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

Spellbinding

A story that that starts off cliched, gets better over the course of the book

Bond+Bourne+X Men/China Mieville=Rook

But this is a great story that truly cannot be summed up in a simplistic formula; however, readers might recognize elements of all of the above flavored with Mievillesque surrealism.

There are differences: it’s Jane Bond not James, and her Bourne-like memory loss is due less to amnesia and more so because she’s become someone else -- or someone else has become her (it makes sense in the story), and there are people with X Men-like abilities, but there are also vampires, and other, uh, entities.

Readers familiar with Mr. Mieville’s work will recognize and perhaps feel comfortable with the wave of weirdness when it hits. Unfamiliar readers might exclaim “what the frak?!” and feel that the book has gone off the rails or jumped the shark because the story does get a little… out there.

There’s also plenty of human drama, enough to care very much about our heroine Myfanwy, enough to feel eager for the next book. Mr. O’Malley has done a fine job with his first book, and I can’t wait to read more about Myfanwy and the mysterious Cheque organization. Oh, and good job with the trailer for the book. It's very funny.

A great find

This is a good book and I recommend it. It is well written, funny and clever and the narrator is quite pleasing to listen to.

Narrator's sing-song inflection - ouch!

I enjoyed this story, but really couldn't get past the narrator's sing-song inflection. Please, listen to the sample carefully before downloading this one!

Interesting concept, flawed narration

Would you try another book from Daniel O'Malley and/or Susan Duerden?

I might try another book by O'Malley but I would avoid another narration by Duerden.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I liked the concept of the book but the author worked too hard on humor and not enough on suspense. The main character is amusing, which is why I might try another book, but I believe I would try it in print so I could skim some parts if I needed to.

What didn’t you like about Susan Duerden’s performance?

Duerden has a very annoying way of reading everything in a breathless whisper. The dialogue wasn't too bad but the general narration was hard to take.

Was The Rook worth the listening time?

Well, I finished it, which is why I gave it a three but I was looking forward to the end so I could start something better.

Good, as a young adult book

As a teenager, I used to enjoy a lot young adult books and I have to say I read a few now and then. Young adult books have the following characteristics: (a) the hero is friendly easy to identify, (b) all characters are monolithic but colorful, (c) there is a never-ending sequence of intrigue with no depth. This can be fun in its way in that one can read it, be entertained with little need for attention.

The Rook is a young adult book, a relatively good one. It uses the usual lost memory storyline as a starting point, and the super-hero storyline with weird powers to keep going, sprinkling some romance here and there and some cool fights at other times. The reading is excellent; on its own, it would be nice to hear even if the book were bad.

Now, the book is not for everyone. If you're looking for deeper humor or a solid intrigue, then there is very little there. In fact, the book reads a little bit like a cartoon that continues with various things happening with no connection with one another. It's very easy to move forward in the book because there is almost no evolution in the character or the general story. At the end of the book, I felt I had wasted my time and I could directly have skipped to the last hour without missing anything.

An interesting and engaging sci-fi story

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

I think it is a good book for casual fans of science fiction. The author creates an interesting premise and an engaging main character, and the story speeds along (even with a lot of exposition).

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Rook?

The beginning of the book, where the main character wakes up with no memory of her past life and has to quickly adapt to a series of threats. Pretty compelling start.

Have you listened to any of Susan Duerden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't heard this narrator before, but I thought she did an excellent job of giving each character a unique voice without overdoing it. I would be encourage to listen to more books knowing she was the narrator.

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

No extreme reactions. It was just a good, consistent and entertaining sci-fi story.

Any additional comments?

I'd encourage the listener to pay careful attention to the introduction of each character since so many of them are introduced in a short time that it can be hard to keep them straight.

Very entertaining!

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

The unpredictable rhythm and events of the story was so enjoyable, I never knew where it was headed. Then, add on a rather unique, supernatural subject matter, and you have one of the most refreshing stories I have personally enjoyed in a long time. In fact, what I enjoyed most was how unique O'Malley's characters are. I read a lot of 'monster genre' books (vampire, witches, shape-shifters, etc.) and most books are somewhat predictable in that often, writers stick to the traditional backstories and abilities of these sorts of creatures.

What other book might you compare The Rook to and why?

It's hard to compare, it has elements of a dystopian novel, but it is also funny at times.

Have you listened to any of Susan Duerden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, this was my first one. I rather enjoyed her as well, I was surprised to read one review that found her terribly annoying.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I couldn't stop listening to it

Any additional comments?

I only hope the author is considering writing more about Rook Thomas and the Chequy!

Fabulous!!!

I loved this book and I loved listening to it. Susan Duerden did a fantastic job reading it. I have listened to it several times, and have enjoyed it every time. It is the perfect blend of government mystery and fantasy - two genres I love. I am waiting for more from Daniel O'Malley. This is fast pased and keeps you guessing. You will not be disappointed. I am an avid reader in both audible and written formats and I will say there are some books I refuse to listen to because I can not stand how the reader interprets the book. This book I believe is enhanced by Susan Duerden and I'm sure I would like it in book form but I love it in the audible format.

Good vs. Evil or Power vs. Power?

*a few modest pseduo-spoilers*


This is a debut novel for author Daniel O???Malley. I liked the story; it was well worth reading and had some interesting twists on ideas about our supernatural history and how we view it. The author took his degree in history so that makes sense.

I gave the author 3 rather than 2.5 stars because it is a debut and I see opportunity for interesting story lines and characters. I did not go further because I found myself grinding my teeth at a few things. I am an avid reader of fantasy and I like urban fantasy very much. I did like this book, mostly.

The Rook is a position, a title. The position is held by a young woman with singular skills. Singular, but surrounded by other talented individuals. There is of course an enemy, a rival gang as it were. There is a series of small struggles and a large struggle and then a not utterly unpredictable ending. Rather like an English X-Men with more history. Is it a case of good vs. evil or power vs. power? A good way to open a series, allowing for many interesting plot developments.

I am not sure that the reader really brought the best light of the book out, but this could be because of my issues with the language used by some characters. Not complaining about swearing but about appropriateness of vocabulary. It really stuck out to me.

My problems with the book begin with the language. When these highly trained, professional persons/beings are speaking to one another they often use ???slovenly??? language. ???yeah??? being an answer given by several characters to questions. It seemed so very odd and wrong for these people. If you are going to build a super spy MI5/CIA organization, expressly say that they have been trained to a very high standard educationally as well as being well versed in the lethal arts; in a school for gifted youngsters, well, then they should sound educated. Executive types don???t say ???yeah??? like a surly teen and their subordinates certainly would not answer questions thusly. This is an example. I felt the tone needed to be ???tonier???. I know ??? write your own book and use whatever tone you like ??? yeah yeah yeah.

I thought that too many loose ends were left flapping around like the tentacles from one of the other gang???s operatives. At least a hint perhaps that we will be finding out more in the future would be nice.