The Rook – Daniel O’Malley

Imagine waking up in a London park surrounded by bodies, with no memory of who you are—only a letter in your pocket that starts, “Dear You, the body you’re wearing used to be mine.” That’s page one. The Rook is what happens when bureaucratic spy thrillers crash into X-Men and decide to have a pint together.

It’s weird, witty, and filled with psychic ducks, slime monsters, and one of the best deadpan narrators in modern fantasy. Myfanwy Thomas (the new one, anyway) must run a secret agency protecting Britain from supernatural nonsense—all while pretending she remembers how to do her job. Spoiler: she absolutely doesn’t.

It’s part horror, part comedy, part “what if James Bond worked for Hogwarts.” Completely absurd and completely brilliant.

Supernatural bureaucracy has never been this fun—or this gloriously messy.

Rating: ☕👁️‍🗨️🧠💼😂