Blitz: A Novel

Blitz: A Novel

by Daniel O'Malley

Narrated by Moira Quirk

Unabridged — 28 hours, 36 minutes

Blitz: A Novel

Blitz: A Novel

by Daniel O'Malley

Narrated by Moira Quirk

Unabridged — 28 hours, 36 minutes

Audiobook (Digital)

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Overview

In this historical fantasy, a new recruit to the most powerful supernatural intelligence agency on Earth is accused of going rogue-and must go on the run to clear her name.

September, 1940. Three women of the Checquy, the secret organization tasked with protecting Britain from supernatural threats, stand in the sky above London and see German aircraft approach. Forbidden by law to interfere, all they can do is watch as their city is bombed. Until Pamela, the most sensible of them, breaks all the rules and brings down a Nazi bomber with her bare hands. The three resolve to tell no one about it, but they soon learn that a crew member is missing from the downed bomber. Charred corpses are discovered in nearby houses and it becomes apparent that the women have unwittingly unleashed a monster.
*
Through a city torn by the Blitz, the friends must hunt the enemy before he kills again. Their task will take them from the tunnels of the Underground to the halls of power, where they will discover the secrets that a secret organization must keep even from itself.
*
Today. Lynette Binns, a librarian with a husband and child, is a late recruit to the Checquy, having discovered only as an adult her ability to electrify everyday objects with her touch. After completing her training, she is assigned to examine a string of brutal murders and quickly realizes that all bear the unmistakable hallmark of her own unique power. Unable to provide an alibi and determined to prove her innocence, she flees, venturing into the London underworld to find answers. But now she is prey, being tracked by her own frighteningly capable comrades.
*
As Lyn fights off powered thugs and her own vengeful colleagues, she will find that the solution to the murders and to the mystery of her own past lies in the events of World War II, and the covert actions of three young women during the Blitz.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Blitz:

“With a relaxed style and array of fun characters, including an agent who makes people who look at him see their mother and a baby goat that turns into a little boy, O’Malley's latest will appeal to his many followers.”—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Daniel O’Malley and the Rook Files series:

"Laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally bawdy, and paced like a spy thriller replete with chases, betrayals, and tragedies. There is slime, there is heartbreak, and there are wardrobe malfunctions... Fear not, dear reader: Daniel O'Malley's in charge, and the Checquy Files are in masterful hands."—Joyce Sáenz Harris, Dallas Morning News

“Satisfying and spellbinding.”—Charlaine Harris

"Utterly convincing and engrossing—totally thought-through and frequently hilarious. The writing is confident and fully fledged. Even this aging, jaded, attention-deficit-disordered critic was blown away."—Lev Grossman, Time

“Devilishly funny… O'Malley raises the action, monsters and witticisms to new levels… This ambitious romp reads like X-Men meets Supernatural as narrated by Jasper Fforde, only funnier.”—Jaclyn Fulwood, Shelf Awareness

“The pace never lets up in this entertaining high-action read… O’Malley has fashioned a near-perfect supernatural thriller… Something unexpected happens on almost every page. 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

Kirkus Reviews

2022-08-06
In the third installment of the Rook Files series, new recruits to secret supernatural protection agency the Checquy, all of them women, contend with Nazi killers.

Alternating between 1940 and the present, the book opens during the London Blitz. Three young Checquy agents with special powers are "standing" in the sky 10,000 feet above the beleaguered city—one of them has the ability to alter gravity—when a Nazi bomber comes into view. Violating strict rules against interfering with normal military operations (as opposed to warding off supernatural enemies), the headstrong Pamela breaks away from her cohorts and causes the plane to implode by sending a ferocious pulse through it. The women assume everyone aboard perished, but a crew member survives and subsequently goes on a killing spree down in London. Pamela and Usha, both apprentices, and Bridget, a fully-fledged Pawn, must track him down before he kills again—and Pamela's illicit actions are revealed. Decades later, a librarian named Lyn has her life as a wife and mother upended after a freak fire in her kitchen proves to be a manifestation of her long-dormant electrical powers. Recruited by the Checquy and trained in a hidden island academy, she is sent into the field, where she herself becomes wanted for murder based on brandinglike effects on the victims. With a relaxed style and array of fun characters, including an agent who makes people who look at him see their mother and a baby goat that turns into a little boy, O'Malley's latest will appeal to his many followers. Other readers may grow impatient with the time he spends in setup and background modes. After the nifty opening scene, nothing much happens for a good half of the book's nearly 700 pages.

An entertaining but overstuffed fantasy.

Product Details

BN ID: 2940176387247
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publication date: 10/18/2022
Series: Rook Files , #3
Edition description: Unabridged
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