The Rook: A Novel (The Rook Files, 1) Paperback – October 16, 2012

Some have said that The Rook was impossible to put down. I, on the other hand, had to put it down occasionally. The Rook is one of those books that is so absorbing that it invades your dreams, but so intense that you don't really want it to. Who am I kidding? For intense, read gross, but gross in that gloriously over-the-top way that the first Ghostbusters movie was gross. And Mr. O'Malley does it through the power of his prose without benefit of special effects. For this reason I would recommend The Rook to even the most squeamish individual. The writing is seamless and unselfconsciously excellent, conveying the characters of both Myfanwys with style. Mr. O'Malley does an outstanding job creating Myfanwy's unique and believable persona through the third person narrative and her earlier incarnation's voice through the communications left for her successor. It doesn't take long before the reader is committed to unravelling the mystery within the Chequy with the same passion as both Myfanwys.One of the things that most impresses me about this first novel is how convincingly Mr. O'Malley manages to create a feminine voice for Myfanwy. I think it's almost a commonplace for women authors to write from both the male and female POV, but for a male author to nail so many of the markers that identify a female character without falling into stereotype or excess is a major accomplishment. One of the highlights for me was how beautifully Mr. O'Malley develops Myfanwy's relationships with women friends, family and colleagues. He seems to totally get the sisterhood thing.Mr. O'Malley devotes as much care to his most minor characters as he does to his title character. He paints even his miniature portraits in precise strokes, defining character with actions and dialogue; the only "telling" he does is entirely consistent with the novel's dual PsOV. His world building combines the fantastic and mundane to create a milieu that hides a terrifying edge beneath the ordinary. Fighting the supernatural on Great Britain's behalf apparently does not lead to niceness in many forms--no warm fuzzies need apply--yet the novel manages to avoid the sturm und drang that over-angsts many fantasies. Humor is probably the key to avoiding this pitfall. While some of the humor is visual and situational, the best bits come from Myfanwy's own wry perceptions regarding her fellow chess pieces, the organization's allies and enemies, and the innocents who make up the general population. I mean, you've gotta love a woman who greets a potential betrayer with "You look like sex in boots." If there is a flaw, it is perhaps that there is little explanation of the nature of the supernatural itself in the world of The Rook. I always like to know the logical (or not) underpinnings of the strange in whatever I'm reading, but in this case I may just be greedy for more book.Although The Rook is satisfyingly complete in itself, i.e., not a #%*$&! cliffhanger, there are sufficient possibilities left unexplored or slightly unresolved to leave the greedy reader with hope that Mr. O'Malley and Myfanwy will be back. To which I say: Yeah!

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.