Vandermeer's tendency towards self-involved post-modern pyrotechnics undermines this final novel in the Ambergris cycle. Finch is a melting-pot of styles, allusions, and genres (new weird, dystopian, political, noir), referencing mainly Vandermeer's own work. While the plot moves quickly, and Vandermeer's knack for the kind of surreal imagery that haunts dreams and fires neurons remains intact, the central 'mystery' is a cheat. Finch is a novel that requires a working knowledge of Ambergrisian politics, historical figures, and geography - indeed the twist that comes in the middle section of the novel involves Shriek (a novel Vandermeer published a couple of years ago) showing up as an actual object in this novel. Therefore, Finch would be pretty inaccessible to those unfamiliar with Ambergris. And, because it is ultimately a shallow novel, whose conceits turn in upon themselves to feed like a skeery!, there really isn't much point in reading it. ( )

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Not since Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, with its oppressive depiction of a world overrun by decay and kipple, have I felt the walls of a fictional world close about and suffocate me so effectively. It's perverse, but Ambergris is a a beautifully ugly city, and Vandermeer is a loving tour guide who does not shy away from the seedy back alleyways.

Despite its fantastical trappings, Finch is hard-boiled noir through to its infected heart. John Finch is the prototypical loner cop, hiding from his past and simply trying to survive (think Bogart's Rick Blaine mixed with his Marlowe). There are code words, and femme fatales, and dastardly criminals, and red herrings, and goons, and betrayals. There are also numerous blows to the head; John Finch may hold the record for most times knocked unconscious within seventy-two hours.

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"When viewed in the context of the whole Ambergris trilogy, Finch is most notable for the new direction it takes, into the noir world of hardboiled crime fiction and pulp detective stories. Even the sentence structure, often employing telegraphic prose without sentence subjects, is affected. There's no reason to expect success in this addition of yet another genre layer onto the already innovative blend of genres that Mr. VanderMeer's work displays. In fact, when I first read about the book, I was fairly certain that it wouldn't work. I was wrong of course. This new angle raises both noir fiction and the Ambergris cycle to new levels. I'm not sure how enjoyable traditional noir works will be after having read Finch."

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