What do you think?
Rate this book
Milk Treading
Life isn't easy for Julius Kyle, a jaded crime hack with the Post. When he wakes up on a sand barge with his head full of grit he knows things have to change. But how fast they'll change he doesn't guess until his best friend Mick jumps to his death off a fifty-foot bridge outside the Post's window. Worst of all, he's a cat. That means keeping himself scrupulously clean, defending his territory and battling an addiction to milk. Life isn't easy for a small cat with a big mouth, uttering words that could lead to a riot - or a war. So when the lovely Moira begs Julius for help, Julius is drawn brutally into a life he has only lived in his novels - the life of his hero sleuth Tiger Straight. The cats live in a city called Bast, a sprawling world of alleyways and claw-shaped towers. Julius has to contend with political intrigue, territorial disputes and dog-burglars. For murder, mystery, mayhem and milk treading ...join Julius as he prowls deeper and deeper into the crooked underworld of Bast.
250 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
1 person is currently reading
26 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 19, 2009
I really wanted to like this one, honest. A cat centered political thriller? Sounds great!
I think that even though I knew the main character was a cat, what bothered me was the anthropomorphization of the animals. I would have minded less if they had been thinking, speaking cats in our world, than to have them in a distinct world, without man, where they've recreated so many of the messes we have. I would have thought cats would have more sense. But that's just me...
Anyhow, I do look forward to reading the next book in the series, just to see how Smith develops as a writer. So for the concept and the hope of more works that are well written (for even though I was disappointed in some things, it was well written) I'll say overall, I liked it.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
First time novelist Nick Smith was born in Bristol, England in 1972. At the age of 15 he won an award at the Avon Poetry Festival, and has since had poems and articles published in various newspapers and magazines. In 1997 Nick set up The Film School Scotland. His previous book, Scriptwriting: The Secrets Unleashed, is published in the USA.
SYNOPSIS
Life isn’t easy for Julius Kyle, a jaded crime hack with the Post. When he wakes up on a sand barge with his head full of grit he knows things have to change. But how fast they’ll change he doesn’t guess until his best friend Mick jumps to his death off a fifty foot bridge outside the Post’s window. Worst of all, he’s a cat. That means keeping himself scrupulously clean, defending his territory and battling an addiction to milk.
I think that even though I knew the main character was a cat, what bothered me was the anthropomorphization of the animals. I would have minded less if they had been thinking, speaking cats in our world, than to have them in a distinct world, without man, where they've recreated so many of the messes we have. I would have thought cats would have more sense. But that's just me...
Anyhow, I do look forward to reading the next book in the series, just to see how Smith develops as a writer. So for the concept and the hope of more works that are well written (for even though I was disappointed in some things, it was well written) I'll say overall, I liked it.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
First time novelist Nick Smith was born in Bristol, England in 1972. At the age of 15 he won an award at the Avon Poetry Festival, and has since had poems and articles published in various newspapers and magazines. In 1997 Nick set up The Film School Scotland. His previous book, Scriptwriting: The Secrets Unleashed, is published in the USA.
SYNOPSIS
Life isn’t easy for Julius Kyle, a jaded crime hack with the Post. When he wakes up on a sand barge with his head full of grit he knows things have to change. But how fast they’ll change he doesn’t guess until his best friend Mick jumps to his death off a fifty foot bridge outside the Post’s window. Worst of all, he’s a cat. That means keeping himself scrupulously clean, defending his territory and battling an addiction to milk.
October 19, 2017
Quite possibly one of the worst concoctions ever written. Part of it is a cosy little mystery - cats doing cats things in a very twee way - pass me another shot of milk Sam! Part incredibly violent, blood strewn mess. When it gets to its inevitable blood soaked conclusion it’s as though the author simply didn’t know how to end things. Everyone was horrible and nearly everyone died -THE END. In fact the only thing that stopped me from simply not reading to the end was that it was short and I hoped that somehow there was going to be some kind of redemption if not for the characters then at least for the author. But no it’s simply, a badly written book with poorly written characters and no redeeming qualities save for its brevity.
April 21, 2025
Such a different, bold choice. I thoroughly enjoyed this. I loved the style, the mystery, the characters....I highly recommend.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 18, 2011
A political thriller set in a world populated entirely by anthropomorphised cats? A feline noir so to speak. How could I resist?! The burning question though is can such a curious conception actually come together and work as an actual story? The answer, it would seem is, err, no, not really, but it's hard not to admire the originality and the obvious degree of imaginative effort that has gone into conceptualising this complete world of cats.
Perhaps though it is just this excess of imagination that becomes this book's major problem. There is just too much going on for the mind to incorporate that what there is of story and character somehow gets a little lost. The detail is impressive and very funny at times, like cats giving up on boxing by becoming impossibly mesmerised by the bits of string dangling off the gloves. Trying though to consider a city whose mayor is a lion and can talk on a similar level to a cat is another. A problem of scale that is difficult to fit into my little head. In fact that was a problem that eventually turned me away from the sword-fighting animals of my childhood readings. As much I may have tried to resist the slow erosion of imagination by the pounding waves of reality, certain things just don't quite work for me anymore.
It has to be said though that beneath the imaginatively rendered layers of this feline world the story is yet a little difficult to get hold of itself. In fairness I'm not really a reader of the human political thriller, perhaps if I were the tropes of this world might have more resonance for me, but as it is beneath their cattish attributes there seems little particularly interesting about the behaviours and motivations of these beasts. There yet seem certain puzzling holes in their explanations too. Besides which the broad moral themes are laid on with an exceptional thickness. I fear that underneath the furry feline layers there isn't really quite so much of a story really to get out. As much as it is impossible not to admire the imagination of the creation and the conviction to follow through with the theme it is unfortunately rather confusing and beneath all the fur not really as satisfying as perhaps it might have been.
Perhaps though it is just this excess of imagination that becomes this book's major problem. There is just too much going on for the mind to incorporate that what there is of story and character somehow gets a little lost. The detail is impressive and very funny at times, like cats giving up on boxing by becoming impossibly mesmerised by the bits of string dangling off the gloves. Trying though to consider a city whose mayor is a lion and can talk on a similar level to a cat is another. A problem of scale that is difficult to fit into my little head. In fact that was a problem that eventually turned me away from the sword-fighting animals of my childhood readings. As much I may have tried to resist the slow erosion of imagination by the pounding waves of reality, certain things just don't quite work for me anymore.
It has to be said though that beneath the imaginatively rendered layers of this feline world the story is yet a little difficult to get hold of itself. In fairness I'm not really a reader of the human political thriller, perhaps if I were the tropes of this world might have more resonance for me, but as it is beneath their cattish attributes there seems little particularly interesting about the behaviours and motivations of these beasts. There yet seem certain puzzling holes in their explanations too. Besides which the broad moral themes are laid on with an exceptional thickness. I fear that underneath the furry feline layers there isn't really quite so much of a story really to get out. As much as it is impossible not to admire the imagination of the creation and the conviction to follow through with the theme it is unfortunately rather confusing and beneath all the fur not really as satisfying as perhaps it might have been.
May 8, 2015
I enjoyed this mystery set in a world of cats and dogs. I liked how Julian used his "cat smarts" to solve the mystery and how the characters interacted with each other.I look forward to reading the next book, The Kitty Killer Cult.
February 5, 2014
Good but really weird. Like some kind of grainy, gritty, b&w noir detective film, but with cats.
July 29, 2015
For cat lovers and mystery lovers alike.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews