Yeah, this book just didn't written for me at all. It felt like it went on and on and didn't have a clear plot. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Quintember pompously sees itself as an intellectual reimagining of the classic spy/assassin novel, filled with in jokes and cravenly circular logic.  Parts are clever and rather funny, but on the whole, Quintember is maddeningly self-absorbed drivel. There is not a coherent overarching plot, rather Richard Major meanders at will, moving from one disconnected situation to the next.  Quintember is definitely unusual, but being unusual doesn’t equal good, particularly when there is no coherent plot. The more I read, the more bizarre it became. Ultimately I closed the book at the 80% mark, feeling that I escaped a fate worse than death - boredom.


2 / 5


I received a copy of Quintember from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


-- Crittermom

Thank you Net Galley. This was a very enjoyable read. I laughed my head off. Looking forward to reading more of Mr. Major's work.

1 star

This book rattles on and on and the main character is not very entertaining. It wanders and the main character is full of himself. I couldn’t finish it. So sorry.

I want to thank NetGalley and Endeavour Press for forwarding to me a copy of this book to read.

Some very funny lines and the odd translation from the Latin that fill this overstuffed novel about a classics tutor who moonlight as a fixer for Britain's foreign office kept this former Latin student reading, but not long enough to get all the way through. The verbosity irritated at first, then killed my attention as the plot wandered and the hero's charm wore thin.