Charles Stross is an author to watch. I loved Saturn's
Children, and THE JENNIFER MORGUE shows another aspect
of Stross' amazing inventiveness. A truly fantastic book.
I have to say more than that, so I'll try and say THE
JENNIFER MORGUE is so good - which will be somewhat tricky
to do without gushing. The first is the setting, which is
based on the inspired concept that the cthulhu mythos of HP
Lovecraft is real, all the world's governments know about
it, and they've signed treaties with the Deep Ones to keep
the peace. Even worse, computers make remarkably good tools
for summoning up things that should best not be summoned up.
So the world's governments have set up agencies to monitor
unauthorized demonic programming, and to make sure that
nobody hacks off the Deep Ones. Toss into this inspired
setting a wonderfully geeky system- administrator turned
counter-intelligence agent for the lead, and tell the story
in a breezy style with tongue (and footnotes) planted
thoroughly in cheek, and you have a book that's hard to put
down, and leaves you wanting more. Which, thankfully, the
author provides in the form of a short story and an essay on
James Bond that had me in stitches.
THE JENNIFER MORGUE follows our hapless hero, Bob Howard, as
he finds himself sent up against one of the world's most
powerful industrialists, with no clue as to what he's doing
or why he was picked for the job. Before long, he's in the
caribbean, sipping martinis, hanging out in casinos in a
tuxedo, and partnered with a true femme fatale in a plot
that's starting to seem way too much like a Bond movie. And
then things start getting weird. Part Terry Pratchett, part
Robert Ludlum, part HP Lovecraft, part Ian Flemming, and all
Charles Stross -- and all fantastic.
Bob Howard, geekish demonology hacker extraordinaire for
“The Laundry,” must stop ruthless billionaire Ellis
Billington from unleashing an eldritch horror, codenamed
“Jennifer Morgue,” from the ocean’s depths for the purpose
of ruling the world…
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