I love Simon R. Greens books. However I have continued to prefer his Nightside books over his other series' and this book follows that pattern, Definitely still worth reading but not my favorite.

“Call me Ishmael. Ishmael Jones.”

The first line of this book is a silly joke; a play on possibly one of the most famous openings in the most famous book that most people have never read and arguably the most famous spy of them all. Whatever its intent it immediately made me smile and expect a slightly whimsical and irreverent book. Which is pretty much what I got. 

Sent to investigate a rogue agent who may have valuable information our hero heads to Ringstone Lodge in Yorkshire where Parker (the mysterious agent) is being held. There follows a fairly classic “who-dunnit” with a supernatural twist. The style is light but touches all the right notes, there are no forced red-herrings or unrealistically stupid people (there are stupid people, but their stupidity is perfectly in character), the main characters are cute in a non-nauseating way. 

There isn’t really anything I can point to that is wrong with this book. Except the slightly bothersome fact that I guessed the ending about a third of the way in. But actually that didn’t really bother me to much because I enjoyed reading it. Sometimes you don’t need to be stunned, sometimes just making sense is enough as long as the characters and how the resolution happens are good enough. In this particular book they are. Ishmael (the narrator) is clever, sarcastic and a bit of an enigma but all the other characters get their moments too. They are only one dimensional if they need to be, and while I can see where Penny could get annoying if she doesn’t get a little more depth she is funny and charming in her own right.

Charming is probably the best way I could describe this book. It didn’t blow me away but it certainly left me wanting to read the next instalment.

Lucy

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

"The Avengers" Steed and Peel Recast by Simon Green

First off, I will always give a Simon Green book a try. His John Taylor "Nightside" series is pure fabulous. After that, to me, it's the Droods, this series, "Deathstalker", and then the execrable "Ghost Finders" series. This series is low enough on that list that I go in with my eyes open. Take what pleasures you will, but don't get your hopes up.

And there are pleasures. Our hero, Ishmael Jones, repeats himself from book to book, and within each book, even though most of his backstory consists of his refusal to disclose the details of his backstory. The plot is telegraphed from a mile away, and probably won't come close to satisfying fans of actual, twisty murder mysteries, (country house, locked room, or otherwise). The supernatural angle is usually just a spicy suggestion, although that does vary from book to book.

So, where's this pleasure I mentioned? Well, think back to Steed and Peel from the old "Avengers" TV show. The plots of those episodes were almost laughable. ("Venusian Society" anyone?) But, they were wildly entertaining and even now I screen them with some fondness. Steed and Peel were an amusing team, as are Ishmael and Penny. There is some snappy dialogue and cross-talk, and an oddly engaging underlying romantic chemistry. Incidental characters can be interesting, and our hero's conversations with them can be sly, snarky, cryptic, humorous, or loaded with threat and portent. There are touches of "The Prisoner" in Ishmael's situation, (especially given the spy-in-from-the-cold theme of this book), and that adds another dark and slightly other-worldly element to the mix, as well as a claustrophobic and trapped flavor.

The bottom line is that I enjoy these as non-mysterious mysteries. I enjoy the characters, even when they repeat themselves. I like the mood, atmosphere and settings. I like watching Ishmael swagger about, being ego checked by Penny. I enjoy Green's style and approach, and his entire "Nightside-style" approach. If I had to list the Green books on a most fun to least fun scale I'd come up with the same list I mentioned at the top of this review. So maybe that's the actual bottom line - still fun.

(Please note that I received a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)