What do you think?
Rate this book
White Rabbit
Sometimes the shadows that haunt us
are what lead us back to the light
Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
Best Selling Crime Writer, Richard & Judy Summer Read Winner James Oswald on White Rabbit:
‘Being a fan of mashing up genres myself, I was of course delighted to see someone else playing fast and loose with things. The central idea of the story – a real psychic pretending to be a fake – is delicious, too. The mystery was deftly played with just the right balance of action and character interplay to keep me turning the pages. The seedy side of London is nicely worked as well – not too threatening, as befits the style of book, but still gritty enough. The cast of supporting characters are nicely drawn, too. Kate writes with a fluid, easy to read style.’
are what lead us back to the light
Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
Best Selling Crime Writer, Richard & Judy Summer Read Winner James Oswald on White Rabbit:
‘Being a fan of mashing up genres myself, I was of course delighted to see someone else playing fast and loose with things. The central idea of the story – a real psychic pretending to be a fake – is delicious, too. The mystery was deftly played with just the right balance of action and character interplay to keep me turning the pages. The seedy side of London is nicely worked as well – not too threatening, as befits the style of book, but still gritty enough. The cast of supporting characters are nicely drawn, too. Kate writes with a fluid, easy to read style.’
182 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
K.A. Laity
77 books114 followersProfessional dilettante, arcane artist, all-purpose writer, Fulbrighter, uberskiver, medievalist, Sister in Crime, History Witch at Pagan Square, Pirate Pub Captain ☠ currently anchored in Dundee, Scotland · http://www.kalaity.com
Works include WHITE RABBIT, EXTRICATE, the HARD-BOILED WITCH series, A CUT-THROAT BUSINESS, LUSH SITUATION, OWL STRETCHING, CHASTITY FLAME, UNQUIET DREAMS, ROOK CHANT, PELZMANTEL, DREAM BOOK, CON-EIRE as well as editor of MY WANDERING UTERUS, DRAG NOIR, WEIRD NOIR and NOIR CARNIVAL. Writer of a wide variety of stories, essays, plays, and humour pieces. Also writes as Kit Marlowe (historical romance) & Graham Wynd (noir). Music as Victoria Squid & Higora,
Works include WHITE RABBIT, EXTRICATE, the HARD-BOILED WITCH series, A CUT-THROAT BUSINESS, LUSH SITUATION, OWL STRETCHING, CHASTITY FLAME, UNQUIET DREAMS, ROOK CHANT, PELZMANTEL, DREAM BOOK, CON-EIRE as well as editor of MY WANDERING UTERUS, DRAG NOIR, WEIRD NOIR and NOIR CARNIVAL. Writer of a wide variety of stories, essays, plays, and humour pieces. Also writes as Kit Marlowe (historical romance) & Graham Wynd (noir). Music as Victoria Squid & Higora,
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 13, 2014
As I neared the end of this book, I was undecided whether this would be a four-star or five-star rating. The last line made the choice for me. All my star are belong to Laity.
This story had me going from the beginning. It has so much stuff I love! Noir-ishness? Yes. A drug-addled, sort-of-a-bastard narrator? Oh yes. Real-world romance as opposed to the impossible easy-love of hack-written fiction? Yes. A silent, gentle giant character? Yes. Smatterings of supernatural? Signs point to Yes. (See what I did there?)
I'll most definitely be scooping up anything I can find of this author's writing, and shoving it right into my brain-holes. Sharpish.
This story had me going from the beginning. It has so much stuff I love! Noir-ishness? Yes. A drug-addled, sort-of-a-bastard narrator? Oh yes. Real-world romance as opposed to the impossible easy-love of hack-written fiction? Yes. A silent, gentle giant character? Yes. Smatterings of supernatural? Signs point to Yes. (See what I did there?)
I'll most definitely be scooping up anything I can find of this author's writing, and shoving it right into my brain-holes. Sharpish.
August 19, 2014
White Rabbit centers around Draygo. He is an addict, clairvoyant, charlatan, and ex cop. Draygo has a very real connection to the ethereal realm he just doesn't particularly want to participate in it. It's easier to use tricks and trade secrets he learned from his Aunt to create an illusion rather than actually speak with the dead. Draygo is focused on getting by the easiest way possible with the least amount of headaches or actual participation in the real world. Our reluctant hero is at the heart of this paranormal noir tale. It it is told from his first person narrative. This is both beautiful and dysfunctional for a variety of reasons. K.A. Laity was true to her main character. It is what made the second half of the book great and the first half extremely difficult to immerse yourself in.
The novel is centered around a detective, a dead femme fatale, and a hard-nosed female reporter. While Draygo is a disgraced ex-cop, he by no means is a hard-boiled detective. He's all over the place and engages in a fair bit of self-pity. Due to the amount of 'Dust,' narcotics and alcohol he consumes, he is rarely in an unaltered state. Our femme fatale was the wife of a high profile gangster running the tabloid scene. She gets murdered by her own bodyguards in Draygo's house while he is communing with the dead on her behalf. He gets framed for it. She remains with Draygo as an unwelcome spirit that pesters him incessantly to find out what the White Rabbit is and why it got her killed. Is the white rabbit a drug, an organization, and what is causing the dead to go into a frenzy of fear? It was a nice twist to have murder victim be a main character haunting our character from the other side. It is set in the underbelly of an alternate London. Draygo introduces us to his bartenders, prostitutes, and illegal pharmacists as he tracks the white rabbit with Saunders. Saunders is the female reporter that turns up on Draygo's doorstep immediately after he is sprung from prison on bail. She wants the story of the White Rabbit and she pokes and prods Draygo into investigating in the real world at the same time our dead trophy wife is pestering him to do so in the ethereal realm.
The first half of the novel was hard to engage in. K. A. Laity's narrator is Draygo. He talks in a constant stream of slang, jargon, and references to books, movies, and songs. Some of it is explained and some I knew, but a large amount I believe will be missed by the average reader. It became a distraction from the storyline and at one point I considered abandoning the book. I'm glad I didn't. The story in the second half becomes much more focused and enjoyable. The concept is wonderful. I believe the references, slang, and tangents were part of the character building. The character is a mess. It makes sense, since he is the narrator, that the book would be frenetic and a bit cluttered . As he weans himself off the 'dust' his mind becomes more focused and the story became more clear. As a device, I can respect what the author did, but I'm not sure I liked it. I, personally, would not have picked up on this if I had not finished the book, and it made it hard for me to connect with the book. I want to make the distinction because I do not believe the book is poorly written.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I liked the concept. I enjoyed the combination of noir and paranormal. It is a short, complex, and fun read. I would recommend you give it a chance. You will know if you want to finish the book or if you want to abandon it in the first few chapters. I would definitely read another book by K. A. Laity.
I received this book from Fox Spirit Books and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The novel is centered around a detective, a dead femme fatale, and a hard-nosed female reporter. While Draygo is a disgraced ex-cop, he by no means is a hard-boiled detective. He's all over the place and engages in a fair bit of self-pity. Due to the amount of 'Dust,' narcotics and alcohol he consumes, he is rarely in an unaltered state. Our femme fatale was the wife of a high profile gangster running the tabloid scene. She gets murdered by her own bodyguards in Draygo's house while he is communing with the dead on her behalf. He gets framed for it. She remains with Draygo as an unwelcome spirit that pesters him incessantly to find out what the White Rabbit is and why it got her killed. Is the white rabbit a drug, an organization, and what is causing the dead to go into a frenzy of fear? It was a nice twist to have murder victim be a main character haunting our character from the other side. It is set in the underbelly of an alternate London. Draygo introduces us to his bartenders, prostitutes, and illegal pharmacists as he tracks the white rabbit with Saunders. Saunders is the female reporter that turns up on Draygo's doorstep immediately after he is sprung from prison on bail. She wants the story of the White Rabbit and she pokes and prods Draygo into investigating in the real world at the same time our dead trophy wife is pestering him to do so in the ethereal realm.
The first half of the novel was hard to engage in. K. A. Laity's narrator is Draygo. He talks in a constant stream of slang, jargon, and references to books, movies, and songs. Some of it is explained and some I knew, but a large amount I believe will be missed by the average reader. It became a distraction from the storyline and at one point I considered abandoning the book. I'm glad I didn't. The story in the second half becomes much more focused and enjoyable. The concept is wonderful. I believe the references, slang, and tangents were part of the character building. The character is a mess. It makes sense, since he is the narrator, that the book would be frenetic and a bit cluttered . As he weans himself off the 'dust' his mind becomes more focused and the story became more clear. As a device, I can respect what the author did, but I'm not sure I liked it. I, personally, would not have picked up on this if I had not finished the book, and it made it hard for me to connect with the book. I want to make the distinction because I do not believe the book is poorly written.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I liked the concept. I enjoyed the combination of noir and paranormal. It is a short, complex, and fun read. I would recommend you give it a chance. You will know if you want to finish the book or if you want to abandon it in the first few chapters. I would definitely read another book by K. A. Laity.
I received this book from Fox Spirit Books and NetGalley in return for an honest review.
January 24, 2019
James Draygo used to be a police detective but now he's a fairy dust addicted psychic just trying to get by. When a well-to-do client gets murdered in his parlour things start to get a little more interesting than Draygo likes and he soon finds himself being dragged through a whole range of complications in an effort to clear his name. Helping him actually put some effort into this are his erstwhile manservant Jinx, the freelance journalist Helen Saunders, and the smart-mouthed ghost of the aforementioned dead client.
In case you hadn't guessed by now, this is a detective story with more than a suggestion of the supernatural to it, and a rollicking good read it is too. There's a decent mix of humour and pathos, as well as the more typical elements of gritty hard-boiled fiction, and it's all wrapped up in some damned fine prose. Laity keeps the action flowing, though there is the occasional moment where she repeats information we've already been given, but this is a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things.
I'd say the strongest element of this book is the interplay between the characters. The three main characters work really well together and exude personality, even Jinx who never speaks but manages to express himself in a number of different ways throughout. Then there's the interaction between the main and secondary characters, which is just as meaningful and well written. I'm a big sucker for well written characters, and this book didn't disappoint in the slightest.
All in all I really enjoyed this one, and would strongly recommend it to anyone who likes a genre-mashed hard-boiled detective story with a supernatural twist and plenty of snark. 4.5 stars out of 5.
In case you hadn't guessed by now, this is a detective story with more than a suggestion of the supernatural to it, and a rollicking good read it is too. There's a decent mix of humour and pathos, as well as the more typical elements of gritty hard-boiled fiction, and it's all wrapped up in some damned fine prose. Laity keeps the action flowing, though there is the occasional moment where she repeats information we've already been given, but this is a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things.
I'd say the strongest element of this book is the interplay between the characters. The three main characters work really well together and exude personality, even Jinx who never speaks but manages to express himself in a number of different ways throughout. Then there's the interaction between the main and secondary characters, which is just as meaningful and well written. I'm a big sucker for well written characters, and this book didn't disappoint in the slightest.
All in all I really enjoyed this one, and would strongly recommend it to anyone who likes a genre-mashed hard-boiled detective story with a supernatural twist and plenty of snark. 4.5 stars out of 5.
June 24, 2017
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
*3.5 stars*
This was a satisfying combination of gritty British crime thriller and a supernatural bent makes this book definitely worth reading...
Former detective James Draygo is an excellent character who pretends to communicate with the dead to make some $$$ - actually, he can communicate with the dead. Then a client is murdered right in front of him while his eyes are closed, he needs all the help he can get...
The characters of Saunders and Jinx added an extra dimension to this story. The dialogue was excellent and really brought out the best of all three of these characters.
My biggest issue was when Draygo undergoes his drug-taking in order to communicate with the dead, and everything else gets a little hazy - the plot, the dialogue and just a sense of where the story is going. It really did take away from the story in my opinion.
Overall, a very clever story that I recommend for sure...
Paul
ARH
Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
*3.5 stars*
This was a satisfying combination of gritty British crime thriller and a supernatural bent makes this book definitely worth reading...
Former detective James Draygo is an excellent character who pretends to communicate with the dead to make some $$$ - actually, he can communicate with the dead. Then a client is murdered right in front of him while his eyes are closed, he needs all the help he can get...
The characters of Saunders and Jinx added an extra dimension to this story. The dialogue was excellent and really brought out the best of all three of these characters.
My biggest issue was when Draygo undergoes his drug-taking in order to communicate with the dead, and everything else gets a little hazy - the plot, the dialogue and just a sense of where the story is going. It really did take away from the story in my opinion.
Overall, a very clever story that I recommend for sure...
Paul
ARH
July 31, 2014
~3 - 3.5
Draygo may once have been a successful police officer, but it has been a while since he has detected anything other than the location of the nearest pub. Washed out and washed up, he spends his time floating away on fairy dust and as many other illegal substances as he can swallow and pays for his habit by hosting gimmicky and mostly faked seances. But when Peaches Dockmuir, nee Weiner, stamps her way into Draygo’s office to have some words with the previous Mrs. Dockmuir, things start getting far too real. Suddenly, Draygo has become the prime suspect for a murder where the only clue seems to be the cryptic references to a “white rabbit.” Even if his head wasn’t buzzing with fairy dust, given that he is now being hounded by the police, hunted by a criminal mastermind, and relentlessly pursued by an extremely attractive and persevering journalist, Draygo has very little energy left to puzzle out a mystery that seems destined to lead him down the rabbit hole.
White Rabbit is an entertaining and fast-paced read. Given his impressive levels of willful obtuseness, cringing cowardice, and generalized TSTLosity , Draygo is a surprisingly likeable character. Draygo is, in fact, a quintessential sad sack, and given his impressive levels of incompetence and uncaringness, and his ignorance of basic procedural details such as call identification and recording, I found it impossible to believe that he had ever been a policeman. I think most of Draygo’s likeability comes from his Woosterlike narrative style. At the same time, while the style may have simply been part of his persona, I found the jerkiness and repetition to be rather grating. The rest of the cast is likeable if not particularly unique, from the large and inarticulate sidekick to the evil-league-of-evil villain. The loudmouthed and demanding Peaches Weiner came across as an especially vivid--and amusingly irritating--character.
My biggest issue with the novel was the storyline itself. The ending was so contrived that I had to read the passage several times to subdue my incredulity, and I was left with rather a substantial list of plotholes.
All the same, I think Laity did break new ground with her character. It seems to be something of a fad to give one’s protagonist a substance abuse problem, but it’s amazing how many protagonists can shake aside their addictions whenever it is convenient. Draygo, on the other hand, suffers from a far more realistic addiction. Such a reluctant hero--reluctant to the point of wet-dishraggery--is something of a novelty, and Draygo does have something of the hapless Woosterish charm. Overall, if you’re looking for something different and are comfortable with a few plot flaws, White Rabbit may be worth a look.
Excerpted from my review at BookLikes.
~~I received this ebook through NetGalley from the publisher, Fox Spirit Books, in exchange for my honest review. ~~
Draygo may once have been a successful police officer, but it has been a while since he has detected anything other than the location of the nearest pub. Washed out and washed up, he spends his time floating away on fairy dust and as many other illegal substances as he can swallow and pays for his habit by hosting gimmicky and mostly faked seances. But when Peaches Dockmuir, nee Weiner, stamps her way into Draygo’s office to have some words with the previous Mrs. Dockmuir, things start getting far too real. Suddenly, Draygo has become the prime suspect for a murder where the only clue seems to be the cryptic references to a “white rabbit.” Even if his head wasn’t buzzing with fairy dust, given that he is now being hounded by the police, hunted by a criminal mastermind, and relentlessly pursued by an extremely attractive and persevering journalist, Draygo has very little energy left to puzzle out a mystery that seems destined to lead him down the rabbit hole.
White Rabbit is an entertaining and fast-paced read. Given his impressive levels of willful obtuseness, cringing cowardice, and generalized TSTLosity , Draygo is a surprisingly likeable character. Draygo is, in fact, a quintessential sad sack, and given his impressive levels of incompetence and uncaringness, and his ignorance of basic procedural details such as call identification and recording, I found it impossible to believe that he had ever been a policeman. I think most of Draygo’s likeability comes from his Woosterlike narrative style. At the same time, while the style may have simply been part of his persona, I found the jerkiness and repetition to be rather grating. The rest of the cast is likeable if not particularly unique, from the large and inarticulate sidekick to the evil-league-of-evil villain. The loudmouthed and demanding Peaches Weiner came across as an especially vivid--and amusingly irritating--character.
My biggest issue with the novel was the storyline itself. The ending was so contrived that I had to read the passage several times to subdue my incredulity, and I was left with rather a substantial list of plotholes.
All the same, I think Laity did break new ground with her character. It seems to be something of a fad to give one’s protagonist a substance abuse problem, but it’s amazing how many protagonists can shake aside their addictions whenever it is convenient. Draygo, on the other hand, suffers from a far more realistic addiction. Such a reluctant hero--reluctant to the point of wet-dishraggery--is something of a novelty, and Draygo does have something of the hapless Woosterish charm. Overall, if you’re looking for something different and are comfortable with a few plot flaws, White Rabbit may be worth a look.
Excerpted from my review at BookLikes.
~~I received this ebook through NetGalley from the publisher, Fox Spirit Books, in exchange for my honest review. ~~
December 29, 2014
White Rabbit es la historia de James Draygo, un ex-policía que ahora trabaja como un falso psíquico, a pesar de que es un psíquico de verdad. Quien debe investigar la muerte de Peaches, una esposa trofeo, que es asesinada en la mismísima casa de Draygo durante una sesión de espiritismo. Pero cuando la investigación comienza todo conduce a lo mismo: White Rabbit. El problema es que nadie sabe lo que eso significa.
Lo que me gustó:
-Los personajes. Todos, desde la prostituta hasta la bruja que trabaja sirviendo bebidas, son únicos y divertidos.
-Los fantasmas. Amé las conversaciones con los fantasmas, especialmente Peaches. Y sobretodo cuando Draygo hablaba con ella delante de otras personas que no podían verla. Muy Odd Thomas.
-El misterio inicial.
Lo NO que me gustó:
-El villano. Se supone que el hombre es super malvado pero a pesar de que tiene millones de oportunidades para matar a Draygo, porque lo captura un montón de veces, nunca lo hace. Solo lo amenaza de que va a matarlo.
-La resolución del misterio. Aquí fue donde toda la historia se vino abajo. Esperaba una solución épica y en cambio tenemos un final típico de una película para televisión.
Esta es una de esas historias que creo que funcionarían mucho mejor en una película, porque la gente cuando ve películas es mucho mas tolerante a ese tipo de tonterías, al menos yo lo soy. Porque no es lo mismo perder 2 horas, que 5 horas de tu vida.
Lo que me gustó:
-Los personajes. Todos, desde la prostituta hasta la bruja que trabaja sirviendo bebidas, son únicos y divertidos.
-Los fantasmas. Amé las conversaciones con los fantasmas, especialmente Peaches. Y sobretodo cuando Draygo hablaba con ella delante de otras personas que no podían verla. Muy Odd Thomas.
-El misterio inicial.
Lo NO que me gustó:
-El villano. Se supone que el hombre es super malvado pero a pesar de que tiene millones de oportunidades para matar a Draygo, porque lo captura un montón de veces, nunca lo hace. Solo lo amenaza de que va a matarlo.
-La resolución del misterio. Aquí fue donde toda la historia se vino abajo. Esperaba una solución épica y en cambio tenemos un final típico de una película para televisión.
Esta es una de esas historias que creo que funcionarían mucho mejor en una película, porque la gente cuando ve películas es mucho mas tolerante a ese tipo de tonterías, al menos yo lo soy. Porque no es lo mismo perder 2 horas, que 5 horas de tu vida.
August 29, 2014
White Rabbit is an original take on an established genre, re-imagining the downbeat noir private dick as a psychic, and not just any old psychic either, but a real psychic masquerading as a charlatan. Just to keep things (even more) interesting, Laity fuses the tropes of hardboiled noir with the surreal imagery of Alice in Wonderland, creating an idiosyncratic world that is simultaneously colourful and gritty, comic and mysterious.
The narrative centres on former detective James Draygo who has reached something of a personal low after a case gone bad. He’s down, he’s on drugs (Fairy Dust amongst other poisons) and he’s taking on jobs as a sham clairvoyant in spite of his actual ability to speak to the dead.
When his latest client - a comically tacky femme fatale and the wife of a famous gangster - is killed in front of him mid-séance, Draygo ends up in the frame. In order to save himself, he teams up with journalist Saunders who has her own reasons to discover the truth behind the murder and unravel the mystery of the titular White Rabbit.
On top of his own quest, the ghost of the murdered trophy wife won’t let Draygo alone until he finds out what the White Rabbit is and why she was murdered. The paranormal PI’s ability to see dead people helps him turn up clues, but it’s his own human frailty that threatens to stand in the way of his redemption.
Laity’s writing is punchy and readable and she has a knack for slang and banter. The whole style of the genre mash-up keeps the reader on their toes, because with noir, the supernatural and the Carroll-bunny theme all in play, we never know what’s coming next. As the story moves forward, it becomes increasingly pacy and gripping and in the final act I was glued to the spot until I finished it.
This was a very enjoyable, different read, a gripping mystery full of sly humour, witty wordplay and characters who, despite often being dead, are very fully brought to life.
The narrative centres on former detective James Draygo who has reached something of a personal low after a case gone bad. He’s down, he’s on drugs (Fairy Dust amongst other poisons) and he’s taking on jobs as a sham clairvoyant in spite of his actual ability to speak to the dead.
When his latest client - a comically tacky femme fatale and the wife of a famous gangster - is killed in front of him mid-séance, Draygo ends up in the frame. In order to save himself, he teams up with journalist Saunders who has her own reasons to discover the truth behind the murder and unravel the mystery of the titular White Rabbit.
On top of his own quest, the ghost of the murdered trophy wife won’t let Draygo alone until he finds out what the White Rabbit is and why she was murdered. The paranormal PI’s ability to see dead people helps him turn up clues, but it’s his own human frailty that threatens to stand in the way of his redemption.
Laity’s writing is punchy and readable and she has a knack for slang and banter. The whole style of the genre mash-up keeps the reader on their toes, because with noir, the supernatural and the Carroll-bunny theme all in play, we never know what’s coming next. As the story moves forward, it becomes increasingly pacy and gripping and in the final act I was glued to the spot until I finished it.
This was a very enjoyable, different read, a gripping mystery full of sly humour, witty wordplay and characters who, despite often being dead, are very fully brought to life.
July 22, 2014
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/07/22...
Publisher: Fox Spirit
Publishing Date: April 2014
ISBN: 9781909348493
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.1/5
Publisher Description: Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
Review: Cover art is meh.
This was more of a fantasy novel with a mystery backbone. Although the dialogue was lengthy, the exchanges between characters was entertaining. The plot doesn’t really go anywhere definitive. There is a culmination of sorts, but the bulk of the novel exists in the ruminative mind of James Draygo.
To quote Peter Griffin, the novel insists upon itself.
There wasn’t a lot of action that you could sink your teeth into, other than flailing ghosts and some thuggery. There was a mild love interest that was more whimsical than overt. Still a somewhat entertaining novel that would do well for a read on a plane.
Publisher: Fox Spirit
Publishing Date: April 2014
ISBN: 9781909348493
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3.1/5
Publisher Description: Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
Review: Cover art is meh.
This was more of a fantasy novel with a mystery backbone. Although the dialogue was lengthy, the exchanges between characters was entertaining. The plot doesn’t really go anywhere definitive. There is a culmination of sorts, but the bulk of the novel exists in the ruminative mind of James Draygo.
To quote Peter Griffin, the novel insists upon itself.
There wasn’t a lot of action that you could sink your teeth into, other than flailing ghosts and some thuggery. There was a mild love interest that was more whimsical than overt. Still a somewhat entertaining novel that would do well for a read on a plane.
May 29, 2014
This is a thoroughly refreshing read with a gleefully idiosyncratic style. The characters are nicely drawn, sympathetic where they need to be and hissably bad where they don't. The plot is a fun marriage of forties noir and fifties-style sci-fi, complete with designer drugs and shinily evil machines, whilst the setting is a bang-up-to-date London. Under a less skilful hand those elements might jar but here they mesh into an entertaining read.
If I had a mild quibble I'd have liked a few less references to fairy dust and a smidge more backstory about the characters, particularly the enigmatic Jinx.
Overall, though, I found that particularly towards the end, I couldn't put it down.
If I had a mild quibble I'd have liked a few less references to fairy dust and a smidge more backstory about the characters, particularly the enigmatic Jinx.
Overall, though, I found that particularly towards the end, I couldn't put it down.
August 31, 2018
Kate Laity brings a rollicking tale of ghosts, fairy dust, and very English noir to the Fox Spirit stable, and as any fule kno the involvement of Auntie Fox means it's going to be a wild ride indeed.
Our psychic protagonist, Draygo, is a dust-addicted former detective with a penchant for inner monologues and pithy quips, backed up formidably by sharp-witted card-carrying sceptic journalist Saunders and the remarkable loquacious assistant Jinx. Up against a wall following the death of Peaches Weiner at his tapping table, Draygo must clear his name and save a multitude of ghosts, as well as dealing - finally - with the ones that have been haunting him for years.
The prose and plot are razor-sharp and move from beat to beat relentlessly - though sometimes Draygo stumbles over himself as Laity repeats things we already know. Music references abound, especially Wanda Jackson and The Fall (Draygo himself is two references in one). Laity's sense of fun goes so far as to allude to Rupert Murdoch and an infamous pair of serial killers, while the late Peaches Weiner rightly steals every scene she appears in.
White Rabbit is essentially what Fox Spirit does best: fun riffs across several genres, always to the point, but never taking itself so seriously that the reader becomes bored.
Our psychic protagonist, Draygo, is a dust-addicted former detective with a penchant for inner monologues and pithy quips, backed up formidably by sharp-witted card-carrying sceptic journalist Saunders and the remarkable loquacious assistant Jinx. Up against a wall following the death of Peaches Weiner at his tapping table, Draygo must clear his name and save a multitude of ghosts, as well as dealing - finally - with the ones that have been haunting him for years.
The prose and plot are razor-sharp and move from beat to beat relentlessly - though sometimes Draygo stumbles over himself as Laity repeats things we already know. Music references abound, especially Wanda Jackson and The Fall (Draygo himself is two references in one). Laity's sense of fun goes so far as to allude to Rupert Murdoch and an infamous pair of serial killers, while the late Peaches Weiner rightly steals every scene she appears in.
White Rabbit is essentially what Fox Spirit does best: fun riffs across several genres, always to the point, but never taking itself so seriously that the reader becomes bored.
June 18, 2019
Beautifully written.
July 31, 2014
Magic. Detectives. Noir. I like all of these quite a bit, and generally speaking it’s even better when they’re combined. New York Magician? Okay. Dresden Files? Oh yes. Rivers of London? Sign me up and then some. Unfortunately, White Rabbit doesn’t achieve similar heights of reading pleasure, nor any great measure of readability.
It opens with James Draygo, disgraced former police officer and current fake psychic, doing a reading for the notorious wife of a media mogul with a taste for trophy wives. In a moment of distraction, someone shoots Mrs Peaches Drockmuir dead, and Draygo finds himself fingered for the crime. His hand on the gun probably has something to do with that. Worse still, Draygo’s no fake psychic at all, much as he wishes he were - the dead are very insistent about being heard, and it takes a lot of work (a lot of drugs) to close himself off from them. To free himself from suspicion, he’ll have to get in touch with the other side, find out who really killed Peaches, and hope like hell that his own ghosts won’t come back to haunt him, all the while dealing with a nosy reporter who’s far too appealing for Draygo’s comfort.
See? It sounds great. It has a fantastic premise, a decent cast of character types, solid backstory. And to give the lady her due, Laity’s settings are solid, gritty, and evocative, and the narrative itself is nicely structured and tidy. Unfortunately, it reads like the unholy bastard lovechild of Bertie Wooster and Harry Dresden on speed. Laity’s stylistic pacing is a breathless mess, resulting in a bewildering and exhausting read. While the main character is on an exciting cocktail of drugs, and he does narrate, the prose style makes the book well-nigh unreadable. It only clocks in at one hundred and seventy-one pages, I’d’ve gladly spent another fifty on the book if it pulled the pace down.
The pacing problem also contributed a lot to the occasional maddening lack of clarity in both dialogue and action. It makes a certain amount of sense, of course, if one imagines the narration is occurring through a narcotic haze of supernatural origin, but not being on drugs from Elfland, I couldn’t follow what was going on and soon didn’t care enough to even try.
Also, at least in the copy I received from NetGalley, it was chock-full of typographical and formatting errors. Some of them may have been a result of conversion to digital form, but others were misspellings and punctuation errors that really should’ve been caught drafts before it got to the galley stage.
As far as characterization goes, the original setup for each character was, if not unique, at least well-suited to the book and entertainingly referential. However, the development of the characters was thin to nonexistent, and some characters, such as Draygo’s factotum Jinx and the reporter love interest Miss Saunders, are little more than bad pastiches of characters from other novels or flat archetypes, and there’s no reason for them to be so. It’s fairly typical for urban fantasy noir to involve stock characters, but what makes those books special is the way they treat those characters. Take Hendricks from The Dresden Files for example. He’s a bodyguard built like a brick house and he doesn’t talk much, but as the series progresses we learn that not only is he intelligent, thoughtful, and perceptive, but that his advice is valued just as highly by his mobster boss as his highly commendable loyalty. White Rabbit fails to achieve anything like a nuanced portrayal of its stock characters, and worse, it doesn’t even seem interested in trying. Of course, sometimes taking a character and reducing them to a paper cutout serves a purpose, but it didn’t seem to do anything of the sort here.
Things I liked… well, as I said, the premise was good. I was highly intrigued by it, and excited to start reading, which made it all the more unpleasant when it turned out to be so disappointing. The plot was good and I was actually surprised by where it took me, which is a rare experience I wanted to savor. The ending was satisfactory and felt true to the book. The settings and description fit in nicely with the book’s atmosphere. The action followed a sensible progression, even if I had trouble figuring out precisely what action was actually happening.
In the end, this is a book that feels like a first draft. It had a lot of potential and the bones of the story are high quality, and it’s got an elevator pitch that’s hard to beat, but it needed a couple more rewrites and a little less coffee on the part of the author, and it’s a crying shame that it never got anywhere near achieving its potential.
Advance copy received from NetGalley.
tl;dr - should’ve been a good book and wasn’t. If you’re into urban noir fantasy, it’s an addition to the niche, but probably one you can pass on unless you’re a completist. Fortunately, it’s cheap for an ebook. Warnings for drug use.
It opens with James Draygo, disgraced former police officer and current fake psychic, doing a reading for the notorious wife of a media mogul with a taste for trophy wives. In a moment of distraction, someone shoots Mrs Peaches Drockmuir dead, and Draygo finds himself fingered for the crime. His hand on the gun probably has something to do with that. Worse still, Draygo’s no fake psychic at all, much as he wishes he were - the dead are very insistent about being heard, and it takes a lot of work (a lot of drugs) to close himself off from them. To free himself from suspicion, he’ll have to get in touch with the other side, find out who really killed Peaches, and hope like hell that his own ghosts won’t come back to haunt him, all the while dealing with a nosy reporter who’s far too appealing for Draygo’s comfort.
See? It sounds great. It has a fantastic premise, a decent cast of character types, solid backstory. And to give the lady her due, Laity’s settings are solid, gritty, and evocative, and the narrative itself is nicely structured and tidy. Unfortunately, it reads like the unholy bastard lovechild of Bertie Wooster and Harry Dresden on speed. Laity’s stylistic pacing is a breathless mess, resulting in a bewildering and exhausting read. While the main character is on an exciting cocktail of drugs, and he does narrate, the prose style makes the book well-nigh unreadable. It only clocks in at one hundred and seventy-one pages, I’d’ve gladly spent another fifty on the book if it pulled the pace down.
The pacing problem also contributed a lot to the occasional maddening lack of clarity in both dialogue and action. It makes a certain amount of sense, of course, if one imagines the narration is occurring through a narcotic haze of supernatural origin, but not being on drugs from Elfland, I couldn’t follow what was going on and soon didn’t care enough to even try.
Also, at least in the copy I received from NetGalley, it was chock-full of typographical and formatting errors. Some of them may have been a result of conversion to digital form, but others were misspellings and punctuation errors that really should’ve been caught drafts before it got to the galley stage.
As far as characterization goes, the original setup for each character was, if not unique, at least well-suited to the book and entertainingly referential. However, the development of the characters was thin to nonexistent, and some characters, such as Draygo’s factotum Jinx and the reporter love interest Miss Saunders, are little more than bad pastiches of characters from other novels or flat archetypes, and there’s no reason for them to be so. It’s fairly typical for urban fantasy noir to involve stock characters, but what makes those books special is the way they treat those characters. Take Hendricks from The Dresden Files for example. He’s a bodyguard built like a brick house and he doesn’t talk much, but as the series progresses we learn that not only is he intelligent, thoughtful, and perceptive, but that his advice is valued just as highly by his mobster boss as his highly commendable loyalty. White Rabbit fails to achieve anything like a nuanced portrayal of its stock characters, and worse, it doesn’t even seem interested in trying. Of course, sometimes taking a character and reducing them to a paper cutout serves a purpose, but it didn’t seem to do anything of the sort here.
Things I liked… well, as I said, the premise was good. I was highly intrigued by it, and excited to start reading, which made it all the more unpleasant when it turned out to be so disappointing. The plot was good and I was actually surprised by where it took me, which is a rare experience I wanted to savor. The ending was satisfactory and felt true to the book. The settings and description fit in nicely with the book’s atmosphere. The action followed a sensible progression, even if I had trouble figuring out precisely what action was actually happening.
In the end, this is a book that feels like a first draft. It had a lot of potential and the bones of the story are high quality, and it’s got an elevator pitch that’s hard to beat, but it needed a couple more rewrites and a little less coffee on the part of the author, and it’s a crying shame that it never got anywhere near achieving its potential.
Advance copy received from NetGalley.
tl;dr - should’ve been a good book and wasn’t. If you’re into urban noir fantasy, it’s an addition to the niche, but probably one you can pass on unless you’re a completist. Fortunately, it’s cheap for an ebook. Warnings for drug use.
July 10, 2014
Two and a half stars would be more accurate. I wanted to like it, but it was pretty much just OK.
Book Description:
Sometimes the shadows that haunt us are what lead us back to the light.
Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
----------
What I liked:
a genuine psychic trying to deny his gift and pretending to be a fake psychic
Peaches - great character; great ghost
lots of allusions, and not only to Alice in Wonderland
My favorites: "We don't want to get the details wrong. So much depends on a red wheel barrow." and "This one came from the Fox Sisters--not those Fox Sisters, but the ones who ran the skulk in the midlands." (The Fox Sisters were notorious American psychic fakes.)
Jinx - would have liked to know more about him
the cover
What bothered me (a lot actually):
a neat premise turned weird with the villain and his nefarious plans (just didn't work for me, not even with Draygo suffering the ghostly screams)
awkward pacing; Draygo and the ghosts were good, but the repetition of many events in his personal life just seemed included for the purpose of taking up space; repetition, i.e. -- caught, beaten up, released--repeat. Didn't seem that a villain as evil as this one would release Draygo again and again. I'm mean, given what he was doing at The Warren, would he even ponder letting Draygo live?
too much fairy dust
"between her and I" - damn, I'm seeing this kind of thing too often. Would you say, "Between I"? If this is a problem too difficult for most to sort out, just say "between us," --it's shorter, more efficient, and even sounds better.
NetGalley/Fox Spirit Books
Mystery/Supernatural. 2014. Print length: 171 pages.
Book Description:
Sometimes the shadows that haunt us are what lead us back to the light.
Disgraced former police detective James Draygo has sunk as low as his habit allows, working as a fake psychic despite his very real talents. When a media mogul’s trashy trophy wife gets gunned down at his tapping table he has to decide whether he can straighten up long enough to save his own skin. He may not have a choice with Essex’s loudest ghost bawling in his ear about cults, conspiracies and cut-rate drugs. Oblivion sounds better all the time…
----------
What I liked:
a genuine psychic trying to deny his gift and pretending to be a fake psychic
Peaches - great character; great ghost
lots of allusions, and not only to Alice in Wonderland
My favorites: "We don't want to get the details wrong. So much depends on a red wheel barrow." and "This one came from the Fox Sisters--not those Fox Sisters, but the ones who ran the skulk in the midlands." (The Fox Sisters were notorious American psychic fakes.)
Jinx - would have liked to know more about him
the cover
What bothered me (a lot actually):
a neat premise turned weird with the villain and his nefarious plans (just didn't work for me, not even with Draygo suffering the ghostly screams)
awkward pacing; Draygo and the ghosts were good, but the repetition of many events in his personal life just seemed included for the purpose of taking up space; repetition, i.e. -- caught, beaten up, released--repeat. Didn't seem that a villain as evil as this one would release Draygo again and again. I'm mean, given what he was doing at The Warren, would he even ponder letting Draygo live?
too much fairy dust
"between her and I" - damn, I'm seeing this kind of thing too often. Would you say, "Between I"? If this is a problem too difficult for most to sort out, just say "between us," --it's shorter, more efficient, and even sounds better.
NetGalley/Fox Spirit Books
Mystery/Supernatural. 2014. Print length: 171 pages.
August 19, 2014
This book starts as old-fashioned crime noir: a rich woman fearing her man seeks help from washed-up former cop. It happens to be a genre I am very fond of and before my self-imposed task of reading and reviewing magic realist books I would often be found with my nose in a Ross Macdonald or Raymond Chandler. So when this magic realist take on crime noir crossed my laptop screen I jumped at the chance to read it.
From the first line Draygo is narrating in the crime noir style with dry witty descriptions. Add a wise-cracking tough young female reporter who Draygo compares to Lauren Bacall and we are in familiar territory. This is a clever book and it wears its cleverness on its sleeve: Draygo has a habit of referencing Shakespeare, Webster, P G Wodehouse, Ghostbusters, famous spiritualists, to say nothing of various fictional detectives and of course Lewis Carroll.
Then you get the twist - Draygo is playing at being a fake medium, but actually does communicate with the dead, or rather they communicate with him, much against his will. This is not a completely new idea. Hilary Mantel used it in Beyond Black, but that was not a detective story. The victim in White Rabbit - an Essex moll by the name of Peaches Dockmuir - makes a wonderful ghost who is seriously pissed with her husband for bumping her off.
So far so good. I was really enjoying the read and the ride, but with the arrival of the villain (an Australian media magnate with headquarters in Canary Wharf) and his heavies things started to go wrong for me - not seriously as I still enjoyed the read but not as much as before. The book started to move away from magic realism. Instead of being in a Philip Marlowe book we had moved into a comic sci-fi adventure with a James Bond villain. Whilst I loved the crime-noir spiritualism mash-up, this was taking it a bit too far and the plot became predictable: climax scene in the villain's lair, anyone? Nevertheless White Rabbit was an enjoyable read.
I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for a fair review.
This review first appeared on the Magic Realism Books Blog http://magic-realism-books.blogspot.com
From the first line Draygo is narrating in the crime noir style with dry witty descriptions. Add a wise-cracking tough young female reporter who Draygo compares to Lauren Bacall and we are in familiar territory. This is a clever book and it wears its cleverness on its sleeve: Draygo has a habit of referencing Shakespeare, Webster, P G Wodehouse, Ghostbusters, famous spiritualists, to say nothing of various fictional detectives and of course Lewis Carroll.
Then you get the twist - Draygo is playing at being a fake medium, but actually does communicate with the dead, or rather they communicate with him, much against his will. This is not a completely new idea. Hilary Mantel used it in Beyond Black, but that was not a detective story. The victim in White Rabbit - an Essex moll by the name of Peaches Dockmuir - makes a wonderful ghost who is seriously pissed with her husband for bumping her off.
So far so good. I was really enjoying the read and the ride, but with the arrival of the villain (an Australian media magnate with headquarters in Canary Wharf) and his heavies things started to go wrong for me - not seriously as I still enjoyed the read but not as much as before. The book started to move away from magic realism. Instead of being in a Philip Marlowe book we had moved into a comic sci-fi adventure with a James Bond villain. Whilst I loved the crime-noir spiritualism mash-up, this was taking it a bit too far and the plot became predictable: climax scene in the villain's lair, anyone? Nevertheless White Rabbit was an enjoyable read.
I received this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for a fair review.
This review first appeared on the Magic Realism Books Blog http://magic-realism-books.blogspot.com
July 28, 2014
What do you do when you can hear the undead-- but don't really want to hear them? You take a few snorts of fairy dust and become a "fake" psychic. So here we find our main character, Draygo, when he gets a famous client. Which is going great until she gets shot at his table, courtesy of her husband. This sends Draygo down the White Rabbit hole. He is joined by Saunders, a journalist who wants to get to the bottom of the white rabbit as well.
This book drove me crazy. From the moment it began I both loved and hated the main character. This is not the hero you want to sweep you off your feet, this is the one you want to punch in the gut. A fraud and boozer who can hear from the undead but shuts them out. The story is sort of a crazy ride, it does not pause to explain itself, just keeps going ahead. While the story is interesting, it also contains some deep questions. The reader has something to chew on when the book ends.
What I found irksome about this book is the thousands of loose ends. If you are looking for a story with a complete ending, where everything is fleshed out, this is not it. This made a little crazy. There were a few key scenes and components that just don't get explained. I still have so many questions. While I can say these things frustrated me, they didn't ruin the book for me. I definitely suggest reading this book with a strong cup of coffee, if you didn't want one when it started, you will by the end. Seriously, send Jinx my way.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc, all opinions are my own.
This book drove me crazy. From the moment it began I both loved and hated the main character. This is not the hero you want to sweep you off your feet, this is the one you want to punch in the gut. A fraud and boozer who can hear from the undead but shuts them out. The story is sort of a crazy ride, it does not pause to explain itself, just keeps going ahead. While the story is interesting, it also contains some deep questions. The reader has something to chew on when the book ends.
What I found irksome about this book is the thousands of loose ends. If you are looking for a story with a complete ending, where everything is fleshed out, this is not it. This made a little crazy. There were a few key scenes and components that just don't get explained. I still have so many questions. While I can say these things frustrated me, they didn't ruin the book for me. I definitely suggest reading this book with a strong cup of coffee, if you didn't want one when it started, you will by the end. Seriously, send Jinx my way.
*Thanks to NetGalley for the Arc, all opinions are my own.
August 5, 2014
This was such a different book, taking elements of hardball detective and supernatural fiction, with a spice of screwball comedy thrown in for good measure. It works, though. Laity created characters that you care about while still making you want to uncover the whole mystery of the white rabbit.
James Draygo is a disgraced police detective who works as a fake psychic, doing this in order to keep his ability to see and help the dead at bay. He is addicted to something called dust that seems to help him in this endeavor. He’s approached by a woman divorcing her uber-rich industrialist husband; she wants to commune with his first wife to find out how she really died. While there, she is murdered: and Draygo is sucked in.
Draygo, with the help of plucky, attractive reporter, his manservant/henchman, and a plethora of spirit who gravitate to him, Draygo unravels the truth. It is a crime-noir mystery at it’s best, with elements of supernatural thrown in. It scores on both levels: everything makes sense and fits. All in all, White Rabbit is a fun, quick read that is most enjoyable.
James Draygo is a disgraced police detective who works as a fake psychic, doing this in order to keep his ability to see and help the dead at bay. He is addicted to something called dust that seems to help him in this endeavor. He’s approached by a woman divorcing her uber-rich industrialist husband; she wants to commune with his first wife to find out how she really died. While there, she is murdered: and Draygo is sucked in.
Draygo, with the help of plucky, attractive reporter, his manservant/henchman, and a plethora of spirit who gravitate to him, Draygo unravels the truth. It is a crime-noir mystery at it’s best, with elements of supernatural thrown in. It scores on both levels: everything makes sense and fits. All in all, White Rabbit is a fun, quick read that is most enjoyable.
February 17, 2016
Peaches is dead baby! Peaches is dead.
That being said she's still a lead character who, like all the others in this rollicking good read is wonderfully drawn and leaped off the page into my imagination and took up residence. The story is a non-stop cavalcade of the unexpected in familiar and everyday places, right under my nose, making it all the more intriguing and engaging. I felt like there was a whole universe between these pages, it was so tangible and yet it was operating under a whole different set of rules from this one. K.A. Laity is a writer that has never let me down, keeping me in suspenders to the last gasp.
I LOVED reading this book! It wouldn't have mattered what the story was about, I just thoroughly enjoy reading Laity. But this book was such good fun and, like the characters, smart and funny. I hope K.A Laity takes me there again soon, for another wild ride.
That being said she's still a lead character who, like all the others in this rollicking good read is wonderfully drawn and leaped off the page into my imagination and took up residence. The story is a non-stop cavalcade of the unexpected in familiar and everyday places, right under my nose, making it all the more intriguing and engaging. I felt like there was a whole universe between these pages, it was so tangible and yet it was operating under a whole different set of rules from this one. K.A. Laity is a writer that has never let me down, keeping me in suspenders to the last gasp.
I LOVED reading this book! It wouldn't have mattered what the story was about, I just thoroughly enjoy reading Laity. But this book was such good fun and, like the characters, smart and funny. I hope K.A Laity takes me there again soon, for another wild ride.
June 30, 2014
This supernatural mystery novel starts out so thickly noirish that it almost seems a parody. Protagonist James Draygo is an ex-police detective with a past who now works as a (sort of seedy) psychic. When not abusing controlled substances or drinking (or wanting to) he is seeing and conversing with dead people (something of a useful talent for a psychic). The premise of the book is interesting as are some of the elements and supporting characters but the whole thing doesn't really come together for me. It's not long (180+ pages) but I do wish there had been chapters (there are only occasional breaks in the text).
September 5, 2014
Quick moving story that took a bit to get into as there aren't any chapter breaks to speak of, the novel keeps pulling you along with the happenings of the psychic former detective who has a gold digging trophy wife of a media mogul killed in his house in front of him as he is helping her to a seance to talk to the mogul's first wife. At times the story felt like it had a few books in the series already as it felt like there was things that you should of known about the characters that weren't filled out. It was a satisfying ending and I would recommend it to those who like a quick paranormal gritty detective story. Not a steak but satisfying fast food meal.
July 14, 2014
This was a great story on so many levels. I loved the idea of a real psychic posing as a fake, and the characters were all great. I am looking forward to a sequel that gives us more background on Saunders and Jinx but there is really only so much you can do in one book.
There was a lot about redemption and facing the past, and so many fun references. This is the beginning of a wonderful series (I hope) and I can't wait to find out what's next.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
There was a lot about redemption and facing the past, and so many fun references. This is the beginning of a wonderful series (I hope) and I can't wait to find out what's next.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
July 21, 2014
Despite character and plot development issues, "White Rabbit" is a fun, inventive noir with an interesting, psychedelic twist. Not a book I would recommend for everyone, but if you're a fan of mysteries and looking for something new and different, you may enjoy "White Rabbit."
November 12, 2015
An unlikable protagonist, coupled with a lack of narrative detail.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews