FLOCK review clip on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SVXG210n4O4

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Set in London, a team of magical beings solve mysteries from their hidden-in-plain sight headquarters. The book takes us through a mysterious journey where things can intertwine and unravel simultaneously.

From murders to macros, this ‘urban thriller’ has it all and the ‘magick’ that is laced on top of what can be seen as a grimy underworld makes it all the more intriguing. The humour throughout is balanced really well.

I particularly enjoyed the author's ability to describe, which at times was almost poetic and it made me feel totally immersed in the story. The characters take hold from the outset and there are loads of weird and wonderful characters that had me laughing out loud.

Really impressed for a debut novel and highly recommend!!

by Boop (via Amazon.co.uk)

Flock isn’t about birds at all. It is about a not-so-secret magical agency housed in London, created to guard the world against threats that might end it. I say not-so-secret because everyone who’s in the know about magic knows about the Office.

I picked this up because I saw glimmers of the tongue-in-cheek humor I enjoy in stories and shows sourced from the UK. I enjoyed those glimmers coming to light in the story, though sometimes I had to double take to realize one did. The ornery printer-copier, the out-of-place video game addiction, the Jedi, and the unremarkable men, all amused me.

I also enjoyed the cast of characters. They were surprising in many ways, humorous and diverse, and highly expressive. On the other hand, I found the use of ‘their’ for the non-human characters to be confusing. It is explained, but I had to remind myself of the explanation as I read. Also, there are a ton of characters in this, a ton, and it felt like I was expected to already have a certain familiarity with them. I can’t tell if this is a sequel, but it sure seems like it is, what with all the established characters seeming to continue on their predetermined character paths. It also seems to have set up for another book, so even if this isn’t a sequel, I’m pretty sure it will have one, if it doesn’t already.

On a similar note, the story works to advance several characters at once, and it handles this by cycling among them rather rapidly, even in ongoing scenes. Paired with the multiple well-established characters whom I had trouble remembering, this made it rather difficult for me to keep up with what was happening to whom. I did eventually get used to the style and pick up on the details that eluded me at the beginning of the reading. By the end, I knew enough to really get into the craziness these folks were getting up to.

Finally, this story was smart in many ways. The humor, the puns, and the witticisms left me chuckling, when I realized they were there. Sometimes I had to pull out the dictionary, many times actually, and I actually highlighted a couple of new words I liked. The plot itself is complex and interrelated, all drawing to a close like a well-formulated mystery novel.

Overall, I enjoyed this story, but it challenged me. I must say folks who enjoy a good urban paranormal with British humor mixed in will likely enjoy this, but I recommend reading this alongside a good cup of tea or caffeine invigorator of choice so as to keep up with the thing. Reading it on the Kindle was very helpful with the handy built in dictionary, which revealed to me the meanings of all but one of the unfamiliar words I encountered in the reading.

I received the review copy of this book from the author via Pure Textuality PR. This review was written for the blog at puretextualitypr.com.

by Trish (via Pure Textuality PR)

Magic, mystery and the paranormal along with lots of laughs in this fun book.

Within London there is a secret organisation called "The Office" where they look after unworldly knowledge and investigate crises that appear. However at the book start there is one of the most important crises - they are out of chocolate digestive biscuits!! Amy and Fletch are bickering when they make a discovery which sets in motion events from a city-wide upsets, a riot and fallout from a powerful enchanted stone. They team together with workmate Tashta and their boss Una as they investigate paranormal mysteries, conspiracy theories and stolen contraband all connected to the stone. Can they survive a hidden agenda and shadowy foe that could prove lethal?

I found this book hard to get into, but having stuck with it I found it an enjoyable read that was both clever and funny. I'm sure you will soon have "feck" as your new swear word as you get used to the language used in this book - which is not bad but definitely amusing. The banter between the characters was really amusing and very enjoyable - the book is almost worth reading just for that! Loads of cool magic, mystery and drama it was a fun read. Well written and very enjoyable.

by Mandy Parmenter (via Amazon.com)