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Book Review: Angelmaker, by Nick Harkaway
Jan. 3rd, 2014 12:09 pmNick Harkaway stamps his "AWESOME! ™" brand on lesbian James Bonds and evil clockwork bees.
Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, 482 pages
( Never mind, never mind, let's get to the part where we smite the unrighteous. I've brought my most alarming teeth! )
Verdict: This book is AWESOME! ™, which is Nick Harkaway's signature writing shtick, and if the monkey-ninja-pirates brand of world-saving adventure appeals to you, Angelmaker, while lacking monkeys, ninjas, or pirates, does have evil monks, clockwork doomsday bees, stylish gangsters, a mustache-twirling supervillain with a god complex, and a ninety-year-old ex-secret agent with a ferocious pug. And some damn fine writing in a spirit of high adventure and political satire.
Also by Nick Harkaway: My review of The Gone-Away World.
My complete list of book reviews.
Alfred A. Knopf, 2012, 482 pages
Joe Spork repairs clocks, a far cry from his late father, a flashy London gangster. But when Joe fixes one particularly unusual device, his life is suddenly upended. Joe's client, Edie Banister, is more than just a kindly old lady - she's a former superspy. And the device? It's a 1950s doomsday machine. And having triggered it, Joe now faces the wrath of both the government and a diabolical South Asian dictator, Edie's old arch-nemesis.
With Joe's once-quiet world now populated with mad monks, psychopathic serial killers, scientific geniuses, girls in pink leather, and threats to the future of conscious life in the universe, he realizes that the only way to survive is to muster the courage to fight, help Edie complete a mission she gave up years ago, and pick up his father's old gun.
( Never mind, never mind, let's get to the part where we smite the unrighteous. I've brought my most alarming teeth! )
Verdict: This book is AWESOME! ™, which is Nick Harkaway's signature writing shtick, and if the monkey-ninja-pirates brand of world-saving adventure appeals to you, Angelmaker, while lacking monkeys, ninjas, or pirates, does have evil monks, clockwork doomsday bees, stylish gangsters, a mustache-twirling supervillain with a god complex, and a ninety-year-old ex-secret agent with a ferocious pug. And some damn fine writing in a spirit of high adventure and political satire.
Also by Nick Harkaway: My review of The Gone-Away World.
My complete list of book reviews.
