Ratcatcher review

[alobear]

Another of my random purchases from Waterstones was Ratcatcher by James McGee. It tells the tale of a Bow Street Runner in Regency London, and his quest to find some important papers stolen from a government courier by a highwayman.

The one thing Ratcatcher is not, is original. Both style and content are filled with a thousand cliches and there's some cringeworthy dialogue sprinkled liberally amongst the intrigue, action and treason.

However, it is damn good fun. It's like one of the those wholly predictable action movies you go to see anyway, just because you like big explosions. The pace is good, the plot is ludicrous but highly entertaining, and the main character is a good companion along the way.

Just as an example:

Towards the end, the hero is captured and tied to a chair on board a moored ship. The evil mastermind then outlines everything he has done so far and lets drop a cryptic hint that will give the hero the key to his evil plan. Then the bad guy exits, leaving a mook who has a personal vendetta against the hero to kill him. At the last moment, the hero's trusty sidekick bursts in and wrestles the mook to the ground, killing him but also accidentally setting fire to the ship during the struggle. This leaves hero, still chained to the deck, and trusty sidekick trying to find the key to the chains in a burning cabin...

You get the idea.

Highly recommended if you want something light and fun, with equal parts excitement and silliness (none of the latter intentional, but present nonetheless).