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

Meh... I Could Take it or Leave it

Characters are well developed with well thought out abilities and fictional historical pairings of this fantasy world with our reality. Not enjoyable for me. Narration is annoying and main character acts like a 14 year old girl the whole story.

Half way through and wish I'd picked something else in the sale. But the book is good enough to get through and not return.

Really Fun Read

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

I like the plot and character development, so many "didn't see that coming" experiences.
Really fun,hope Mr. O'Malley is writing about Bishop so I can have more adventures with this cast of characters.

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

Miffanwy, of course, but all the the characters were authentic enough to make me feel that I was encountering individuals...

Surprised me.....

Any additional comments?

I grabbed this audio when it was on special because it sounded different and I was in mood for something light to listen to on a long road trip. Oh my....I found myself quite enthralled and caught up in the story and tried to find free minutes to finish listening. Sadly i do not see news of a second book, but will keep my fingers crossed. Be warned...once started you will find it hard to pull away. The narrator was amazing and truly made this book a top pick.

where is part two!!??

Love this story. Left open for a part two...want it now!!! I listened to this story so quickly, I was definitely left wanting more.

Wicked Fun, with lots to learn

Any additional comments?

I still remember this book very well as I'm catching up on my reviews completely late.

I love the primary characters and everyone having their unique attributes/skills/powers. It's one of those books that develops just fast enough where you're not confused. A supernatural heroine meets amnesia, meets a neo-gothic Ghostbusters – can't go wrong, IMHO.

Here's the deal with my reviews:
I like entertainment. I like action. I don't want to be confused by the story. I love a healthy mix of cool, concept and creativity. I'm not a fan of overly-intellectual concepts that feel preachy, authors that try to look down at the reader like they're better than us, or anything completely dystopian. I want to LIKE the characters, that said, I FF through too much romantic context. I like love just as much as the next guy, but that's why my wife has the Hallmark Channel.

Wonderful. Hope he continues the story.

Kept me guessing throughout. Would like to see more of this storyline to be written.

Expectation: 0, Pleasant Surprise: 1 !

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

It is simply a good book. No raunchy stupidity to cover lack of a plot. A lovely narrator who really IS Myfanwy Thomas (or not). I keep thinking "What about this book was so spectacular?" Nothing. But it was solid, fun, entertaining, good and I didn't feel slimey after listening like you do with so many adult targeted books. The only thing I found troublesome is the movement between the written remembrances and the current situations. A more significant pause between the two might have helped signal the audio listener there was such a significant switch coming. I often found myself driving along saying "what!?!" and having to rewind a bit so that I was not lost by the sudden switch. Such is the life of an audio book listener.It is not to say there weren't a couple of times I thought, "For such a smart girl..." (like the fact that for someone who has no idea who her enemies are, long lost family and allies from other countries sure were taken at face value) but so much makes up for those couple of moments that they are well worth forgiving.Do I love it? YESDo I want another? YESShould you spend your credit? YES

Who was your favorite character and why?

Myfanwy. Well, really not much character development on anyone else except possibly Ingrid or Ulrich. The narrator really bought in to the character and you can tell!

What does Susan Duerden bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This is not a stilted reading. The narrator is age appropriate sounding, and reads in such a way that it is like she is really going through it. No 'canned laughter' feel here. It really helps you buy in.

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

In my opinion this is the dumbest question for a book review. Seriously? Anouncers overly dramatic voice: "In a land of genetically engineered freaks, one brain addled woman must discover her betrayer before all of Britian falls prey to evil scientists."Wait are they evil?

Better than the show!

I found this book after seeing the tv show was based on O’Malley’s book. I really am enjoying the show but the Myfanwy in the book is 100 times more interesting. Duerden does a fantastic job portraying the nuances of the character. Disgust, horror, weary resignation, and a multitude of other emotions come through loud and clear. Plus she did a great job with the Dutch and various accents! I would have been skimming over all the pronunciations in my head so it’s a much more satisfying “read” when you get to hear how things are supposed to sound. The tale is woven together, going back and forth between letters left by the Myfanwy of before the memory loss, filling in necessary details, and the mad scrambling that the Myfanwy of the present is doing to stay ahead of her unknown enemy. I highly recommend this book!!!!

Interesting Persepective

The story was just okay for me hence the 3 stars. I think if reading it in print format vs. audio, I would have been engaged and followed better.

I found the perspective interesting. The main character wakes up with no memory and she has prewritten letters to herself. She doesnt write to herself as if she is talk to her future self...using "me" or "we", rather, a stranger...someone new who has inhabited her former body. This is also what conteibutes to make the audio confusing - if reading a printed copy the letters to herself would be italicized to note the difference. How do you read that when it is the same character and voice. As a listener how do you tell the difference when it is the same voice. At times I found myself wondering if this is the current or past self speaking? Are these her current thoughts trying to figure things out or is this the past explaining this to her? Are these her current or past impressions?
The story lines got a little convoluted as a result. I wasn't as engaged as I could have been because it seemed like something I should and would have liked more.

Surprisingly Good!

So it only took me a year plus to read this thing. It was a birthday gift from my hubby last year. It was not something on my wishlist; he went off-script and picked this out himself (with help from staff at B&N). It's not something I would have picked for myself; however that's not to say that I didn't not thoroughly enjoy it.

My problem with reading this was constant distraction. For the last year I have picked it up, read a few pages, got distracted and put it down, and the start all over again. It was a vicious cycle. The annoying thing was that every few paragraphs/pages I read, I was intrigued, I'd just get distracted by some random thing, kids, animals, texts, calls, etc., and not go back to it for a long while. Finally, when my birthday came back around and it had been an entire year of me telling hubby I was going to read it, I finally realized that I needed some help to focus. So I got the audiobook, this way I could listen while I did other things, or read along with it. I did both. The audiobook made all the difference; I finished it in about a day, and I have to say it was a good one!

The story follows Myfanwy Thomas, who wakes up surrounded by bodies and blood and absolutely no memory of who she is and unknown persons trying to kill her. Lucky for her, her previous self knew this was coming and left instructions via a series of letters. The new Myfanwy wants to run and start a new life of leisure, but ends up getting caught up in the intrigue mystery of who stole her memories, and why they were trying to kill her.

This is definitely a suspense-thriller, which is not exactly my favorite genre, but it kept me interested throughout. And the touch of supernatural definitely added excitement to the story. Myfanwy deals with secret societies that work within (and without) the British government, supernatural powers and happenings, further attempts on her life. And all the while, she never really knows who she can trust within the organization, and who is/are the ones who betrayed her.

Everything is seen from Myfanwy's point of view, either present day, or her letters to herself. The story is original, well paced and beautifully written. Definitely looking forward to the sequel, which I now have to bug hubby to buy for me. It's his own fault for getting me something that is part of a series.