The Anarchist's Club by Alex Reeve

Alex Reeve is a new author to me so I had no previous knowledge of Leo Stanhope and the set up surrounding this tale.  It made no difference at all, within a few pages it was very clear what Leo was hiding from the world and just how dangerous his secret was.  I also felt right at home with the characters and the location very early on; there is a little bit of referencing the first book here and there but no over recapping so if you have read the first one there is no need to skip pages of tedious stuff you already know.  If you haven't read the first one you don't feel like you are missing out on any vital information by jumping in with this book and it works well as a standalone.  That said I will be purchasing The House On Half Moon Street and reading out of order.

One of the great joys of this book was, for me, the world created on the page.  There are no flowery descriptions of the privations of Victorian London, just a few matter of fact words to conjure the place in all it's festering glory.  Somehow this paucity of words allowed the reader a much more fluid experience and somehow brought the streets to life in your head.  This technique is employed throughout the book so whether in Sir Reginald Thackeray's withdrawing room, the Calcutta Theatre, Mrs Flower's Pie Shop or even The Anarchist's Club itself you really felt like you were there; all achieved with a handful of words instead of a handful of pages (if you can't tell one of my pet peeves in Historical Fiction is lengthy descriptive passages).

I found Leo Stanhope to be a bit of a difficult character to actually like.  Whilst I could empathise with the situation he is in, there was just something about him that irritated me.  His behaviour towards others can be downright reprehensible and he just doesn't seem to see that some of the hostility he faces is not because the secret but because he can be a bit of a prat.  On the other side of that coin I did find myself wanting him to come good in the end and to stay safely outside the asylum.

The plot itself is fairly straightforward and explained well in the publisher's blurb.  What it doesn't prepare you for is the richness of the location, the fully rounded characters and the simple joy of story telling that leaps off the page.  One of my favourite characters is Peregrine Black and he appears in a total of about 10 pages throughout the book so that gives you an idea of how well constructed this world is.  The only thing that let it down is that some of the murder mystery element all felt a bit muddled and as though it had to be pulled together to meet the deadline rather than unfolding naturally.

Great entertainment and, despite all the peril, a relaxing read.

THIS IS AN HONEST AND UNBIASED REVIEW OF A FREE COPY OF THE BOOK RECEIVED VIA THE PIGEONHOLE.