The Rook is the 2012 debut novel of author Daniel O’Malley. The story follows protagonist Myfanwy Thomas as she embarks in a desperate and tangled journey of trying to piece together her lost memory and look for the man who wanted her dead. Myfanwy works for an ultra secret agency of the British government that is tasked to police the supernatural side of Her Majesty‘s realm.
Is it Good?
Surprisingly, yes, yes it is!
It is action packed, with a heroine that is not at all “girly girly with lots of pink and ruffles”, which is most often the case for most fiction novels with a female on the lead.
Myfanwy Thomas could really kick ass!!!
Yes, the plot which narrates the adventure of a young woman who is a member of a secret government organization that battles threats to the national security by supernatural forces has already been done to death but the way the author wrote it is fresh and has depth.
It tackles the question, among others, if we lose all our memories are we still us, or another individual? Certainly something that gave me pause for a moment of serious contemplation there. It even begs us to ask ourselves “if we do not look human, are we still human?”
The way the author painted his story in vivid, almost garish, tones one moment and then in light earthy pastels the next makes it fresh and entertaining even for the most jaded readers, such as myself.
I would have preferred some parts of it to be rougher and grittier, but hey, i have a dark and troubled mind. But, for the rest of the general reading public out there, it would hit the right spot, like hot chocolate on a rainy day.
For me, the book is like a combination of the Matrix and the Dresden Files. Fast paced, easy to read and rich with details about a secret world that the author gave us a tantalizing glimpse of.
Read it! It’s worth it!
Ratings: 4.5
From the book jacket
“”The body you are wearing used to be mine.” So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her. She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.”
HUNI SA DAPLIN 