The Rook: A Novel

Daniel O'Malley's The Rook gives you one heck of a hook, there's no denying that. When your book's opening line is "The body you are wearing used to be mine," well, that's a great way to draw in your reader. And as we meet the woman living in the body of one Myfanwy (rhymes with "Tiffany," she explains) Thomas - and realize that she's awakened in this body while surrounded by a surprisingly large number of unconscious bodies - we realize that there's a whole lot going on here. Mind you, Myfanwy seemed to know that her mind was going, and has left a lot of letters behind to guide her body's new tenant. That's a fantastic setup for a book, but it only gets you so far - does The Rook have enough to hold up after that intro?Well, it depends. How do you feel about a secret government organization that dabbles in supernatural affairs, fights a group of genetically engineered Belgians, looks for oracular ducks,  has members with hive minds, and so much more? Because - and this is just speaking for myself - I had a blast with it.The Rook is absolutely bonkers at times, and I mean that in the best possible way. There's a tendency with first novels to be a bit overstuffed with ideas, as though the author is worried that this is their one chance at it all, and they've got to put everything in just in case they don't get another shot. And that definitely can be the case with The Rook, which is filled with digressions, odd tangents, bizarre side characters, and sometimes can feel meandering. But when all of those ingredients are so enjoyable and fun, who really cares? O'Malley has put together a wonderful secret world just below the surface of our own, and has packed it with oddities, nightmares, and the inexplicable - and also, views it all with a sense of humor and a realization that even with supernatural powers, people can still be clueless idiots.What that all adds up to is a book that defies easy categorization - it's got elements of science fiction, espionage, British comedy, action, horror, government thrillers, and so many other things, and yet in the end, it feels like nothing so much as it feels like itself. And that's something we don't get all that often. The overarching plot of the book is great - as the new Myfanwy tries to figure out who has betrayed her, and what it has to do with an invasion of nightmarish Belgian creations - but The Rook works because of how much O'Malley has invested in this world and the characters that populate. From the bizarre Gestalt (who has four bodies, but only one mind) to the dreamwalking Lady Farrier - and those are the most normal ones - O'Malley gives every single character proper time and depth, bringing them all to life in a variety of ways, and letting them be far more than just a unique power; instead, they're all figures of menace, wonder, and, yes, strangeness.The Rook has a strange structure for a novel, alternating chapters in which we follow the new Myfanwy as she navigates her new life and tries to figure out the threats around her with long letters from the original Myfanwy - letters that she's left for her successor (how she knew that she was going to lose her memory is part of the book's story). That can lead to the sense that O'Malley is tossing in massive exposition dumps frequently, or stopping the narrative flow that he's got going for these long tangents that don't quite go anywhere. That's not an unfair complaint to have, and there are times where The Rook can feel too loose. But every story builds out this world in such interesting ways, and more than that, there's the way that O'Malley is making the absent Myfanwy as much a character in the book as the new one - and contrasting the two so sharply - that I'm willing to forgive it. (Also, one of those letters gives the story about the oracular duck, which is so good that it could be a short story in of itself, and leave me deeply satisfied.)The Rook isn't flawless; even apart from that loose structure, O'Malley definitely falls into that trap of having his female characters spend too much time thinking about their own attractiveness and that of their friends. (It's not constant, at least; more than that, He does, thankfully, nicely avoid the trap of turning them into being defined by their desire for men. Indeed, there's almost no relationship drama at all in The Rook, which is nice.) But on the whole, The Rook, giving you more plot than your average novel - a conspiracy, a betrayal, a secret organization, supernatural powers, infiltration missions, and more - all while playing around in a world that's full of weirdness, wonder, and a surprising amount of idiocy. It's done with humor and a light touch, turning what could have been a grim story into something really fun and engaging. I had an absolute blast reading it - every digression, every tangent - and I'm glad there's more books to come, so I can come back to this wonderfully weird world.

Smart, funny, wry, clever, adventurous, unique & original!I HIGHLY recommend but only if you like really, really great books.You’re welcome.And I’m on to book 2!

Daniel O’Malley has a delightfully twisted mind, if The Rook may be taken as evidence.His vision of a secret organization, a well funded but little known part Her Majesty’s government, responsible for the control of the supernatural in Great Britain, is strange enough. Having his protagonist be a woman with amnesia, essentially waking up with no knowledge of who— or what— she may be, makes it stranger. Expecting her to be able to walk in to an executive position in said secret organization, with nothing but a series of notes written to her by, well, herself? The mind boggles.Except that Mr. O’Malley makes it, if not plausible (and it’s not), quite enjoyable. Myfanwy (it’s a Welsh name, and the protagonist admits that she has always mispronounced it) is a delightful protagonist, as she struggles with her memory loss, her use of her powers, and the emergence of her own personality, quite different from that of the Myfanwy she’s replaced.The author’s tongue is frequently in his cheek as he writes; readers who are humor-impaired had best seek elsewhere. However, the humor rarely devolves into farce, nor does it get in the way of a tale well told.

Actual rating 3.75 stars.This story had everything that I loved. The paranormal, a mystery, a strong female lead, a dry comic wit, interesting characters, a supernatural secret service, and plenty of weirdness. The biggest draw-back was its propensity to excessive info-dumping. In the form of diary entries, letters, re-tellings... and they went on for pages. You would get some sort of background information, flashback, or journal entry every 5 pages or so. It really bogged down the pacing of ‘The Rook,’ and frankly, had me losing interest many, many times. The subject matter was interesting and slightly relevant to the plot, but altogether longwinded and far too common in the narrative. I feel like this novel could have been 150pages shorter and been one heck of a read.Consequently I had started this novel twice and abandoning it before getting 50 pages in because it was, well ... scattered. At my third attempt, I pushed through as many pages as I could before I was again bombarded with all-too-many info-dumps. It wasn’t until I got just passed the halfway point (pg 260 or thereabouts) that I felt like the plot had a direction and a driving force for protagonist Myfanwy and pulled the story into focus.I have a bit of a thing with amnesia as a storytelling device. It’s an overused trope and can either be executed poorly, or brilliantly. Thankfully ‘The Rook’ falls into the latter category. This wasn’t a ‘I bumped my head and my memories are slowly coming back’ type plot, but a part of a paranormal mystery.Daniel O’Malley has a quaint writing style with a dry sense of humour. He has a gorgeous way of painting a picture for character descriptions, and I thoroughly enjoyed – and got lost – in the narrative. Again, my only grip is – edit! Edit lots! I’m uncertain if all the information we get in ‘The Rook’ was relevant to the storyline. Is all that superfluous information going to be resolved in the sequel ‘Stilletto,’ or was it just that Daniel was so immersed in the world of ‘The Rook’ that all the details felt like they were important?The paranormal powers were so imaginative, scary and hilarious. So many obtuse and unique abilities to rival the X-Men.There are a lot of characters in ‘The Rook’ too. Even with all the copious explanations and backstories, I didn’t start to identify all the cast separately until after the halfway point.The main plot of the story is that Myfanwy is basically an impostor, impersonating her pre-amnesia self as the timid paranormal agent (or rook) and discover the identity of which of her workmates was responsible for the attack. An attack which was a failed murder attempt. It is all about deduction, investigation, and following instinct; not to mention dealing with all the strangeness of the paranormal around her. Working out who to trust. ‘The Rook’ is definitely up there as one of my favourite reads.The characters are all colourful and fully realised – how can they not be with all the narrative O’Malley dedicates to each. The storyline is intriguing and was the driving force in me picking up this title. At 482 pages long – and the formatting is at a maximum to fit a lot of words on each page without it looking crowded means this is a long book. Which brings me back to the pacing… ‘The Rook’ felt waaaay too long.But when all is said and done, O’Malley has written a marvellous novel and I will definitely be continuing on with the series, I’ve since seen the television show adaptation (airing on Hulu or Starz depending on your location.)I’d love to recommend this novel to all, but knowing the issues I had with the pacing, I don’t think everyone will have the patience to see it through to the end. But if you can handle a slower paced story and love paranormal detective stories, then ‘The Rook’ has a lot to offer.

I staggered to the end, probably because I'm an optimist! The idea could work, even have been good, but the execution is crap. So many opportunities for creating real interest, complex characters and relationships, and sympathy (at least) if not empathy with the protagonist have been completely bypassed. Add in that - despite the 45 yr old englishman who comments in the 1star range! - words and phrases like row house, check account, purse, elevator, beverage, and various other are not common in English, as opposed to American, and you have an irritating novel. Obviously there's a sequel, shall not be reading it. If you're satisfied with childish and unexplained, surface-level plots, cardboard 2D characters, and gratuitous violence then this is your book.

From the first page, I was gripped. Great characterisation and a really unusual premise: that you have woken up with no idea about who you are, plus a marvellous investigation - finding out what happened to the person who previously had your body as well as who and WHY did someone 'kill' her. I've read this several times now and do feel the poor reviews are more about people being unpleasant rather than genuinely helpful. It's a great book. I couldn't wait for the second book to come out and thoroughly enjoyed that also. I couldn't believe how well he 'got' a female persona. When Mr O'Malley writes another book, I'll be buying it. He's a terrific storyteller. Love it.

Myfanwy Thomas wakes up in a London park surrounded by bodies, with no memory of who she is, or how she got there. She needs to find out in a hurry, as unknown people are trying to kill her. She has three advantages: letters from her previous hyper-efficient self explaining the situation, a senior position in a sinister secret organisation, and superpowers no-one believes she can use.It is difficult to categorise this, but I enjoyed this immensely. The puzzle of what is going on, explained in turns by the letters and Myfanwy’s own investigations, is interesting. The sarcastic tone of the protagonist as she encounters her colleagues’ attitude to her previous timid self, and the increasingly bizarre situations and revelations, make this in turns intriguing, a little scary, very funny, and occasionally a bit gross (in a good way).The single off note for me is that this is written in the third person, but from the style I kept feeling it should be first person. But I assume the author knows best.Just as I was finishing this, I was delighted to discover a sequel had just been published. Reader, I bought it. On the one hand, I don’t have to wait the five years that readers who discovered The Rook in 2012 have had to wait. On the other hand, can O’Malley keep up the clever and bizarre content? I do hope so.

The Rook is a top notch, rattling good yarn told at a cracking pace - and adult Harry Potter meets MI5 thriller written with a deft and wry humour and an excellent plot. Love the device that links the old timid My-Fanny with the new kick-ass My-Fanny. Great female lead with a lovely relationship between Myfanwy and Ingrid. The story is seamless with flawless continuity and great action scenarios. Truly enjoyed it and here's hoping that the ending allows our heroine to come back as a Bishop is another thrilling tale. I have one niggle and it arises from my geographical location on the island of Ireland. The constant use of the term the "British Isles" as an administrative and political entity grates; and naturally London is the centre to the Universe. At one stage Myfanwy is described as the "Herald of Eire", whatever that is. "Eire" is a Gaelic word that means encumbrance or burden - perhaps that's what was meant. The correct term is Éire in Gaelic but in the English language it's "Ireland". I don't understand why the English do this. You'd think a bloke called O'Malley would know better. They don't say Deutschland, they say Germany. They don't say Nippon, they say Japan. Anyway, rant over - it doesn't take away from a cracking book, loved it. More please.

This took me two attempts to really get into, but it definitely repaid the effort.The main character wakes up with complete amnesia, surrounded by corpses all wearing latex gloves. She doesn't remember who she is, or anything about why this might have happened, and therefore has to deal with these twin problems.This was partly what delayed my really getting into the book at first; it's quite hard to feel any kind of connection to a person who doesn't know who she is (and also, to be fair, initially didn't seem to be the sort of person I'd go out for a drink with). However, persistence paid off, and although I probably wouldn't go on holiday with the main character, I would probably go so far as a couple of after-work drinks - though the office I work in is less interesting than hers.The story itself is a romp. One never really doubts that Rook Thomas will win through (apart from anything else, the fact that it's Book 1 of a series can be regarded as a Clue), but the fun is in trying to work out how she will do it - and who, exactly, was responsible for what ended up as a ring of corpses wearing latex gloves.There are some really funny parts (the bit with the duck, for instance) and some creepy bits (you'll figure that out). There are also some thought-provoking parts: if someone wipes your memories, is the person who wakes up in your head you, or somebody else?This is a book to enjoy when you want mind-candy, but you don't mind finding tentacles in it.