This is deviating a bit more off the track of horror and just straight into sci-fi/fantasy, but trust me, it's so worth it. I finished this book in literally a week, I got that hooked on it.The Rook by Daniel O'Malley starts you off with a woman who has no memory and no clue as to who she is. Yes, it's amnesia, the good old stand-by, but bear with me here. All the she has to go on are a bunch of bodies heaped around her and a letter in the pocket of the jacket she's wearing that her former self had the foresight to write to her. In the letter she finds out that she is, or was, Myfanwy Thomas, a Rook in the supernatural secret service called the Chequey. Before her memory was lost, Myfawny had the power to manipulate others through touch, able to control their very movements and even bend their minds to her will. Oh, and she's also deathly allergic to bee stings. And while her predecessor was kind enough to map all these things out for her (including her job description at the Chequey), she has no idea how she lost her memory or even who is now responsible for it. When first presented with the opportunity, the new Myfawny is ready and raring to start a whole new life as a different person, not an easy thing to do when you have a secret service of super-powered beings keeping tabs on you. But her plan is quickly and violently squashed when more people show up to eliminate her. After that, she decides it would be safer for all involved if she resumes the normal life of Myfanwy Thomas, or rather as normal a life as that could be. When you work with people who can manipulate metal like Magneto or with four "siblings" that are all controlled by the same consciousness, life is bound to be strange, a fact that our poor heroine is destined to find out on her first day on the job. And things don't get easier for her in a hurry, between balancing the paperwork of an entire secret government office, being suspicious of every co-worker, and attempting to fool people into thinking she's no different than the person who walked out of the office on Friday night, Myfawny has her hands full. But when an apparently old and formidable enemy makes their presence known and the Chequey itself seems to tremble in fear of, hell really starts breaking loose.
I know it seems all very complicated, and it is, O'Malley handles the confusion masterfully and never lets the story get ahead of the reader. Not to mention the snarky, sarcastic attitude of the main character will have you laughing within moments of picking up the book. The Rook is a definite new favorite on my ever-increasing shelf.
