past -- which is actually what's going on. It's just the one person. I'm not sure why I am spending so much time describing something that isn't even part of the book in the first place, but it obviously made a big impression on me. And I read at least half of the book wondering when the character was going to get around to investigating her other past. After all this, I amazed myself by finding this to be a very fun and engaging read. The memory-less narrator has two tasks -- first, to go back to work as an agent, but having to wing it as she goes along because she has no idea what her daily job is, and second, figure out who is responsible for her memory loss.It was even more of a five star reading experience while I was reading it, although after the fact there are several glaring problems with the execution of the story. Despite two lengthy expositions by the evil supernatural guys, none of the motive hangs together very well, and might as well be chalked up to "so the other day, I, an evil supernatural guy, was doing some evil supernatural stuff ..."It's also very clear that a certain kind of British humor (or I should probably say Commonwealth humor, because I think the author is Australian) is still very tied up with bodily functions.But most of it is funny and endearing, and the whole supernatural secret service is a kick. The author creates some new and interesting concepts, and also ties in some nods to classic stories of the bizarre. It reminded me of Buffy a little in this way, if you tried to figure out how the agency actually works it wouldn't make much sense, but the real essence is in the characters and how they interact with each other. Like everything else these days, this seems to be the first in a series, and one plus of this is that one might expect to get more back story on some of the other characters that are only sketched in here. Then again, I'm not convinced it's the kind of story that needs to have any sequels but whatever.Overall, I would say it's very fun and a page-turner, if you are able to go with the flow and not get too hung up on the gaps in the foundation.

[crazybatcow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's sorta a spy-ops type of book, but the spies have superpowers. All sorts of superpowers. To the point where you'll be wondering why you don't find it over-the-top when, really, you should. But you won't. It is written with such a straight-face that you won't even bat an eye at a girl with leaves for hair.The way the amnesia was dealt with was interesting and original and, at the same time, gave the author a chance to flesh out some other parts of the world by exploring events outside THIS rook Thomas' world. You get to see events from the past that aren't, technically, flashbacks.And while the bulk of the book was spent covering supernatural material, the mystery as to who caused Thomas' memory loss (and how) was also well done and very suspenseful. I can even see the point of Bronwyn's appearance - it throws a bit of a wrench into the mix and I spent a good part of the book waiting for her appearance to "mean something".Would I have liked the pace to be a bit faster, yes, probably... and I don't know that the last "manifestation" scene added anything to the story other than to make it a bit longer. But this might have been because by this point in the story I wanted to know who Thomas' enemy was...I really enjoyed the wrap-up and how Thomas grew so much in such a short period. Her character was believable and likable. I will look for other books by this author.

[naberius_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As you can see from the above summary (I love that GoodReads does all the heavy lifting so I don't have to write a summary, myself), Myfanwy (pronounced Miffany ... like Tiffany but with an M) wakes up with no recollection of who she is. Luckily, her previous self has left her all kinds of notes, which tell her a bit about herself, and her work. I really loved this idea, that a character is discovering who they are, while we are, based on notes left by themselves. And the world O'Malley has created here is our world, with just that bit of a supernatural twist to make it fun. So there are plenty of things that are recognizable, and then new things thrown in (kind of like the show Supernatural... or Sanctuary). I liked how the author gave us this secret organization, full of its own odd characters (some likeable, some dangerous... some both), and a mystery to figure out. Going through it, I had my suspicions about who might have wanted Myfanwy dead.... and then would frequently change my mind and choose another person. Loved it.And Myfanwy? She's a treat of a character -- practical, clever, a bit ruthless once she becomes comfortable with herself, and with a good sense of humor. It's obvious that the Myfanwy we meet at the beginning is not really the same woman she was before. It's almost like she's able to shed the somewhat timid person she was before, and just be a bit more confident --- after all, she doesn't have much to lose. As her previous self explains, she has risen to the top ranks in the organization by being a superior administrator ---- but it turns out that there is much more to Myfanwy than meets the eye. As she discovers things about herself (not just from the notes and letters and large binder of material she's left for herself), she really turns out to be quite extraordinary.I think the author did a great job with not only the storyline, characters, and pacing .... but he also does an exceptional job of writing a female main character. What I mean is: I never stop believing her for a moment. What I sometimes find in stories, when authors write a main character of the opposite sex, that there is something that gives me pause, or gets me stuck momentarily. It is a fact that men and women use language differently (linguistics), and this is the kind of thing that can happen where I'm reading along and suddenly there's a trip ...... I think to myself, a woman (because I'm female), just wouldn't say that that way. The one example that always stands out in my mind is Robert Hellenga's book, The Sixteen Pleasure, where all was going swimmingly until the main character said something so ... male. This never happened in this story. That's one of the things that really made this a wonderful read for me.Full review on my blog: FluidityofTime.blogspot.com

[sarah_buckley-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was probably the most interesting book I've read in a while. I read a LOT of Urban Fantasy (and regular fantasy, and Sci-fi), and they are as a rule OK, not great not amazing, just OK. (It is entirely possible I just can't find the best books, and this is totally anecdotal.) I love finding new worlds and situations to read about, and this might be the most interesting one in a while.

Myfanwy Thomas wakes up surrounded by dead bodies with a letter in her pocket explaining that she better run and hide because people are looking to kill her just like they did to the last person in this body. From there the plot is all about learning how to deal in a "new" bodies in a world that is terrifying and strange. I loved every second of it!

I hope there is more in this world.

[nicole_a_davis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Excellent recording, but the story itself needed some work. I had a really hard time getting into the book, which is why I switched to the audio version. It started off strong and exciting but then was really really slow--lots of backstory explanation that I found tedious. Once we got back to the present day of the main character she was just going to meetings all the time and deliberating over what to have for lunch or dinner. I found it to be too detailed and thus too slow paced. The middle of the books was better as more mysterious things started happening, but then the end was fairly disappointing. When the big reveal came about who the traitor was, I couldn't even remember who that character was. From there is was just a lot more unrealistic conversation between two enemies explaining to each other what they had done. Then there was a bit of a twist at the end but that just resulted in more unrealistic conversation and a ho-hum ending. Even though the set up was really interesting and it had a nice sense of humor throughout, I was just glad to be finally done with it.

[imyril · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Supernatural London is getting to be a crowded place, so it's no small endeavour to launch another ship to sail those waters. Thankfully O'Malley has come up with a resourceful heroine, loveable allies, a suitably iconic supernatural agency to keep tabs on all the unmentionables, and a big sense of humour. Having grown up in Holland, I may have found the fact the villains were Belgian a smidgeon funnier even than intended.I do think it showed itself as a first novel in a few places, along with a few glaring Americanisms that popped me out of the world, so I can only expect to enjoy future instalments more as O'Malley gets more practised. However, this is nitpicking. By and large, this was a rollicking joyride of daft proportions, with colourful characters and a pleasant absence of paranormal romance (although there were heavy hints that this will almost certainly be in store for Myfanwy in future instalments). It doesn't take itself too seriously, which largely helps the suspension of disbelief (the episode with the prophetic duck was a joy), and it is randomly peppered with what appear to be offhand allusions to other supernatural fictions that it has cheerfully adopted as part of the universe (I spotted Midwich and Narnia; I'm fairly sure I was meant to pick up a couple more). And I loved that it is almost entirely gender-neutral.

[cyafer · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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?

I'm really not sure why I'm still reading it, to be honest. I'm less than a hundred pages away from the end and I really don't think it'll improve much. I've given the book two stars instead of one because some of the powers are interesting (the Gestalt character comes immediately to mind). I highly doubt I'll give it much more when I'm done.

[everfresh1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There were quiet a few novels for the last few years dealing with supernatural mystery, with the idea that there exist another world that we don't know about and that there are people or whole organizations - with supernatural abilities protecting us, simple human beings. The action almost always takes place in London. This book is written using the same recipe. Still, unusual setup, good writing, interesting characters make it definitely worth reading. I assume that there will be a sequel.

[t_k_elliott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This took me two attempts to really get into, but it definitely repaid the effort.

The main character wakes up with complete amnesia, surrounded by corpses all wearing latex gloves. She doesn't remember who she is, or anything about why this might have happened, and therefore has to deal with these twin problems.

This was partly what delayed my really getting into the book at first; it's quite hard to feel any kind of connection to a person who doesn't know who she is (and also, to be fair, initially didn't seem to be the sort of person I'd go out for a drink with). However, persistence paid off, and although I probably wouldn't go on holiday with the main character, I would probably go so far as a couple of after-work drinks - though the office I work in is less interesting than hers.

The story itself is a romp. One never really doubts that Rook Thomas will win through (apart from anything else, the fact that it's Book 1 of a series can be regarded as a Clue), but the fun is in trying to work out how she will do it - and who, exactly, was responsible for what ended up as a ring of corpses wearing latex gloves.

There are some really funny parts (the bit with the duck, for instance) and some creepy bits (you'll figure that out). There are also some thought-provoking parts: if someone wipes your memories, is the person who wakes up in your head you, or somebody else?

This is a book to enjoy when you want mind-candy, but you don't mind finding tentacles in it.

[zjakkelien · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really loved this book. Which is extraordinary, since this book usually wouldn't be my type. Yes, I read fantasy, but I don't like fast-paced many-creatured urban fantasy. Don't get me wrong, I do like urban fantasy, but I prefer the kind that has only one or two types of magic/magical creatures and where you can actually draw a breath in between significant events. I strongly dislike Jim Butcher-type urbans, where there are not only vampires, wizards and trolls, but also detectives, police, and mafia, and where you start tensing up in expectation if no-one's head has been bashed in for half a page. Since The rook has vampires, X-men type people with powers, and a secret government organization, as well as an evil association of bio-engineered Belgians, you would think that this wouldn't be my cup of tea. However, I don't just like this book, I actually think it is quite good. I don't give 4+ stars to just any old book. I think the main reason is the protagonist, Myfanwy Thomas. In Myfanwy we get not just one, but two ultra-likable characters. There is the mousy yet extremely competent administrator Myfanwy, whom we get to know through letters, and there is the new Myfanwy who arises when the old Myfanwy looses her memory. The new Myfanwy is understandably a bit more clueless, but not less competent, and a lot less mousy. Both Myfanwy's are very sympathetic, and it is quite satisfying to read how the new Myfanwy stands up for herself and becomes a force to reckon with. Her cluelessness serves as a good way to introduce the reader to the world, since we learn right along with Myfanwy herself. As a result, the pace is only moderately high in the beginning, which probably contributed to my liking the book. An extra bonus is the number of strong women in The rook: there is Myfanwy, but also her secretary Ingrid, and her American counterpart and friend Shantay. And, there is no romance! In fact, hardly any mention of physical attraction at all. Seems to me there is an abundance of bare-chested hunks in most fast-paced urbans, so this is definitely refreshing! I'm definitely looking out for a sequel to this one...

[patrickgarson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Rook is an original novel and a very fun read with an interesting device. You can do a lot worse in contemporary fantasy. Myfanwy "wakes" up, surrounded by unconscious or dead people and no memory of how she got there. In her jacket pocket she finds a letter offering two choices: a pseudonym and a peaceful existence, or the much riskier choice of finding out what happened to "her". This is a novel, not a short story, so she picks the second option. What follows is a fun mystery as Myfanwy discovers her former job, and tries to sniff out who wiped her memory, and how. A lot of the fun is finding this out, so I won't spoil it too much. Suffice to say, you could file this book next to Buffy The Vampire Slayer or any others where a secret cabal of superbeings battle equally secret villains in a modern, unaware world. The most interesting part of The Rook is the author's device of leavening present-day passages with contextual journal entries, written by Myfanwy's past self to her future self. At first, these bothered me somewhat: the journal pops up with just the right info at just the right time. The reality is that Myfanwy would have read all of it in one go. But as the book went on, I found myself drawn to the prissy, introverted former Myfanwy, desperately struggling to anticipate when she would be neutralised, how, and what she would need to keep on. More broadly, O'Malley has constructed a fun and original world for these characters. The slightly cheeky, irreverent tone and galloping plot gives the books a very "television" kind of feel, but frankly it made the book fun. The plot isn't dynamite, but everything works well and the individual events are, again, interesting and comical. I'm looking forward to a sequel, and soon.

[flatearther-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Silly me left this book up North at my parents over the holidays so quite the while to finish it.

What a great book, easily my favorite so far this year. No spoilers in this review...let's just say that from front to back I was surprised which rarely happens to me any more with a book. I laughed aloud at times at turns of phrase, and found not only the main two characters compelling but the vast majority of the secondary ones as well.

I'm deliberately not talking plot points so you can enjoy the revelations. Pick it up and dive down the rabbit hole.

[jsburbidge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A welcome addition to the fantasy subgenre of secret government agencies dealing with the supernatural (see also Ben Aaronovich's series beginning with Rivers of London and Charles Stross's Laundry novels).The set-up -- a first-person narrator who has had her memory wiped but whose previous personality anticipated it and has left letters guiding here successor -- allows for a clever way of providing the reader with detailed incluing. The characters are rounded and interesting. The plot -- a mixture of "solve your own murder" and "counter a major internal and external organizational threat" is deftly handled.This novel is very much (in an odd way) an "origins" story, and my impression is that we will have to wait for the next Chequy novel for a strong sense of how good the series as a whole is going to be once it is, as it were, on an even footing.