Listen, if I never read another "There is a secret government agency that handles all the supernatural beasties in the world" book it will be fine with me. As a genre, I have had more than enough of it. And while it is occasionally brilliant -- Ben Aaronovitch's books are fantastic, and I love them -- it's usually not worth slogging through another one that makes me wish I were watching Men In Black or reading KJ Charles.
With that out of the way, I enjoyed this book. It's got a nice plot twist. Our heroine's mind has been erased and she starts out the book in a rainstorm, surrounded by the dead bodies of all the men who just tried to kill her. Then she has to go back to her job at the top secret government agency that handles magical whoosits, pretend she knows what's going on, and figure out who's trying to kill her.
I think the book was meant to be funny? I'm not 100% sure, though. In her former life Myfanwy Thomas was shy and scared and meek; since she's had her memory erased she has no fucks left and tells everyone where they can stick it. There's a certain type of "I've had such a long day, you wouldn't believe," narration, where I get that it's supposed to be funny, but there weren't actually... any... jokes? Like, her name, Myfanwy. (We are told early on: rhymes with Tiffany). Clearly supposed to be, if not laugh-out-loud funny, then quirky. I think the book was looking for that very-hard-to-hit line between spooky/creepy and quirky/funny. David Wong's John Dies at the End does a great job of nailing that. This book was just... I mean, it was a fun read. I read the whole thing in a weekend, which required some real dedication. I liked reading it. I enjoyed reading it. It never made me laugh, and it never got atmospheric enough to creep me out.
Put it this way: I haven't pre-ordered the second book in the series. I might totally read it, though. I just don't feel any pressing need to jump into the next one, or a burning anger that it isn't out yet. Meanwhile I've had the next Aaronovitch pre-ordered since last summer, and they keep changing the release date, and it's agony. Gimme that book! (If you haven't read that series, pick up Midnight Riot, the first one, and set aside a couple of weeks to read all of them. What a delight.)
Grade: B
#26 in 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment