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The Rook

A Novel

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The Rook

Written by: Daniel O'Malley
Narrated by: Susan Duerden
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About this listen

 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 Adventure Espionage Fantasy Science Fiction Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense Fiction Paranormal Exciting Funny Witty Suspense

What the critics say

"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
All stars
Most Relevant
This book is amazing!!!! Easily my favourite book I’ve listened to in quite awhile, I couldn’t put it down! I can’t say much about without giving away spoilers, but if your on the fence about buying this book, I would 100% recommend it!

Best book I’ve listened to in quite awhile.

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This is my favourite book. I’ve listened to it multiple times. The storyline is well thought out and fun. Starting with the main character standing in the rain surrounded by bodies, with no memory.

It’s great fun to read how she then tries to piece a life together with all the strange happenings. I don’t want to give anything away.. I just love the story.

Love it

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I enjoyed both the storey and the reader, I’ll be looking for other books by this author.

Enjoyed!

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I was referred to this book by someone, and it is quite different from what I would usually find myself listening to or reading. Despite that, I found it to be an interesting story with a unique premise. Furthermore, the narrator does an amazing job of giving all the characters their own unique presence.
great production overall

Good book with a great narrator

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A woman suddenly comes into consciousness in a park, surrounded by dozens of dead people all wearing blue latex gloves. She has no memory of how she got there, or how they got there, or even what her name is.

Luckily for her, the person who was in possession of her body last wrote her a letter and left it in her pocket. It explains that her name is Myfanwy Thomas and that she is in danger. The previous owner of the body when to a lot of trouble to prepare her predecessor for what is to come, and it is this way that Myfanwy is able to escape the scene until she can wrap her head around what to do.

Her letter goes on to tell her that she is a Rook to the Checquy group, a supernatural secret agent type organization that was designed to protect the citizens of the UK. It gives her a brief run down of what has happened to her the past few months, and explains that she must quickly make a decision. She has provided two possible lifes for this new Myfanwy to live if she so chooses. One in her old life in the organization, even though it will be dangerous as there is clearly at least one traitor in the place trying to kill her; or she can simply escape the country, assume a brand new identity and live a simple but comfortable life.

Guess which one she picks. Wouldn't be much of a story if she went for the simple life!

Myfanwy provided a very vast and detailed explanation of her day to day life, which comprised pretty much entirely of her job. It's enough that she is able to return to work with no suspicion from her other colleagues, so she is able to try and figure out who the mole is.

It was really interesting to watch Myfanwy try to impersonate herself, although clearly she wasn't doing a great job. The current Myf is sarcastic and dry, judging the crap out of her predecessor, and it was very entertaining to read. It was much relief to a lot of the world building that happened. The author used the letters for this purpose, which was smart because there was a lot to get through. It was tedious at times, and I think that is where the audiobook really saved the day for me. The narrator was fantastic, and was able to interpret the different personalities of the two Myfanwy's so well.

I am not the biggest fan of supernatural beings in the real world as a type of story, but I enjoyed this story very much. Lots of action and adventure and sass. My kind of book.

Myfanwy-like-Tiffany

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I was looking forward to this book based on the reviews but I have to say it was one of the worst books I’ve listened to in a long time. Writing was poor, story was weak and the only thing I was looking forward to was it to be over.

Not sure what other reviewers saw

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