The Devil in Amber

Gatiss brings Lucifer Box back for further adventures in this sequel to The Vesuvius Club, and he makes an interesting choice in aging Box considerably and thus moving his setting from the Edwardian period to the Jazz Age. While the humor is still here, and Gatiss's delight in creating a pastiche of spy stories what have gone before is still evident, the tone has changed somewhat; Box is middle-aged now, and it shows. He's still irreverent and witty and loves a good pun, and his abilities as a secret agent (despite his concerns about same) are still sharp, but he's been touched by some sadness since we've last seen him; he's a little life-worn, and that confirms suspicions from The Vesuvius Club that were he to let his mask fall for show more more than a moment, we'd see someone of a good deal more substance than he'd care to let on.

I enjoyed the plot of The Devil in Amber more than that of the first book. The mystery of The Vesuvius Club has more than a touch of the silly to it and while that was fun, I was never quite invested in it as a plot where our hero is in danger (nor do I think one is really meant to be). The stakes are higher in The Devil in Amber, perhaps because things are more personal for Box this time around. And, it's post-WWI, and, well, the world has changed. The Devil in Amber is only obliquely about WWI, but it does thread through the novel, and the moments when the ways the war have touched Box's life poke through the story are those which elevate the novel above just a competently-done spy novel. Recommended. show less

Twenty years after the events of "The Vesuvius Club", portrait painter and spy Lucifer Box is as witty, self-centred and vain as ever, but age is catching up with him. Changes in artistic fashions mean that his portraits are no longer in demand, younger spies are snapping at his heels and the Great War has taken its toll.

In this book he gets involved in investigating Olympus Mons, the leader of F.A.U.S.T (the Fascist Anglo-United States Tribune), an American fascist organisation whose members are known as Amber Shirts. This leads him from New York to a Norfolk convent and on to a castle on the French/Swiss border, following Olympus Mons, who turns out to have a rather unorthodox plan for gaining power.

Fast, cheeky, engrossing, and just as amusing as the original. Lucifer Box does it again, tangled up in another supernatural mystery that requires him to save the world, with the help of some very stalwart companions.If you're looking for a deep, complicated mystery that keeps you guessing until the last moment, the Lucifer Box novels aren't for you. If you're looking for a cheeky, witty, fast-paced thriller set between the world wars and incorporating a whole lot of British wit and wisdom (along with some supernatural elements), then you may just find a new favourite.Glib, slick, and utterly unrestrained in his sexual tastes, Lucifer Box makes James Bond look like a bumbling fool. He's self-absorbed, a bit clueless at points, and show more utterly unconcerned with the greater ramifications of his work as a secret agent for the Crown - except when he is, and when he is, he's in the thick of things and quite skilled at what he does. Told in the first person, this book is a fluffy little delight to read, mostly because Lucifer's voice is so nonchalant and smooth. A delight, from start to finish, even if you do figure out the plot well before Lucifer does... show less

Fun period pastiche of half a hundred things—from the pulp novels of the 20s and 30s, to James Bond, to the Da Vinci Code—which doesn't have quite the energy and verve of its predecessor, but which compensates for that with better pacing. This is not a life-changing book by any means, but as two hours of bonkers bisexual spy caper escapism (Lucifer Box "rides the number 38 bus as well as the number 19", as he puts it), it's well worth the read.

Lucifer Box is such a wonderful anti-hero who must be admired as much for his instinct of self-preservation and propensity to scream in fright as for his derring-do. Gatiss's novel is at once utterly silly (conjuring the devil) and poignant (the aging anti-hero mourning the loss of lovers and friends in the Great War), but interestingly not inconsistent. The only way to describe this book is "jolly good fun"!

The second book in the Lucifer Box series. This one is set 20 years after The Vesuvius Club and gets off to a really slow start. I just about managed to hang in through the first 60 pages and then, thankfully, things improved. Lucifer is feeling his age (as well as the bellhop at the hotel he's staying at) and goes to great lengths to let his audience know about it. Once he quits complaining and gets on with his job he's back to his usual likeable self. This time around he's tasked with watching Olympus Mons, the leader of a fascist movement that's making waves on both sides of the Atlantic, and find out what his plans are. This simple assignment soon goes awry when he's betrayed from within his own organisation and left to take the show more fall for a murder he didn't commit. Managing to escape from custody, can Lucifer follow the clues to stop Mons from literally raising Hell and also get revenge on his betrayer at the same time?

Once past the slow beginning then the rest of the book flies by and that's why I'll probably continue with book 3 at some point (as long as it pops up cheap somewhere) but I'm in no hurry to rush out and buy it immediately. Just on a precautionary note, this book does contain scenes of a sexual (MM & MF) and violent nature so be warned if that's not your cup of tea. show less

Somewhat disappointing after the somewhat Bond-like frivolity of the first Lucifer Box novel. There we had a suitably outrageous villain, complete with a base inside a volcano. The fantasy was based on people doing and being outrageous things and I enjoyed the escapism.

In contrast, the fantasy here has changed to some kind of bizarre hammer horror devil summoning cult. Which, for me at least, was just a bit too dark and not quite silly enough. There was plenty of intrigue, plotting and double-crossing which I did appreciate, don't get me wrong. But somehow it all just got overshadowed by the overblown ending, which just didn't work for me at all. I fear this may be my last Lucifer Box read.