The Rook Book Review

Category: Apple Blossom-a story that seduces you

Genre: Fiction

The Rook, The Rook, how to best tell you about this book. I’d say The Rook is like Men in Black, where a group of covert operatives protect the world from supernatural evil forces, but then I’d be leaving out the chess. I’d say The Rook is like What Alice Forgot, where a woman wakes up with no memory of who she is or what her life was before, but then I’d be leaving out that this woman happens to be one of the mostly highly-trained operatives with one of the most formidable powers. I’d say The Rook is like that scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix where Hermione pretends to be Bellatrix Lestrange in order to gain access to Voldemort’s crew and secret base, but that would only make sense if Hermione was actually a follower of You-Know-Who and had to pretend she was the closest ally of He-Shall-Not-Be-Named so as not to be killed but a fellow follower. Are you following me? Probably not. Intrigued? I hope so.

This book will not disappoint. O’Malley keeps the pages turning as he holds you on the tense edge of familiar and enthralls you with adversaries that you can’t help but root for. You get a kick-butt heroine in Myfanwy (yes Myfanwy, pronounced “Tiffany”) as she gains understanding of the woman she was through letters written by her former self and comes to terms with the woman she is as she decides to ditch the timidity and fight head to head with her peers to find the mole within the super-secret Checquy (sorry, can’t help you here. Could be Che-qwee or Che-kay or Che-qway). The good news is that if you make it to the end, O’Malley supplies you with a list of further reading by other authors he enjoyed. Also, before you read, consider checking out The Rook playlist (also found at the back of the book) so you can get in the mood as you read!