Discover new books on Goodreads

Meet your next favorite book

1851 ratings (3.32 avg)
1722 reviews
more photos (1)

#57 best reviewers
#24 top reviewers

Andy

https://www.goodreads.com/lastsurvivor

Andy’s Bookshelves

to-read‎ (60)
currently-reading‎ (25)
read‎ (1920)
did-not-finish‎ (5)
library-or-borrowed‎ (543)
comics‎ (434)
audiobook‎ (311)
illustrated‎ (186)
kindle‎ (156)
spider-man‎ (130)
short-stories‎ (114)

2020‎ (98)
read-pre-goodreads‎ (96)
2021‎ (90)
2023‎ (90)
2022‎ (77)
2025‎ (74)
2014‎ (70)
2024‎ (65)
2013‎ (62)
2019‎ (62)
creature-features-from-my-youth‎ (62)

2010‎ (61)
2011‎ (60)
2018‎ (60)
2015‎ (56)
prize-winners‎ (55)
2016‎ (54)
2008‎ (52)
2012‎ (52)
2009‎ (46)
poirot‎ (46)
2026‎ (45)

2017‎ (43)
2006‎ (35)
discworld‎ (34)
autobiography‎ (30)
hugos-2020‎ (22)
2007‎ (21)
travel‎ (11)
bathroom-books‎ (9)
cookbooks‎ (7)
anthology‎ (3)

Stats | More…

Andy is Currently Reading

Andy is currently reading

The Killer Isn't Alice: The Bestselling Interactive Murder Mystery Puzzle Book - 46,600 Suspects, 1 Killer. Can You Solve the Crime? (International Edition)

by Iris Starling

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 29, 2026 03:25AM

Andy is currently reading

The Monogram Murders

by Sophie Hannah (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: 2017, kindle, poirot, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in February 2017

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Andy said: " It's been said before but I'll state again for the record that Agatha Christie is a genius and Poirot is my favourite literary creation of all time (even more than Esme Weatherwax and Frankenstein's Monster). How could I resist a new Poirot book? Tre It's been said before but I'll state again for the record that Agatha Christie is a genius and Poirot is my favourite literary creation of all time (even more than Esme Weatherwax and Frankenstein's Monster). How could I resist a new Poirot book? Trepidation abounds at the thought of a new writer taking on a beloved iconic character but then I really liked The House of Silk and read all the Bond continuations in my early teens. But Poirot...

I ummed and ahhed for a while as to whether I should wait until finishing all the Poirot books (I've got about 15 to go) but decided that I wanted to read it now in case it wasn't that good. I didn't want it to be the last thing I read of him.

Well. I have mixed feelings. It's probably a little better than 2 stars and I did enjoy it at times but there's a lot that's just wrong. Primarily, Catchpool. What a terrible character. Whining, petty, inept, wrapped up in his own internal psychological trauma which is neither interesting, nor seemingly that traumatic nor actually relevant to the plot at all. His constant self flagellation and attempts to derail the investigation just became a complete distraction. Why the hell couldn't Poirot have teamed up with Hastings? He may have been simple and inept but Christie wrote him with a fondness and I just don't buy Poirot's devotion to this new guy.

On the flipside, we get Fee Spring who is a nice character, full of vim and spark and a nice foil to P. More of her please. Plus, the supporting cast and prime suspects make for a suitably motley lot.

The mystery is intriguing (in particular, the concept at the heart of it has a suitably grimy and malevolent taste) but over time the book sags into overwritten bloat, especially the denouement. P seems to get stuck placing great weight on arguing the semantics of correct grammar which felt a bit of a stretch (the only point where I sided with Catchpool who takes him to task about it) while it's needlessly convoluted in explanation. Christie excelled in convoluted contrivances but had a deft lightness of touch and style which sold it. Hannah doesn't (but then really, who does?).

Does P feel like P? Our little funny man with his green eyes, little grey cells, egg shaped head and the terrific moustaches? Almost. I think this was the closest she came to emulating the wonderful Christie. It's very easy to caricature him and she mostly managed to avoid this. The ending though started to unravel a lot of the goodness and ultimately I couldn't quite accept him. Close but not quite.

I find it hard to pin it down but it also didn't feel like a period story. There was too much a hint of modernity in the telling (I think particularly with Catchpool's tortured soul) and the style that betrayed the era it was written.

So, not a bad attempt, could have been a lot worse but definitely not Christie. I think the average thriller reader would find something to joy, the Poirot fan probably is going to find it harder to accept. I see she's written another and I think for all the faults I would give it a chance. I'm just glad I've got plenty of originals still to read. ...more "

Feb 27, 2017 06:41AM · see review

Andy is currently reading

The Top Secret Undercover Notes of Buttons McGinty

by Rhys Darby

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 26, 2026 12:01AM

See all 25 books that Andy is reading…

Andy’s Quotes

“...no-one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away... The span of someone's life, they say, is only the core of their actual existence.”
― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

117 likes

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Jingo

tags: humor, proverb

12993 likes

“My experience of life is that it is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky.”
― Alan Moore

tags: life

6793 likes

“Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn't believing. It's where belief stops, because it isn't needed any more.”
― Terry Pratchett

tags: pyramids

486 likes