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The Terror and the Tortoiseshell
John Travis's first novel, The Terror and the Tortoiseshell, is a noir-styled murder mystery with deft comedy and Science Fiction touches. It honours of the classic hard-boiled detective novels of the 1940s.
Benji Spriteman takes over the “Spriteman Detective Agency” after the world is changed overnight by 'The Terror', resulting in the animal kingdom moving from four legs to two and banishing the now crazy human population from existence, and becoming the dominant species. Oh, and Benji Spriteman is a sentient, six-foot tall, suit-wearing, tortoiseshell cat.
In this strange environment, which sees animals taking on some of the characteristics of the humans they were closest to, human beings have become a bit like flying saucers. Despite occasional sightings, there is never any definite proof human existed. When humans start to re-appear, it’s in bizarre situations. They're always dead and ‘displayed’ as if they were animals. It’s just as Benji’s life is starting to become a bit more ‘normal’ that he gets drawn into the investigation into these murders, and soon finds himself involved in ways he could never have imagined.
Benji Spriteman takes over the “Spriteman Detective Agency” after the world is changed overnight by 'The Terror', resulting in the animal kingdom moving from four legs to two and banishing the now crazy human population from existence, and becoming the dominant species. Oh, and Benji Spriteman is a sentient, six-foot tall, suit-wearing, tortoiseshell cat.
In this strange environment, which sees animals taking on some of the characteristics of the humans they were closest to, human beings have become a bit like flying saucers. Despite occasional sightings, there is never any definite proof human existed. When humans start to re-appear, it’s in bizarre situations. They're always dead and ‘displayed’ as if they were animals. It’s just as Benji’s life is starting to become a bit more ‘normal’ that he gets drawn into the investigation into these murders, and soon finds himself involved in ways he could never have imagined.
- GenresNoir
316 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
John Travis
47 books14 followersCalled 'a writer of considerable energy' in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, John Travis is the author of six books - a short story collection, Mostly Monochrome Stories, and two novels, The Terror and the Tortoiseshell and The Designated Coconut, the former attracting the attention of several Hollywood film companies. His most recent books are a second collection of short stories, Gaseous Clay and Other Ambivalent Tales, and two chapbooks, Greenbeard and Eloquent Years of Silence.
His many short stories and novellas have been published in anthologies and journals such as Nemonymous. British Invasion and in both volumes of The Humdrumming Books of Horror Stories, his story from the second volume, 'The Tobacconist's Concession' appearing on the 2009 shortlist for a British Fantasy Award. Writing what he can, when he can, if by some miracle he ever made any money from his stories about talking animals and various haunted objects and people, he'd like to move to the country or the coast, possibly Scarborough.
His many short stories and novellas have been published in anthologies and journals such as Nemonymous. British Invasion and in both volumes of The Humdrumming Books of Horror Stories, his story from the second volume, 'The Tobacconist's Concession' appearing on the 2009 shortlist for a British Fantasy Award. Writing what he can, when he can, if by some miracle he ever made any money from his stories about talking animals and various haunted objects and people, he'd like to move to the country or the coast, possibly Scarborough.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 17, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed this noir crime story with a difference: during an unexplained phenomena named The Terror all animals somehow transformed into human-sized, two-legged walking critters. The resultant purge on humans was bloody and - well - animalistic - with only a few of them surviving. Enter this story one Benji Spriteman, private investigator, who happens to be a clothes-wearing six foot tall Tortoiseshell cat. When someone starts killing the remaining humans in particularly gruesome ways, he finds himself drawn into the case, amidst the usual motley crew of characters you might expect to populate a regular noir novel.
As daft as it might sound, the fantasy and crime elements are well-matched. Travis clearly has an ear for noir dialogue and this familiarity adds authenticity to the story. It's not without humour, either, although there are also quite a few violent episodes. The characters are well drawn and the plot well-crafted (I was particularly fond of Lieutenant Dingus - a basset-hound whose mannerisms and methods mimic a certain television detective most crime aficionados will delightedly recognise).
A lot of fun and highly recommended.
As daft as it might sound, the fantasy and crime elements are well-matched. Travis clearly has an ear for noir dialogue and this familiarity adds authenticity to the story. It's not without humour, either, although there are also quite a few violent episodes. The characters are well drawn and the plot well-crafted (I was particularly fond of Lieutenant Dingus - a basset-hound whose mannerisms and methods mimic a certain television detective most crime aficionados will delightedly recognise).
A lot of fun and highly recommended.
April 4, 2011
This is undoubtedly the strangest book I have ever read! But I thoroughly enjoyed. Once I wrapped my head around a 6 foot, sentient, rare male tortoiseshell cat and a police lieutenant named Dingus, who just happens to be a bloodhound...well, then I able to enjoy the fantasy/noir tale. (BTW, Dingus spot in a Humphrey Bogart voice in my head...)
The terror refers to an unexplained event: one evening, to the horror of humans (Sappies), the animal kingdom raises up to the height of humans, walk on 2 feet & begin to talk! Humans take to the streets in terror, where their former pets, zoo captives & once hunted wild animals, torture and kill them to extinction. Or do they? Are there still Sappies lurking out there, planning a rebellion?
If you are good at totally suspending belief (are you a Jasper Fforde fan?), then you will enjoy this book. It's a quick read and thoroughly entertaining. Thank you Goodreads, John Travis, & Atomic Fez publishing for sending me this book read!
The terror refers to an unexplained event: one evening, to the horror of humans (Sappies), the animal kingdom raises up to the height of humans, walk on 2 feet & begin to talk! Humans take to the streets in terror, where their former pets, zoo captives & once hunted wild animals, torture and kill them to extinction. Or do they? Are there still Sappies lurking out there, planning a rebellion?
If you are good at totally suspending belief (are you a Jasper Fforde fan?), then you will enjoy this book. It's a quick read and thoroughly entertaining. Thank you Goodreads, John Travis, & Atomic Fez publishing for sending me this book read!
March 29, 2013
A refreshingly original novel that almost belongs to the Chandler-McDonald school of mystery writing. The protagonist and most of his companions in the new (post-Terror) world are animals, who have literally grown up and are now running the show. Since most of the erstwhile pets have now taken up the profession of their human predecessors, Benji Spriteman, our hero (a tortoiseshell cat) becomes a detective. The complex web that he untangles with solid support from Lieutenant Dingus (a basset hound) is the subject of this novel. Strangely enough, it wasn't ridiculous or laughable by any means. The author has given us a set of very credible characters, and the story was fast-paced. I would be returning to the world of our hero. In the meanwhile, this book is definitely recommended to any lover of mystery.
January 13, 2021
A superb closure. Nothing much more needed to add. Except: “The ground where the Zoo had been was now an official meeting place of sorts for the Machenites”. I would like an honorary place there, too, for a Hume called Hume. And I’d add — this is a classic novel which, given the right exposure, should become that classic in all eyes, not just a few.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
The detailed review of this book posted elsewhere under my name is too long or impractical to post here.
Above is one of its observations at the time of the review.
October 14, 2010
During the Terror, animals became human-sized and gained the power of speech – not to mention the intelligence to make that power useful. Having seen his gumshoe owner set upon by lions, Benji Spriteman (the tortoiseshell cat of the title) inherits his office, apartment and patter. There are few humans left, and Benji is dragged into the case of a serial killer preying on them, teaming up with scruffy Lieutenant Dingus, a tenacious basset hound who always has just one more question to ask...
Though the Terror doesn't seem to make a great deal of scientific sense, the world it's created is an interesting one, providing a very colourful backdrop for a detective novel. And as a detective novel, this works well. The murder mystery is a good one. There are plenty of clues, suspects, snitches and motives, and a series of intriguing plot developments. Benji rarely moves beyond a default private eye characterisation, and celebrity animal cameos – though entertaining – break the mood a bit, but the novel grips throughout.
The premise sounds cuddly (serial killer aside), but the Terror of the title is aptly named, leading to scenes of human abuse that, while provoking reflection upon the way humans treat animals, are often painful to read. For example, at the zoo Benji sees "a big striped Cat with a chair in one paw and a whip in the other" snarling "at something small in the corner of a filth-filled cage". These sequences, and those where Benji encounters animals unchanged by the Terror, show the novel at its most powerful and affecting.
Ironically in a book that has a lot of fun with the poor spelling of the rats who run the city's newspaper, The Terror and the Tortoiseshell is marred by shocking errors, including a wide selection of grocer's apostrophes. It's one thing to not know how to spell (lobster) thermidor or (chicken) coop, another to not know that the sentence "The diner's applauded" does not require an apostrophe. As an author I'd be embarrassed to have this published under my name; as a publisher I'd be begging the author's forgiveness for letting it slip through.
While I applaud the publisher's enthusiasm for ebooks and other modern forms of book distribution, and it is a very good book, I can't quite bring myself to recommend a book containing errors I'd be embarrassed to see in my six year old daughter's schoolwork. As an ebook, also, it's flawed, with the chapters not set up properly. But if a corrected edition is released, and you enjoy crime novels, it's worth a look. The end leaves the greater mystery of the Terror itself unanswered, and I'll certainly be looking out for future books in the series.
(The publisher has advised that a corrected Kindle edition will indeed be forthcoming, and that the current Kindle edition contains errors that do not appear in the printed editions.)
Though the Terror doesn't seem to make a great deal of scientific sense, the world it's created is an interesting one, providing a very colourful backdrop for a detective novel. And as a detective novel, this works well. The murder mystery is a good one. There are plenty of clues, suspects, snitches and motives, and a series of intriguing plot developments. Benji rarely moves beyond a default private eye characterisation, and celebrity animal cameos – though entertaining – break the mood a bit, but the novel grips throughout.
The premise sounds cuddly (serial killer aside), but the Terror of the title is aptly named, leading to scenes of human abuse that, while provoking reflection upon the way humans treat animals, are often painful to read. For example, at the zoo Benji sees "a big striped Cat with a chair in one paw and a whip in the other" snarling "at something small in the corner of a filth-filled cage". These sequences, and those where Benji encounters animals unchanged by the Terror, show the novel at its most powerful and affecting.
Ironically in a book that has a lot of fun with the poor spelling of the rats who run the city's newspaper, The Terror and the Tortoiseshell is marred by shocking errors, including a wide selection of grocer's apostrophes. It's one thing to not know how to spell (lobster) thermidor or (chicken) coop, another to not know that the sentence "The diner's applauded" does not require an apostrophe. As an author I'd be embarrassed to have this published under my name; as a publisher I'd be begging the author's forgiveness for letting it slip through.
While I applaud the publisher's enthusiasm for ebooks and other modern forms of book distribution, and it is a very good book, I can't quite bring myself to recommend a book containing errors I'd be embarrassed to see in my six year old daughter's schoolwork. As an ebook, also, it's flawed, with the chapters not set up properly. But if a corrected edition is released, and you enjoy crime novels, it's worth a look. The end leaves the greater mystery of the Terror itself unanswered, and I'll certainly be looking out for future books in the series.
(The publisher has advised that a corrected Kindle edition will indeed be forthcoming, and that the current Kindle edition contains errors that do not appear in the printed editions.)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews