I expected a lot from a Dr Who writer. Have I mentioned just how big of a Dr Who geek I am? No? Well, now you know. I expected ridiculous plotlines, outrageous characters, massive plot-holes and lots of running. Way too much running. Did I get my money’s worth! Oh yeah…
The Vesuvius Club is exactly what a Dr Who episode would have been if it were shown after watershed. The characters are all a bit dubious, the drugs and sexual content alive and kicking and the goriness is there to put you off your dinner. In other words, brilliant! I don’t think there is any part of this book that actually makes sense. Seriously, the whole thing is such a ridiculous mess you can’t help but just roll with it. Only the token lunatic acts as expected which says a lot!
In terms of style can I just point out how impressed I am by the fact that in every single fight or escape scene the reader can actually keep track of what is happening, which is by no means an easy feat! Just think back to the audiences of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the movie). How many of you were surrounded by people who during the Ministry battle were oohing and aaahhhing as this was the first time they actually knew what was going on? In the Vesuvius club all the action scenes were so well written you could actually afford to only read them once and still know what was happening!
At this point I have to say that this book would greatly benefit by a good editor. There are actual mistakes that just shouldn’t have made it through the edit process. Aside from the one anachronism I noticed which really shouldn’t have been there (for shame Mark, for shame…) there are some silly mistakes like the wrong use of name accidentally or describing that you can hear a girl’s skirts as she approaches only to find out she is wearing just a corset and stockings… Uhm, how..?
And yet, even while keeping in mind those little blunders this book was great fun, possibly for all the wrong reasons but there you have it! It is after all "A bit of fluff"...
Enjoyed: Oh yeah!
Read again: Sure!
335 days remaining – 9 books down, 91 left.
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