Downright obnoxious once or twice, amusing about as often, but nearly always clever and witty: Well worth a try, though...
Transcendent parody from Rankin (The Toyminator, 2006, etc.).
Jonny Hooker—a musician whose invisible childhood companion, Mr. Giggles the Monkey Boy, stubbornly refused to vanish when Jonny grew up—floats headless in a London park pond. A week previously, he received a mysterious letter declaring him to be a WINNER. Before claiming his prize, however, he must solve the musical code of the title. Feeling unaccountably optimistic, Jonny goes to the very pub where blues legend Robert Johnson recorded a song; unfortunately, the recording also captured the Devil's laughter, so anybody that hears it dies. Later, Jonny sees a child drowning in the same pond where he is eventually found, but when he splashes in to make the rescue there's nobody there; men in white coats haul him off to the hospital, where he escapes through an evil psychiatrist's office window. Soon the doctor turns up dead (headless). Jonny meets park ranger Charlie Hawtrey, whose twin brother Hari is a prisoner in the same hospital; oddly, Charlie also saw the drowning child. Meanwhile, Jonny learns of the Air Loom Gang, who, since the 18th century, have been magnetizing people and exerting thought control. The owner of the printing press where the WINNER letter was produced turns up dead (headless), his recording of Johnson's song missing. Jonny discovers he's been magnetized, and starts lining his cap with tinfoil…and then there’s Elvis, flying saucers from hell and much more.
Downright obnoxious once or twice, amusing about as often, but nearly always clever and witty: Well worth a try, though Rankin's in no danger of knocking fantasy-comedy maestro Terry Pratchett off his perch anytime soon.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-575-07011-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Orion/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2007
A tantalizing, otherworldy adventure with imagination that burns like fire.
The third installment of this fantasy series (The Bone Season, 2013; The Mime Order, 2015) expands the reaches of the fight against Scion far beyond London.
Paige Mahoney, though only 19, serves as the Underqueen of the Mime Order. She's the leader of the Unnatural community in London, a city serving under the ever more militaristic Scion, whose government is based on ridding the streets of "enemy" clairvoyants. But Paige knows the truth about Scion's roots—that an Unnatural and immortal race called the Rephaim, who come from the Netherworld, forced Scion into existence to gain control over the growing human clairvoyant community. Scion’s hatred of clairvoyants now runs so deep that Paige is forced to consider moving her entire syndicate into hiding while she aims to stop Scion's next attack: there are rumors that Senshield, a scanner able to detect certain levels of clairvoyance, is going portable. Which means no Unnatural citizen is safe—their safe houses, their back-alley routes, are all at risk of detection. Paige’s main enemy this time around is Hildred Vance, mastermind of Scion’s military branch, ScionIDE. Vance creates terror by anticipating her opponent’s next moves, so with each step that Paige and her team take to dismantle Senshield, Vance is hovering nearby to toy with Paige’s will. Luckily, Paige is never separated for long from her Rephaite ally, Warden, as his presence is grounding. But their growing relationship, strengthened by their connection to the spirit world, takes a back seat to the constant, fast-paced action. The mesmerizing qualities of this series—insight into the different orders of clairvoyance as well as the intricately imagined details of Paige’s “dreamwalking” gift, with which she is able to enter others’ minds—fade to the background as this seven-part series climbs to its highest point of tension. Shannon’s world begins to feel more generically dystopian, but as Paige fights to locate and understand the spiritual energy powering Senshield, it is never less than captivating.
A tantalizing, otherworldy adventure with imagination that burns like fire.Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63286-624-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Will simultaneously intrigue both romantics and skeptics. The science might oversimplify, but it’s gripping enough to read...
Marrs’ debut novel traces the stories of five people who find their soul mates—or do they?
Imagine if you could submit to a simple DNA test and then receive your Match in your email. Not just an online date who might be geographically compatible, but a true and unique genetically destined partner. While the potential long-term benefits may seem to outweigh the negative consequences, the system is far from infallible; as any science-fiction fan could tell you, if it sounds too good to be true, there’s usually a catastrophe lurking at the other end. Marrs’ novel traces five individuals who meet their Matches under varying circumstances and with widely conflicting outcomes. During the course of their romantic adventures (and misadventures), the entire DNA matching algorithm will prove to be susceptible to hacking, also proving that (gasp!) just because something may be driven by science doesn’t mean that it’s free from the world of human error. The philosophy posed by the novel speaks not just to the power of love and the laws of attraction, but also serves as a commentary on today’s world of genetic exploration. Do these breakthroughs simplify our lives, or do they make us lazy, replacing the idea of “destiny” or “fate” with “science” as a larger power that we don’t need to question? These ideas keep the novel moving along and create a deeper level of interest, since most of the narrative threads are fairly predictable. The two exceptions are the psychopathic serial killer who meets his Match and begins to lose interest in killing and the heterosexual man matched with another man, both of whom must then redefine sexuality and love, commitment and family.
Will simultaneously intrigue both romantics and skeptics. The science might oversimplify, but it’s gripping enough to read all in one sitting.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-335-00510-6
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
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