This double review is all about Scoundrels, an exclusive gentlemen's club where even King George was the barman, and they follow the memoirs of two or the members, Major Victor Cornwall and Major St. John Trevelyan. Both books were sold to me as being funny and historically inaccurate fiction. What's not to love?
Scoundrels
Meet Major Cornwall and Major Trevelyan, two British ex-spies whose exploits are legendary...or are they? This book tells their history in their own words, and often they have very different memories of the same event. They exaggerate everything and argue all the time. Constantly trying to out-do each other, they tell the reader about their WWII, their pranks and about their sexual exploits. This is definitely a book for adults!
I really enjoyed this book. The humour is quite infantile at times, but also brilliantly clever, and pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. The Major's differing views on events lead to some clearly embarrassing moments, and it all worked well together. The characters are believable in a Bertie Wooster kind of way, if he were a lecherous spy without Jeeves to help him. I'm not saying this is on a par with Wodehouse, because it's not, but I can see a very tenuous connection between the characters.
On the downside, perhaps the unpredictable nature of the book makes it almost too predictable. The writing itself isn't the most amazing, but I still really, really enjoyed this read.
Star rating: 4/5
This book is out now
Scoundrels: The Hunt For Hansclapp
Following straight on from the events in the first volume, the Majors find that their nemesis, Hansclapp, is at large and is after a very slow, very serious revenge. With the help of Anais, Trevelyan's newly adopted daughter, and Titan, Cornwall's son/gorilla, they travel all over the world in their quest to bring him to justice...but their club has a rat, and they constantly find themselves one step behind.
I'm actually in two minds about this second volume. Overall, I think it is much better than the first, with better plotting and new, believable characters. However, it seems that the Majors writing became too focused on something they would lose, and on their problems, rather on the mission and the pranks. For me, this distracted me from the pleasure the story generally brought to me.
That said, this is still an excellent read, and well worth a go. I can't wait for part three!
Star Rating: 4/5
This book is out now
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