The Rook

A Novel

De: Daniel O'Malley

Narrado por: Susan Duerden

Myfanwy Thomas awakens in a London park surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory gone, she must trust the instructions left by her former in order to survive. 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.

Battling to save herself, Myfanwy will encounter a person with four bodies, a woman who can enter her dreams, children transformed into deadly fighters, and terrifyingly vast conspiracy.

Suspenseful and hilarious, The Rook is an outrageously imaginative thriller for readers who like their espionage with a dollop of purple slime.

"Utterly convincing and engrossing -- -totally thought-through and frequently hilarious....Even this aging, jaded, attention-deficit-disordered critic was blown away."-Lev Grossman, Time

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A near-perfect supernatural thriller...Don't start this book unless you've got lots of time, because you won't want to put it down. It's that good."
—David Keymer, Library Journal

"The Rook is going to kick off my Best Books of the Year list. The opening page alone is a gem, and the narrative just keeps getting better...This is wonderful entertainment."
—Charlaine Harris, on her blog

"The Rook has got it all: secret powers, mysterious organizations, dark corners...twisted scientists, and a duck that can see the future...Hands down I have not enjoyed a good supernatural novel this much for quite some time...It's just that good."
—James Floyd Kelly, Wired.com

"A beguiling and inventive first novel...The Rook is expertly written...full of narrative energy."
—David Walton, Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A creative mix of suspense, the supernatural, and espionage thrills. It's loaded with dry wit and doesn't take itself too seriously...Certainly one of the most unusual stories you will read this year."
—Christian DuChateau, CNN.com

"Great, rattling fun, as if Neil Gaiman took Buffy the Vampire Slayer and crossed it with Torchwood... Throughout a rip-roaring narrative, O'Malley off-handedly weaves deadpan humor."
—Joyce Saenz Harris, Dallas Morning News

"Adroitly straddles the thin line between fantasy, thriller, and spoof....O'Malley is a nimble writer, effortlessly leaping back and forth between comedy and action."—David Pitt, Booklist

"Peppered with sly humor, referential social commentary, and the ironic, double-layered self-awareness that will have genre fans believing Buffy the Vampire Slayer has joined Ghostbusters."—Kirkus

"Wholly refreshing...If you like Harry Potter, Buffy, X-Men, or any assorted series that mixes humor and the supernatural, you'll probably love The Rook."
—Alex Zalben, MTV Geek

"Impressive....Dry wit, surprising reversals of fortune, and a clever if offbeat plot make this a winner."—Publishers Weekly

Clichés be damned!

Rook opens on a rather cliché note, amnesiac hero, who's tabla-rasa for any personal memories but retains her instincts. From the Bourne Identity beginning to an X-men like world, Daniel O' Malley dances along being trite to actually clever. Its a mish-mash of supernatural beings, shadowy government organizations and a world unseen by the public, and schools for the unique of talent. While not a book about super heros and super villains , The Rook certainly takes cues from X-Men.

Susan Duerden is one hell of a voice actor, but she fails at the narrative. Her voice switches into a repetitive cadence, strangely melodic and robotic, that sounds strangely like a high level text to speech algorithm. The words are there but the inflection is the same, regardless of content. Its strange and annoying. Early in the book, when narrative parts extend minutes, I found myself annoyed, which is unusual for me as I'm not the most demanding of listeners. Fortunately, as more characters are introduced, Susan Duerden spends less time in her repetitive robo-speak.

That said, for a rookie writer, Daniel O' Malley proves himself a worthy read. About the only complaint I had is it seemed that every character of substance was described as being "Beautiful"... how many beautiful people can occupy a single novel? ;)

Who Knew Fighting Monsters Could Be So Funny...?

I wonder sometimes who it is that selects titles for Audible's sales. I'd really like to know so I could thank them for bringing about my discovery of The Rook. I doubt I would have found it otherwise, and that'd have been a real shame, as this is a truly hilarious book with some uplifting undertones.

Imagine someone having to cope all at once with the existence of supernatural threats to humanity as well as their leadership role in an organization established to hold the line against such threats. This story could get very dark very quickly, but it doesn't, as the author and the reader enjoy themselves too much along the way. Our hero has plots to uncover, monsters to vanquish, and people to fool, all while learning who she was before her memory was lost and who she wants to be now. It all makes for a quick pace as she meets all sorts of colorful characters and risks her life to save the people of Britain, blissfully unaware of the dangers all around them.

The narration takes some getting used to, filled with an urgency suited to some events, but not to others. Eventually though, the voices of the characters shine through and allow the narrator's vocal talents to dazzle the listener, particularly with Myfanwy and other characters' spontaneous reactions to the odd events they encounter.

There are occasions when I wonder whether a book's sale price colored my opinion of its merits, not so in this case. I had far too much fun, something born out by the fact that I'll be buying the sequel as soon as it hits Audible.

Loved Everything, Except Two Things

I really did like this book! I wanted to like it a lot more, but two things brought it down. First, the narrator is really good, but during the parts of the book with no characters speaking, she gets very sing-songy and it drove me just a bit crazy (not hard to do) if I thought about it too much. I can't find it anywhere, but I swear she also did some narration on The Golden Compass audiobook. I like everything about her except that every sentence has to end going....uuuuup. This was actually more minor than the second thing.

The second thing I couldn't get past was the antagonists, the grafters. Their capabilities are supposedly based on pure science, but they can do things that go far beyond the people who have super abilities! I LOVE science, so I was just unable to accept this concept of a totally secret group of people who have the scientific abilities attributed to them in the book. If the grafters had some supernatural leader that was channeling supernatural energy to make all of their stuff possible, I could even buy that, but to say it was pure science, bah! To say there were people who centuries ago could men who could craft flesh and organs with capabilities beyond what we have available even today, nope. For me, this all but ruined a really good book and since it is clear that they will have a part in a sequel, I doubt I'll be buying that either.

More, Please!

I absolutely adored this book and didn't want it to end! I hear there is to be a sequel and can not wait! The one drawback is the narrator. The sing-song tone of her voice can be grating and when she tries to do a Belgian accent I want to claw my eyes out. I don't even know how she arrived at psuedo-cockney-German = Belgian. My suggestion is to listen to the sample, if you can tolerate that give it a try. If not, get the paperback or ebook!

Maybe I read a different book.

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

Possibly, but with reservations.

What do you think your next listen will be?

that depends on my mood at the time.

What three words best describe Susan Duerden’s performance?

Good range, effort, quality

Was The Rook worth the listening time?

I found the book to be fairly trope ridden. If you are new to the genre it might seem fresh but if you have read alot in this genre it is pretty formulaic and not terribly orignal. The authors writing style was difficult to get into. You could tell that the narrarator had a hard time with this book.

Any additional comments?

A similar concept that is much better executed is Simon Greens Secret Histories series. I just didn't care for the author's writing style and the premise is cliched to the extreme. The narrator did the best she could with the material she had. I would definitely listen to another book narrarated by her.I read some of the other reviews comparing this book to the Dresden files. If you haven't read that series go get the books right now. Jim Butcher is an author of several magnitudes above this one.