Bob Howard - a T-shirt-wearing computer geek and field agent for the super-secret British government agency The Laundry - must save the world from eldritch horrors, codenamed Jennifer Morgue, in this fast-paced spy thriller. Bob's current mission is to stop the evil Ellis Billington from achieving world domination, but he must overcome obstacles including the Gravedust device, which permits communication with the dead; destiny-entanglement protocol; banishment weapons; and Ramona Random, a lethal but beautiful agent for the U.S. counterpart to The Laundry. Billington plans to raise the eldritch horror Jennifer Morgue from the vasty deeps, and communicate with a dead warrior for the purpose of ruling the world. Blending physics and applied mathematics with the practice of summoning and demonology, this spy-meets-horror novel will keep sci-fi fans on the edge of their seats. This volume also includes a bonus story, "Pimpf", featuring agent Bob Howard in the world of virtual gaming, as well as an afterword entitled The Golden Age of Spying.
The Jennifer Morgue: Number 2 in The Laundry Files
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
"A brauvera display of intelligent action and real human characters amid eldritch menaces!" "--"S. M. Stirling, author,"" "Island in the Sea of Time" trilogy
Book Description
The second volume in The Laundry Files - a series that combines spy fiction with the supernatural, where George Smiley and MI6 meet Lovecraft and Harry Dresden.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By Christopher Halo
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
The Jennifer Morgue is a direct sequel to The Atrocity Archives which I reviewed earlier this year (and loved).
When billionaire, Ellis Billington, tries to get his hands on a piece of forbidden technology that's been hidden in the depths of the sea for millenia by things with too many tentacles and not enough arms (aka aliens!), there's only one man good enough to stop him.
That man is Bond, James Bo... Erm, Howard, Bob Howard...
As usual with Stross, this book is packed with plenty of ideas. It's also much more laugh-out-loud funny than The Atrocity Archives.
"I'm going flat out at maybe a hundred and fifty kilometers per hour on the autobahn while some joker is shooting at me from behind with a cannon that fires Porsche's and Mercedes'."
There was perhaps, a bit too much info-dumping with regards to mathematical stuff and computer... stuff. Maths and computery-stuff are to me, what Marmite is to a jellyfish: meaningless, but avoidable. There wasn't too much though, and the story soon pulled off like an Aston Martin DB9 being chased by demon-possessed zombies...
The Jennifer Morgue didn't quite end right for me, though. The penultimate chapter concluded very satisfyingly, tying up loose ends and leaving a natural resolution to all the plotlines that Stross had (yet again!) woven into an excellent and richly developed story. I fully expected the story to end there. Instead, there was another chapter that seemed largely unrelated to the rest of the book and would have, I think, made a suitable opening chapter for another Laundry book. Nothing wrong with that particular chapter, just out of place.
Stross did though, escape the trap of filling the reader in too much on earlier events.... Read more ›
When billionaire, Ellis Billington, tries to get his hands on a piece of forbidden technology that's been hidden in the depths of the sea for millenia by things with too many tentacles and not enough arms (aka aliens!), there's only one man good enough to stop him.
That man is Bond, James Bo... Erm, Howard, Bob Howard...
As usual with Stross, this book is packed with plenty of ideas. It's also much more laugh-out-loud funny than The Atrocity Archives.
"I'm going flat out at maybe a hundred and fifty kilometers per hour on the autobahn while some joker is shooting at me from behind with a cannon that fires Porsche's and Mercedes'."
There was perhaps, a bit too much info-dumping with regards to mathematical stuff and computer... stuff. Maths and computery-stuff are to me, what Marmite is to a jellyfish: meaningless, but avoidable. There wasn't too much though, and the story soon pulled off like an Aston Martin DB9 being chased by demon-possessed zombies...
The Jennifer Morgue didn't quite end right for me, though. The penultimate chapter concluded very satisfyingly, tying up loose ends and leaving a natural resolution to all the plotlines that Stross had (yet again!) woven into an excellent and richly developed story. I fully expected the story to end there. Instead, there was another chapter that seemed largely unrelated to the rest of the book and would have, I think, made a suitable opening chapter for another Laundry book. Nothing wrong with that particular chapter, just out of place.
Stross did though, escape the trap of filling the reader in too much on earlier events.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By The Emperor
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This was very enjoyable. Immensely silly, but in a good way.
This is a pretty amusing novel and there were moments when it seemed slightly obvious and maybe a little ridiculous but despite that it is very cleverly constructed.
The actions scenes were surprisingly impressive and the whole background of his laundry series of books is very well done. Angleton is a great character.
At times I thought that maybe it was a smidgen too long and conversely, that the ending was a trifle rushed. Despite these minor quibbles I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
He is a very entertaining writer and I thought that this was just as inventive as the atrocity archives but was significantly better written.
The afterword was very interesting and thoughtful.
This is a pretty amusing novel and there were moments when it seemed slightly obvious and maybe a little ridiculous but despite that it is very cleverly constructed.
The actions scenes were surprisingly impressive and the whole background of his laundry series of books is very well done. Angleton is a great character.
At times I thought that maybe it was a smidgen too long and conversely, that the ending was a trifle rushed. Despite these minor quibbles I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
He is a very entertaining writer and I thought that this was just as inventive as the atrocity archives but was significantly better written.
The afterword was very interesting and thoughtful.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Christopher Burns
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Bob Howard, SysAdmin and Occult Ops. field operative for The Laundry, continues to have an interesting life. Here, his destiny is entangled with a demon, and he's charged with stopping a billionaire megalomaniac from awakening the Old Ones at the bottom of the ocean, and hastening the onset of CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN - and all without blowing his expense account. If you've read The Atrocity Archives, you'll know some of what I mean; if not, I haven't spoiled anything for you and you have some pleasantly diverting reading to do.
Stross's writing style is very accomodating without being patronisingly simple, and I read through this over the course of a few day's worth of train trips. Bob, his main character, has an amusing inner monologue which portrays the clear contempt Stross has for modern executive corporate work practises (and handily serves as a narrative since the book is basically a first-person account), and somewhat oddly this is also a book about how mathematics and physics are actually the basis of demonology (the "demons" in these books are actually extra-dimensional aliens, albeit highly dangerous ones who aren't always sentient). The plot begins to creak a bit once the major plot exposition is underway around the final third of the book, and although this strays into sci-fiction horror, it actually begins to become slightly ridiculous rather than engaging - slightly "schlock", if you ask me. I didn't like where the "James Bond" theme was going, and it kept going right up till the afterword.
The previous novel, The Atrocity Archives (actually a collection of related short stories), is the better bet here, in my opinion. The Jennifer Morgue isn't a bad book, and I enjoyed reading it - but the prequel is better, I think.
Stross's writing style is very accomodating without being patronisingly simple, and I read through this over the course of a few day's worth of train trips. Bob, his main character, has an amusing inner monologue which portrays the clear contempt Stross has for modern executive corporate work practises (and handily serves as a narrative since the book is basically a first-person account), and somewhat oddly this is also a book about how mathematics and physics are actually the basis of demonology (the "demons" in these books are actually extra-dimensional aliens, albeit highly dangerous ones who aren't always sentient). The plot begins to creak a bit once the major plot exposition is underway around the final third of the book, and although this strays into sci-fiction horror, it actually begins to become slightly ridiculous rather than engaging - slightly "schlock", if you ask me. I didn't like where the "James Bond" theme was going, and it kept going right up till the afterword.
The previous novel, The Atrocity Archives (actually a collection of related short stories), is the better bet here, in my opinion. The Jennifer Morgue isn't a bad book, and I enjoyed reading it - but the prequel is better, I think.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Like its predecessor, The Atrocity Archives, and its successor, The Fuller Memorandum, The Jennifer Morgue is hilarious. A brilliant play on the classic spy/James Bond mythos, it manages to both poke fun at this archetype and subvert it. Everyone has seen at least one Bond film and the debate over who is the true Bond is eternal--it's Sean Connery of course, no contest. But given the fact that everyone knows at least some Bond, this is a very accessible novel for readers new to speculative fiction. It also makes it easier to catch most of the pop culture references Stross scatters throughout his story.
Bob's sidekick in this novel, Ramona, was awesome. A combination of both the good and the bad Bond girl, she was the perfect partner in this adventure. Her chemistry with Bob was more than just caused by her glamour and their entanglement. I liked that the more Bob saw of the 'true' Ramona, the more he was attracted to her, instead of in lust with her. Again, this is such a cliché, both in books and films, but it works beautifully in this book to create tension between not just Bob and Ramona, but also between Bob and Mo, his partner. The latter tension is not just because of jealousy issues but also because we as the reader see how hard Mo is working to get to Bob, while Bob is slowly getting closer to Ramona, despite still wanting to be with Mo.
The bad guy was classic as well, and scarily current, what with #occupywallstreet and the growing distrust of the mega rich and large corporations. He even has a cat to stroke and a secret lair! His methods to world domination are pretty eerie and scary, but Stross' final proof that PowerPoint is an instrument of evil had me in stitches, because who hasn't fought with PowerPoint at some point when preparing a presentation?... Read more ›
Bob's sidekick in this novel, Ramona, was awesome. A combination of both the good and the bad Bond girl, she was the perfect partner in this adventure. Her chemistry with Bob was more than just caused by her glamour and their entanglement. I liked that the more Bob saw of the 'true' Ramona, the more he was attracted to her, instead of in lust with her. Again, this is such a cliché, both in books and films, but it works beautifully in this book to create tension between not just Bob and Ramona, but also between Bob and Mo, his partner. The latter tension is not just because of jealousy issues but also because we as the reader see how hard Mo is working to get to Bob, while Bob is slowly getting closer to Ramona, despite still wanting to be with Mo.
The bad guy was classic as well, and scarily current, what with #occupywallstreet and the growing distrust of the mega rich and large corporations. He even has a cat to stroke and a secret lair! His methods to world domination are pretty eerie and scary, but Stross' final proof that PowerPoint is an instrument of evil had me in stitches, because who hasn't fought with PowerPoint at some point when preparing a presentation?... Read more ›
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 60 reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant and funny, but deeply disturbing
Stross picks his influences carefully, and then researches them in greater depth than you might imagine, for a novel in this genre. Read more
Published 9 days ago by D. S. Thalenberg
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not as good as other Laundry books
Enjoyed reading this but it's not as good as the other Laundry novels.
Story line got too complex for its own good and suffered somewhat under the weight of various... Read more
Story line got too complex for its own good and suffered somewhat under the weight of various... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Xerxes13
5.0 out of 5 stars
A man out of his depth
This is hard to put down, it careers along dragging the hapless hero along behind it. Mayhem from start to finish, magic is dangerous stuff when it's real, computers make it a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by A. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly good
I generally enjoy Charles Stross and am working my way through his novels. This one was complex and interesting. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Mark Lovell
4.0 out of 5 stars
Keep them coming please.
Usual good service re. delivery etc. The story is a good addition to the Laundry Files series, which is a sort of cross between "The Ipcress Files" and H.P. Read more
Published 3 months ago by I. Baxter
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great James Bond linkage
Good story albeit slightly convoluted, but lack of understanding from the main character is really what makes the book work. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. Paul Ronan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another masterpiece from Charles Stross
An enthralling book which I found difficult to put down. Excellent plot with good characterisation. I await with eager anticipation the next in the series,
Published 4 months ago by tonygib
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great take on english lovecraft modern horror
This book is number two of four in a fantastic modern horror, that involves humor, lovecraft, and gadgets. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. T. Dure
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable Start
This is a reasonable start to a new series. Thinking about magic in terms of maths is an or starts to find his interesting and new take- though something that takes some getting... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Kezzadoc
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cthulhu meets James Bond
An excellent book, one of the "can't put it down" category, and part of a highly recommended series. Just a shame there are so few of them.
Published 8 months ago by Dr. Stephen Culshaw
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
