Review: Quirky, Fast-Paced and Fun
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 16, 2010
This is a book that catches you by surprise again, and again.  At it's base, it's a plot about murder and some pretty vicious characters used to getting their way.  But there are subtle romantic threads woven in and out of the story.  We have Nigel, who morphs from John Cleese to a sort of rumpled buffoon, and then to other things as well.  There are are crazy women of more than one stripe - some very loud, and some just involved in things over their heads.Alice Harte only wants out of a bad job, and the chance to get away - preferably to England.  Her employer is a sociopath who has no intention of releasing her from her employment contract.  He has his evil cohorts and a lineup of judges, lawyers, crazy women and thugs arrayed against her, and that's not the best part.The best part is that every time the book feels as if it's fallen down a rabbit hole and gone silly...it's only dropping down a roller-coaster hill to rush back up the other side.The Alice in Wonderland references are woven in cleverly, bringing smiles when a heavier hand might have made them jarring.  In short, this is a whimsical, funny, sometimes tense novel with a fast pace and a satisfying conclusion.  Highly recommended...David Niall WilsonThe Orffyreus WheelThe Mote in Andrea's Eye