Whats the time, gov? - Rated 
James McGee has in both his books achieved something new and different mainly creating a hero that you can identify with as well as making Regency London real.I have no idea whether it was like this or not, but it makes London seem real and that is all that matters.Hawkwood is human and fallible and I empathised with him. If you want to compare him to other authors,go ahead, I will read his books as enjoyable stories. It's fiction-enjoy it.
Entertaining view of london - Rated
James McGee's second Bow Street Runner novel and one that was entertaining. The darkness of London came through as well as allowing the reader to walk the streets (or pound them in this case) as the body snatchers are hard at work. It worked well and one that will keep the readers wondering how the constable will survive the struggles. Also McGee isn't afraid to drop big names or to use locations famous for the times. As the tale progresses the reader will easily become gripped with the way it explores and probes some of the darkest fears of mankind. Well worth a read.
Should have stayed buried - Rated 
I didn't much like Ratcatcher and I'm not overly impressed with this one, either. As with the previous novel, there is much to be said for the author's description of old London. He does capture the disgusting elements very well. However, as with Ratcatcher, there is no character development again. We do learn a little more about Hawkwood but it's very much preipheral. Strangely, the style of writing is quite different from Ratcatcher which does make it a more mature book. But where's the thrill of the romp? The reader knows how the arch-criminal escapes long before the Bow Street Runner. We know who's doing the killing, the body-snatching and why. There are just too many pages filled with gore and needless descriptions of bits of bodies. Who cares? This is not a medical journal nor is it a horrifying travel through London's underworld. Hawkwood is no Bond nor is he as described by the author when giving a little background to his war-time exploits, a Richard Sharpe. Pity. It might have livened up the action and given the reader a chance to empathise with him. As is stands, rather like the old bones in the resurrectionist's vaults, Hawkwood has very little flesh on him.
Too gory for its own good - Rated 
I liked ratcatcher. I thought it's plot collapsed under its own weight, but there was good period feel and good atmosphere.
This one is weaker. There are good passages - particularly the description of an early operation (which will have every bloke crossing his legs), but far too many elements have been seen in other novels.
The 'cutting off of the face thing to escape from prison' is from Silence of the Lambs; the 'smells of the city defines it' is from Perfume and the body part surgery reeks of Lovecraft's Re-Animator and, for that matter, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
The most shocking part of the book is the historical note, where the author reveals how much of the medical practice is true. He also, rather revealingly, says he ommitted some details about the storage of dead bodies because he could not work it into a credible story. In my view, the whole book suffers from this. Body snatching ain't nice. Early medical experiments ain't nice either. This is meant to be a period romp, it's meant to be fun, but it's way too grisly. At the end of the novel, I had to ask myself, is such gore and slime 'entertaining?' Really, I didn't think so.
The denoument isn't clever; it's just our boy Hawkwood shooting people. Two hundred pages of characterization and, bang, you're dead. The sidekick character - Jago - is an afterthought and worked into the action for no good reason whatsoever.
I am genuinely surprised that people are comparing this stuff to Bernard Cornwell, a writer who combines exciting plots with characters you care about. At the end of this, I was just glad it was over. I certainly didn't want more.
The irony is that the author has created a decent character who really should become a series, maybe he will, but these are getting worse.
Another great book - Rated
If you enjoyed Ratcatcher then you will like this book. I find that James McGees books have a real bernard cornwell feel to them and the main character harkwood reminds me of sharpe.In fact if I didn't know better I would say that Bernard Cornwell had written them.
In this book Harkwood is chasing after an escaped madman and bodysnatchers. A great book
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