Redheaded Reviews: Stiletto by Daniel O'Malley

In this sequel to The Rook, the merger between the Grafters and the Checquy is taking place. The Grafters are believers in science and are way far ahead of today's scienctists to the point that they are deemed unnatural by the Checquy and the Checquy have supernatural abilities that make them seem scary to the Grafters. Both sides hate each other going back to the 1600s when the Grafters invaded England and lost and King Charles II had them all killed off and their research burned. However, some escaped with some research and remained in hiding until now.

Ernst, the head of the Grafters is hiding something. There is a group out there hunting down his people and it turns out that they have followed them to England. He doesn't want to tell Rook Thomas who is brokering the deal because he is afraid it will destroy the deal so he plans on dealing with it himself. He sends his best soldiers after them and they all get killed.

His descendant, Odette, is a bit of a mess. She can't seem to go a day without destroying an outfit. The first one gets blood on it when she tries to help someone in the medical area where she was touring when someone came in injured. As she is a surgeon she jumped in to help to hold onto a blood vessel. He was going to lose a foot but she said she could save it. That's when they found out she was a Grafter and the mood turned sour and she was taken from the room. The next day her dress got ruined by someone who emitted a smoke of some sort onto it while he told her off. The next day her and her new minder Felicity Clemmens who has the ability to touch an object and see inside it and know its history are sent to look at a giant whale-like creature that Felicity needs to see inside of. Of course, Odette grabs at the chance to go inside the creature through one of its blowholes. Then the animal wakes up and both Felicity and Odette and the group she's with are stuck inside the animal and they must be blasted out with fire. Her next outfit gets bloody from trying to help her Uncle Marcel try to save Rook Thomas's life at the Ascot.

Someone keeps trying to grab Odette, but Felicity stops them every time. Odette's friends and Uncle were all killed by the group called the Antagonists who are the ones that are after the Grafters and are also now going after the Checquy and are the ones trying to kidnap Odette. Who are these Antagonists? Can the Grafters be trusted? They're not being honest with the Checquy. The Antagonists will make a huge statement harming many people all over the United Kingdom. They don't care who they hurt. They want to disrupt the negotiations between the Checquy and the Grafters.

This book was a worthy successor to the first book. I love Felicity. She would rather fight off ten attackers than go to a fancy party. Odette, you feel sorry for because she just wants to help people with her surgeon's skills which are quite excellent and she isn't allowed to do so very often because of people's ignorance of science. It's also nice to see Rook Thomas again. I do hope that O'Malley writes another book in this series. This was a fabulous book and I give it five out of five stars.

Quotes

Fine. Go, then. Strive not to get killed. You’ve no idea how much it would inconvenience me.

-Daniel O’Malley (Stiletto p 56)

The difference between a security guard and a prison guard is one order from the boss.

-Daniel O’Malley (Stiletto p 90)

Oh, I’m sure you think you do, but you’re still young. It takes decades to really hate someone.

-Daniel O’Malley (Stiletto p 232)

“So you clone things?” “We can,” said Marcel. “We don’t, though, not usually. Of course, we grow bits of people, but we don’t make whole people.” “Why not?” asked Eckhart. “We prefer to have sex,” said Ernst. “Plus, anyone who wants to clone himself is usually an asshole. You don’t want any more of those running around than absolutely necessary.”

-Daniel O’Malley (Stiletto p 408)

“I hate to say it, but his dress is the worst crime against nature I have ever seen in my life.” Felicty cringed a little. The dress lay on the bed, malignant and resentful, like an angry jellyfish. It was technically an evening gown, in the same way that dirt is technically edible. The benighted designer was apparently committed to the principle of “accentuate the negative” and had made the assumption that whoever wore it would have cubical breasts. There were folds and pleats where God and decreed that no folds or pleats ought ever to be, and some sort of structure had been built into the back giving the impression of a prolapsed bustle. The Color could perhaps have been described as sky blue, but it was the blue of a sky that would drive even the cheeriest and most tuneful of novice nuns to slash her wrists. It was a blue that had given up.

-Daniel O’Malley (Stiletto p 461)

Good to see combat, anyways. Do me proud. Endeavor not to get killed or eaten. Oh, and don’t forget to wear your coat.

-Daniel O’Malley (Stiletto p 500)