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

one of my favorites

I love this book and have listened to it multiple times. I find it to be so creative and such a great idea and O'Malley clearly has a wonderful imagination. my only complaint is that he uses the word "dubious' too much, but maybe it only sticks out to me because I've listened to it several times.
Susan Duerdan is a great narrator, her voice is perfect and I hope she'll be narrating Stiletto, which is the next book coming out soon!

Plunged into the deep end!

And lived it! Great story! Looking forward to stiletto!
So... We will see you again in July for. The next riveting installment!

Don't wait--listen to this book

Extremely entertaining and made even better by Susan Duerden's narration. Can't wait for a sequel.

James Bond + Warehouse 13 = Read this.

I loved this book so much that I was actually disappointed to find out it's O'Malley's debut novel and there's nothing else by him for me to read (yet). I've given this book as a gift and recommended it to several folks already, and you should totally spend your credit on this book.

The characters are unique and well-crafted, and the plot is intricate and so clever. I want to steal this man's ability to describe things, he does it so well and in-character, too! The solution to the mystery of the story is foreshadowed throughout, so it doesn't come out of the clear blue sky, but right up until you get to the end, you'd've never guessed what was coming. If you like James Bond and Warehouse 13, you've gotta give this a shot. I swear it's worth it!

Please, no more letters.

The book made me want to scream every time you have to listen to the amnesiac main character read a letter she wrote herself before she lost her memory. This trope almost completely undermines the benefit of the main character having lost her memory, and these sections on the audiobook were dull.

Besides the letters, many characters will drone on and on when nothing is really happening. Usually right after some revelation leaving you screaming at the character to get to the damn point already.

Fortunately, it also had a cube of flesh made out of people as a superweapon. When the author stops being far too fascinated by his own twisted world to actually tell a story, he does a good job.

This doesn't happen often enough to recommend.

So glad that I listen to this instead of read it

I remember getting the book because the premise sounded very interesting. However, it sat on my bookshelf for a very long time. As much as I'd like to crack open a really big book, I found it hard to commit to it. Getting this in it's audio version was the best thing I could've done because not only did it let me listen to the story on the go, it also really immersed me in the story. I found myself taking the long way home to listen to more of it in the car.

Not my favorite narration, but a really good story

The narrator has a nice voice, but her cadence annoyed me a bit. That didn't stop me from wanting to finish the story. I am not a big sci-fi fan, but this story was both outlandish (special powers and secret enforcement societies) and believable (Myfawnie's discovery of herself and her confidence). I enjoyed the story, but might have preferred to read it. Worth a credit if you can overlook a repetitive cadence from a pleasant voice, which I could and am glad I did.

Interesting story and a fun read

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

The Rook has a fun story line with a plot that moves along, is exciting, and not always predictable.

Great read from a new favorite author

The Rook is a wonderful tale of the hazards of working in the supernatural world and of the issues in protecting your country from evil forces. Myfanwy Thomas is a organizational wizard and possesses some amazing powers, but is also afraid of her own shadow, generally physically traumatized by the supernatural world she inhabits and easily overlooked. When she wakes up in a park with dead agents around her, life becomes very intense. The author has given us a deep character who rises to the occasion and is a document sleuth. mystery, fantasy, laughter, and suspense are all found in this book. The reader of the audiobook is also exceptional. Even when I read from my physical copy, I could hear her voices in my head. This is certainly a marvelous presentation of a fun read.

Imaginative

Initially difficult to get my bearings, but once you got passed a few letters it became intriguing. I was not bored and there were so many twists and turns I was sorry it ended. I look forward to the next book.