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patchworkbunny's review
4.0
It all starts with a book. Liza prefers her books old and fusty but she must make do with the shiny editions at Fangtasm, her local fantasy and mystery bookstore. But when bookseller Jack sees a classified for a bookshop at 666 Charing Cross Road, she writes to them begging for some new old reading material. Amongst the paperbacks with lurid covers she received a slightly moldy tome that fills her with dread. Her beagle, Rufus, knows it's trouble but he's only a dog and everyone just thinks he's in a funny mood.
Meanwhile, Shelley has discovered an ancient effigy in the basement of the New York Museum of Outsider Art. She's busy arranging an exhibition around the strangely alluring and smelly artifact but her boyfriend, Daniel, is acting a bit odd. He's quite obsessed with her Aunt Liza's latest book and is turning into a bit of a jerk.
I quite liked the bookish nature of the characters and the war between old and new books could probably mirror the ongoing debate around paper versus digital. Although books are at the centre of the story, it's mostly a bit of fantasy fun, fighting evil and romances doomed to failure. It sort of felt like a cosy mystery with an edge (sex and blood included) and I'd be interested in reading Paul Magrs' Whitby based series.
The prologue is the same text as chapter 11 which I found a bit odd. I'm used to the storyline starting in the past and working its way up to the present as in the prologue but to repeat the text seems a bit odd. It does give you a deja vu feeling as you read, I can imagine more so if you're not reading in one sitting.
Meanwhile, Shelley has discovered an ancient effigy in the basement of the New York Museum of Outsider Art. She's busy arranging an exhibition around the strangely alluring and smelly artifact but her boyfriend, Daniel, is acting a bit odd. He's quite obsessed with her Aunt Liza's latest book and is turning into a bit of a jerk.
I quite liked the bookish nature of the characters and the war between old and new books could probably mirror the ongoing debate around paper versus digital. Although books are at the centre of the story, it's mostly a bit of fantasy fun, fighting evil and romances doomed to failure. It sort of felt like a cosy mystery with an edge (sex and blood included) and I'd be interested in reading Paul Magrs' Whitby based series.
The prologue is the same text as chapter 11 which I found a bit odd. I'm used to the storyline starting in the past and working its way up to the present as in the prologue but to repeat the text seems a bit odd. It does give you a deja vu feeling as you read, I can imagine more so if you're not reading in one sitting.
nixbix_reads's review
3.0
This was an interesting book. I enjoyed it, but it's not one where I wished for more time when i had to stop reading & go back to work. The action picked up in the second half of the book, but the ending fell a little flat.
gavreads's review
666 Charing Cross Road marks a slight departure for Paul Magrs. Actually, not a departure, more a branching off to a parallel road because if you’ve read any of his Brenda & Effie mysteries you’ll be away instantly. There is a new cast and a new country but it definitely has Magrs’s signatures all over it; feisty old women, a mystery and potential ‘end of the world’ events.
I always associate a Paul’s tales with layers of intertextuality, which can be a blessing and curse, as it’s a joy for informed readers and can become a sense of missing something if you’ve not read any of the associated works. But if you haven’t read Paul Magrs or his favourite stories you’re quite safe this time form that sense of missing out. Though if you’re a fan you might be expecting a bit more teasing and knowing winks.
It’s a hard balance to pull off as this could feel like Paul Magrs-lite especially as Paul is big on following through on consequences, as you’ll know if you’re read the Brend & Effie books. So having a blank slate and without those safety net associations it might not work.
Not to worry though as one of Paul’s other strengths is larger-than-life, emotionally diverse, characters and his cast of good guys Liza, Jack, Shelly and Bessie versus Daniel (Shelly’s boyfriend), and his growing army of vampires, play off each other like a damn good soap opera. Now to me this is proper paranormal romance though we won’t linger on that phrase.
I think what I really like about Paul’s writing is that the characters all feel alive even Daniel who turns from a not that nice stiff-upper-lipped Brit to a not very nice vampire but Shelly’s feelings for him and his actions as well as how he’s portrayed give him a proper villainous appeal. So much appeal that Shelly is still enthralled with him for most of the book.
I also like the speed and turns that Jack’s and his new-at-the-start-of-the-book boyfriend Riccardo’s relationship takes. It’s not all a positive portrayal but is telling and revealing. Though the star of the show is Liza, who not only is the catalyst for events, she is also the one that rolls up her leaves to tackle them. And I like her best of all because her past only gets hinted it at and gives her a lot of potential for other ‘adventures.’
Paul Magrs manages to bring something new to the vampire romance sub-genre focusing more on the must-stop-the-bad-boyfriend-from-taking-over-world element and less on the seduction into evil. Though several keys moments resolve around that seduction.
It wouldn’t be a Magr’s tale without plenty of humour and teasing and as usual, I think, he gets it spot on. Especially one key moment that involves the phrase “well fuck that for a game of soldiers!’ it being completely unexpected and having me giggling for ages.
I want to say this the same but different even if that does sound like a criticism. It’s not a wild departure from the kind of thing I’ve come to expect which is where the sameness comes from but it is different enough for them not to be Effie, Brenda and Robert with new close and new hair.
In fact it would be quite easy for the Liza, Shelly, Jack, Effie Brenda and Robert all to meet up and for their worlds to blend easily together (especially as two of them may have a very special connection) and if you had a dinning room scene you’d be able to tell at once who was talking from a transcript with their names left off.
The greatest compliment you can pay to a book I think is want to come back and see the characters again. And although it’s complete I can quite easily see them getting together easily to save the world again.
I always associate a Paul’s tales with layers of intertextuality, which can be a blessing and curse, as it’s a joy for informed readers and can become a sense of missing something if you’ve not read any of the associated works. But if you haven’t read Paul Magrs or his favourite stories you’re quite safe this time form that sense of missing out. Though if you’re a fan you might be expecting a bit more teasing and knowing winks.
It’s a hard balance to pull off as this could feel like Paul Magrs-lite especially as Paul is big on following through on consequences, as you’ll know if you’re read the Brend & Effie books. So having a blank slate and without those safety net associations it might not work.
Not to worry though as one of Paul’s other strengths is larger-than-life, emotionally diverse, characters and his cast of good guys Liza, Jack, Shelly and Bessie versus Daniel (Shelly’s boyfriend), and his growing army of vampires, play off each other like a damn good soap opera. Now to me this is proper paranormal romance though we won’t linger on that phrase.
I think what I really like about Paul’s writing is that the characters all feel alive even Daniel who turns from a not that nice stiff-upper-lipped Brit to a not very nice vampire but Shelly’s feelings for him and his actions as well as how he’s portrayed give him a proper villainous appeal. So much appeal that Shelly is still enthralled with him for most of the book.
I also like the speed and turns that Jack’s and his new-at-the-start-of-the-book boyfriend Riccardo’s relationship takes. It’s not all a positive portrayal but is telling and revealing. Though the star of the show is Liza, who not only is the catalyst for events, she is also the one that rolls up her leaves to tackle them. And I like her best of all because her past only gets hinted it at and gives her a lot of potential for other ‘adventures.’
Paul Magrs manages to bring something new to the vampire romance sub-genre focusing more on the must-stop-the-bad-boyfriend-from-taking-over-world element and less on the seduction into evil. Though several keys moments resolve around that seduction.
It wouldn’t be a Magr’s tale without plenty of humour and teasing and as usual, I think, he gets it spot on. Especially one key moment that involves the phrase “well fuck that for a game of soldiers!’ it being completely unexpected and having me giggling for ages.
I want to say this the same but different even if that does sound like a criticism. It’s not a wild departure from the kind of thing I’ve come to expect which is where the sameness comes from but it is different enough for them not to be Effie, Brenda and Robert with new close and new hair.
In fact it would be quite easy for the Liza, Shelly, Jack, Effie Brenda and Robert all to meet up and for their worlds to blend easily together (especially as two of them may have a very special connection) and if you had a dinning room scene you’d be able to tell at once who was talking from a transcript with their names left off.
The greatest compliment you can pay to a book I think is want to come back and see the characters again. And although it’s complete I can quite easily see them getting together easily to save the world again.
krisrid's review
3.0
I have read another of this author's books, and he does a good job writing slightly off-center paranormal fiction. I enjoyed most of this book.
The book is a vampire story - that's not a spoiler, it's right in the jacket description - but it's a bit unusual as there's very little of the typical, romantic, gauzy stuff you usually get. In fact, the story plays creepy and disturbing pretty much all the way through. But even so, there is the cheeky, quintessentially British gallows humour that only the British can do well on offer throughout the "end of the world is careening down the road at us at ninety miles an hour" stuff that goes on throughout this book. The humour definitely adds to the enjoyment of the story.
I also really liked the author's pacing. He gets you all whipped up and in a froth about the horrible things that are happening, and then he just shifts into seemingly mundane relationship stuff, or family stuff, or just "stuff" stuff and gives you a moment to catch your breath. But only a moment, because the monsters definitely have the upper hand throughout much of this book . . . or, do they?
The characters, as in other books by this author are VERY unique. They are full of pluck and weirdness and determination, whether they are working for good or for evil, and the cleverness in the way they are written really engages a reader with their story.
The plot is also very creative and I enjoyed it. The tone of this book is definitely more dark than your typical paranormal fiction, and although the ending left open the potential for continuing the story, this book did have a proper ending for this story, a big plus for me.
I would recommend this to readers of paranormal fiction who are more interested in a cleverly-conceived plot and interesting characters doing interesting - if potentially world-ending - things. There is no sex in this book, nor is there anything more than the most mild violence described. Even the small amounts of romance takes a backseat to the plot and the story about the battle between good and evil, and the twists and turns that battle takes.
The book is a vampire story - that's not a spoiler, it's right in the jacket description - but it's a bit unusual as there's very little of the typical, romantic, gauzy stuff you usually get. In fact, the story plays creepy and disturbing pretty much all the way through. But even so, there is the cheeky, quintessentially British gallows humour that only the British can do well on offer throughout the "end of the world is careening down the road at us at ninety miles an hour" stuff that goes on throughout this book. The humour definitely adds to the enjoyment of the story.
I also really liked the author's pacing. He gets you all whipped up and in a froth about the horrible things that are happening, and then he just shifts into seemingly mundane relationship stuff, or family stuff, or just "stuff" stuff and gives you a moment to catch your breath. But only a moment, because the monsters definitely have the upper hand throughout much of this book . . . or, do they?
The characters, as in other books by this author are VERY unique. They are full of pluck and weirdness and determination, whether they are working for good or for evil, and the cleverness in the way they are written really engages a reader with their story.
The plot is also very creative and I enjoyed it. The tone of this book is definitely more dark than your typical paranormal fiction, and although the ending left open the potential for continuing the story, this book did have a proper ending for this story, a big plus for me.
I would recommend this to readers of paranormal fiction who are more interested in a cleverly-conceived plot and interesting characters doing interesting - if potentially world-ending - things. There is no sex in this book, nor is there anything more than the most mild violence described. Even the small amounts of romance takes a backseat to the plot and the story about the battle between good and evil, and the twists and turns that battle takes.
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