The Rook

A Novel

By: Daniel O'Malley

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Myfanwy Thomas awakes in a London park surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory gone, her only hope of survival is to trust the instructions left in her pocket by her former self. She quickly learns that she is a Rook, a high-level operative in a secret agency that protects the world from supernatural threats. But there is a mole inside the organization - and this person wants her dead.

As Myfanwy battles to save herself, she encounters a person with four bodies, a woman who can enter her dreams, children transformed into deadly fighters, and an unimaginably vast conspiracy.

Suspenseful and hilarious, The Rookis an outrageously inventive debut for listeners who like their espionage with a dollop of purple slime.

©2012 Daniel O'Malley (P)2012 Hachette

Great reader

What made the experience of listening to The Rook the most enjoyable?

Variation in characters--even men--was well done. Accent was enjoyable. Pace was very good. Writing was great.

Which character – as performed by Susan Duerden – was your favorite?

The Belgian accent was interesting. I don't think I've ever heard a real one--if this is what it sounds like, I'm going to need to hear it!

A fantastic and unusual read

Strongly recommend! A fascinating main character and plot that’s quite unusual. Narrator pretty good but for a verbal quirk that may just be me. I will definitely get the sequel. Interesting concepts throughout!

Great book, highly recommended.

My wife recommended I read/listen to this book after reading it with her friends on a road trip. I don't really have time to read so I listen while I'm driving or working on house projects and there were time when I kept working to listen linger or had to remind because I didn't catch everything going on while multitasking. I loved the detail and thinking it makes one do alongside M. T. I'll start the second in a few minutes. :-)

Ehhh, predictable, non-original, but packaged well

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Sure it was time well spent as I drive 4 hours each day and need to fill the time. Plus i'm new to this whole audiobook deal so I'm still trying to find what genre I enjoy. That is why I chose this book; it was something completely different than what I normally listen to (the classics).

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Perhaps because this isn't my cup o tea, but I can sum this book up as follows; take 1 part X-Men, add 1 part League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, water down greatly, and toss in some Hardy Boy's mystery novel and you have The Rook.
I won't say it was bad, I can only say that the elements were not original; a super secret team with superpowers battles monsters and bad guys all the while a traitor is afoot. One guy can manipulate metal, another can control your body and read your mind through telepathy, another can turn invisable, another has sharp bone claws...and they all learn to develop and control their powers through a secret school only for those with superpowers...come on!.
And the mystery was easily solved once you you were introduced to the backstory of each character.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes. I always do the book/movie comparison whether I enjoyed it or not.

Any additional comments?

Without a doubt, there is a huge debt of acknowledgement owed to the orator. As pessimistic as I have been about this book's review, the orator is nothing short of phenomenal. Her accents, her accentuation, her tone and delivery. She is without a doubt the best orator I have listened to so far. There were several occasions where I swore that another person was involved in the reading.
Absolutely brilliant she was.

Could not stop listening!!!

What made the experience of listening to The Rook the most enjoyable?

Susan Duerden did an amazing job bringing this story to life. She brought the dramatics when need be and just made good choices in how she shared this story.

What did you like best about this story?

This was such a unique storyline and I just wanted to keep learning about Myfanwy and what was happening to her and her job.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me laugh the most, but it did get me to tear up a bit. This story is pretty serious but O'Malley brought great characters and some entertaining fun moments.

Any additional comments?

I definitely recommend this book. I never heard of this book until I was skimming through some ideas for Paranormal books and this one caught my eye and I'm glad it did! I'll definitely be looking out for more Daniel O'Malley books!

Pitch-perfect!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I'm usually fairly hard to please, but this book won me over in the first chapter! It's Borne Identity mixed with the quirky creativity of JK Rowling. Witty yet serious, inspired and expertly written--it's well worth 3 credits in my opinion. I am dying for the sequel!

It was alright

I enjoyed this book for the most part. Although the narrator was awful in my opinion. The story had some X-men vibe to it mixed with other things. The ending was a pretty big let down for me though.

Even X-Men had a so-so debut

The Story:
Myfanwy (pronounced mif-an-e) Thomas wakes up in a wake of bodies without a single memory, a series of letters introduces her to her body and her life at the Chequy (pronounced shack-ay) an agency in the UK that controls paranormal and extra terrestrial entities from entering every day human life.
There's intrigue, increasingly peculiar abilities, and ever escalating situations that drive the listener through this debut novel, well enough. The first few chapters are interesting and the overall movement of the story pushed me forward but I felt that the main character was inconsistant and not very interesting, although she's not supposed to be interesting. That being the case I was left with the feeling 'why am I supposed to care about what happens?' The increasingly useless letters from her body's past inhabitant take away from the pull of the story and don't add enough texture to make them worthwhile. Unfortunately, I don't think this author is being true to who this character could be and ultimately this hurt the story for me. Also, there are a peculiar number of references to vomiting throughout the book that stood out as being needless and lame.

The Narrator:
Susan Duerden worked at creating different voices and covered the characters annoying petty complaining pretty well. Her accent, within the dutch characters, could get thin at times but I thought she held it together quite well. Overall she did a good job of keeping me in the story.

The Sum:
There are some interesting moments and the mystery element was well played but overall this feels like set-up for something bigger (that could get better), this appears to be the first of a series as Mr O'Malley is writing another one as I write this. I wouldn't recommend it as it stands now but there's room for growth in a series, I probably won't be traveling down that road myself.

Hilarious and fast-paced

Would you consider the audio edition of The Rook to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version, but Susan Duerden, who narrated another of my favorites, The Tiger's Wife, is wonderfully talented. She captures both male and female voices with realistic inflection and had great comedic timing. I'm sure it would be a hilarious read, too, but the narration makes it come alive.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Myfanwy is the main character and likely to be any listener's favorite. She is a sassy badass.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Keep calm and kick paranormal ass! It's the X-Files, British style.

Any additional comments?

Fun, complex, fast-paced story with smart twists and compelling characters. O'Malley writes great women and the type characters are also tremendous fun. He's a skilled writer with an edgy wit that made me laugh out loud as people stared at crazy earbud lady. Not just silly fun--he's got great sentences, plot structure, images. A real live writer's writer.

Enjoyable listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If they like this genre, I would definitely recommend this book. It kept me interested throughout. The author created an interesting sub rosa world.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the structure of the world the main character inhabited, the jobs she did, her co-workers and mystery the pulled the story forward.

Any additional comments?

I liked the reader overall but she doesn't do male voices well.