Holt, Tom Books

The Better Mousetrap

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Very imaginative, funny tale 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is the second book by Tom Holt that I have read. The first was "Falling Sideways" and I'm grateful that the plot of this one was easier to keep track of.

Frank Carpenter owns a portable door and goes about his life zipping through time and space at will, occasionally making millions of dollars working for an insurance company.

Frank is sent to prevent the death of (and therefore payout of life insurance for) a pest control worker (dragonslayer) named Emily Spitzer (I'm not sure why the Product Description says her name is Jane) who doesn't seem to have much luck staying alive, no matter how many times he goes back to save her.

From there the story becomes interesting, with lots of laugh-out-loud punchlines involving big business, Americans, and true love.

The ending seems a bit rushed and thrown together, but that's fine since the story as a whole is paced well and keeps you guessing.

I keep mentally comparing Tom Holt to Douglas Adams, and I think fans of DNA will appreciate this author. Thumbs up!

Editorial Review:

It touches all our lives; our triumphs and tragedies, our proudest achievements, our most traumatic disasters. Alloyed of love and fear, death and fire, and the inscrutable acts of the gods, insurance is indeed the force that binds the universe together. Hardly surprising, therefore, that Frank Carpenter, one of the foremost magical practitioners of our age, felt himself irresistibly drawn to it. Until, that is, he met Jane, a high-flying corporate heroine with an annoying habit of falling out of trees and getting killed. Repeatedly. It's not long before Frank and Jane find themselves face to face with the greatest enigma of our times: When is a door not a door? When it's a mousetrap.

Snow White and the Seven Samurai

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Industrial-strength goofiness, just what I wanted 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Good stories stay good, even when told a different way. In "A Midsummer Night's Dream," for example, we have the fantastical realm, the powerful but fallible beings who transform others, and of course, the ones transformed. And, the steady stream of hilarious asides.

Okay, Holt isn't Shakespeare, but he does a good job with the same story elements. Yes, we wake up at the end and find that it was all a dream, or something like that, except that some people don't wake up and just dream on.

Not heavy reading, by any means, but it does a nice job filling the gap between Pratchett's releases.

Editorial Review:

Once upon a time, everything was fine. Humpty Dumpty sat on his wall, Jack and Jill went about their lawful business, the Big Bad Wolf did what big bad wolves do, and the wicked queen plotted murder most foul. But the humans hacked, cried havoc, shut down the wicked queen's system, and corrupted her database—and suddenly everything was not fine at all. But at least we know that they'll all live happily ever after. Don't we? Computers and fairy tales collide to hilarious effect in the latest sparkling cocktail of mayhem, wit, and wonder from the master of comic fantasy.

The Portable Door

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

One of his best 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a book so hilarious that I have repeated bits of the jokes in two settings in the two days since I finished it (the bit about Chekov. And this one little joke made people laugh so hard that tears came to their eyes. And I can't tell jokes. And it was out of context.

That's how funny this is. Douglas Adams meets the Office.

Escapism in the Cleverest Sense 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

What fun! Holt plays brilliantly off literary references both new and old (everything from Harry Potter to Shakespeare to Gilbert & Sulivan) and his dry British wit is right up my alley. An absolutely delightful read. Funny, adventuresome, and clever to boot!

Editorial Review:

Starting a new job is always stressful, but when Paul Carpenter arrives at the office of H.W. Wells he has no idea what trouble lies in store. Because he is about to discover that the apparently respectable establishment now paying his salary is in fact a front for a deeply sinister organization that has a mighty peculiar agenda. It seems that half the time his bosses are away with the fairies. But they're not, of course. They're away with the goblins. Tom Holt, Master of the Comic Fantasy Novel, cordially invites you to join him in his world of madness by reading his next hilarious masterpiece.

Saints and Sinners: Contains Paint Your Dragon and Open Sesame (Omnibus)

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Hidden gems of literature 3 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

If you've ever wondered what happens when you close the covers of your book and if "happily ever after" is permanent, you're about to find out what mischief the characters get up to in their free time.

As any new reader of Tom Holt will soon discover, his wit and sarcasm are splashed upon every page, as evidenced by his use of similes ("Even as a kidnapper he'd [Akram] been no more terrifying than, say, the average car park attendant or pizza delivery man..." pg 596) and his clever symbolism of the constant struggle between good and evil and how a little bit of grey never hurt anyone.

In Open Sesame, fictional characters attempt to break free of the monotony of a storybook and cross the Line between fantasy and reality, only to find that when you try to cheat the book, it bites back.

It's not surprising that Akram the Terrible, the most-feared thief in all of Baghdad, grows tired of his plans being foiled and having his entire life flash in front of his eyes over and over again every time he's killed by the protagonist Ali Baba. In a desperate bid for freedom, he makes a pact with the Godfather and makes a run for the Line. Once on the side of reality, he meets his arch-nemesis in the most improbable of places...An orthodontist's office in Southampton, with a new name: Alistair Barbour. As Akram tries to start over, he meets a motley crew of unlikely friends and foes. Fang, a bloodthirsty fairy, Michelle Partridge, Ali Baba (er, Alistair's) unsuspecting daughter, and John Smith Fingers, a burglar descended from a long line of experts. Akram's quest to turn his life around and become a hero goes delightfully awry as the book begins to give way to chaos in the absence of two of its primary characters. Classic fairytales begin to interfere with each other, with forty of Baghdad's thieves running amok in Snow White's realm. Our colorful cast of characters learns that although it's difficult to go against one's nature, it can be done.

This book is highly recommended for those who are interested in a fun, witty read about finding one's identity despite being stereotyped. My only qualm is that while humor is bearable in small doses, too much of it can be cloying and tiring. Maybe a hint of subtle humor would do Tom Holt some good.

Editorial Review:

Paint Your Dragon—The cosmic battle between Good and Evil… But suppose Evil threw the fight? And suppose Good cheated? Sculptress Bianca Wilson is a living legend. St. George is also a legend, but not living. However, when Bianca’s sculpture of the patron saint and his scaly chum gets a bit too lifelike, it opens up a new can of wyrms… The dragon knows that Evil got a raw deal and is looking to set the record straight. And George (who cheated) thinks the record’s just fine as it is.

Open Sesame—Something was wrong! Just as the boiling water was about to be poured on his head and the man with the red book appeared, Akram the Terrible, the most feared thief in Baghdad, knew that this had happened before. Many times. And he was damned if he was going to let it happen again. Just because he was a fictional character, it didn’t mean it always had to end this way.

Tall Stories: Contains Expecting Someone Taller and Ye Gods! (Omnibus)

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A treasure trove of zany fantasy fiction 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Fans of comic fantasy will relish an omnibus of Tom Holt's zany stories, packing in a treasure trove of zany fantasy fiction. Fans of Douglas Adams will recognize a kindred soul in Holt, whose funny protagonists finds themselves in all manner of strange circumstances. Hilarious and unexpected all the way!

Editorial Review:

Expecting Someone Taller—All he did was run over a badger… sad, but hardly catastrophic. But it wasn’t Malcolm fisher’s day, for the badger turned out to be none other than Ingolf, last of the Giants. With his dying breath, Ingolf reluctantly handed to Malcolm two Gifts of Power and made him ruler of the world. But can Malcolm cope with the responsibility?

Ye Gods!—Being a hero bothers Jason Derry. It’s easy to get maladjusted when your mom’s a suburban housewife and your dad’s the Supreme Being. It can be a real drag slaying monsters and retrieving golden fleeces from fire–spitting dragons, and then having to tidy your room before you can watch Star Trek. But it’s not the relentless tedium of imperishable glory that finally brings Jason to the end of his rope; it’s something so funny that it’s got to be taken seriously. Deadly seriously…

Barking

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Is it a one off? 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

I will admit that I am one who clings to an author when I am amused. I ran across Tom Holt, and have been reading his books as I find them. This installment had me curious, given that he had apparently just wound down a series [which is now revived in You Don't Have To Be Evil To Work Here. I am suspicious that this novel may be another tack into the supernatural business world, just from the point of view of attorneys.

As always, I do enjoy his twists on the supernatural, and the book kept moving for the most part. Was it as side clutching as the first time I read Flying Dutchman? Well, no, but then Holt was a brand new commodity on my bookshelf. This was a solid addition, though perhaps not a starter. If you are looking for a track into the Holt universe, I would start with the fist of the JW Wells novels with Paul - the Portable Door, I believe - because you have the luxury of learning about this supernatural business world along with Paul, the main character.

If you're already hip deep in, like I am, then I suspect you'll enjoy this book. You get his take on werewolves [thus the title] and vampires, and it's not entirely the classic models - par for the HoltCourse.

Editorial Review:

Duncan's boss doesn't think he's cut out to be a lawyer. He isn't a pack animal. He lacks the killer instinct. But when his best friend from school barges his way back into Duncan's life, along with a full supporting cast of lawyers, ex-wives, zombies, and snow-white unicorns, it's not long before things become distinctly unsettling. Hairy, even.

You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

You don't need to be bored to enjoy this, but it helps. 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

If you went by the jacket blurbs and cover illustration, this would seem to be a Pratchett-esque laugh riot magical reality kind of book. Sort of like Good Omens, but without Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett.

And, apparently, without the humor.

It may be that I lack the refined palate to appreciate dry British wit. But probably not. This book is amusing at best, and that's a disappointment when you're expecting something a bit funnier.

Quite frankly, I didn't give a toss about the main protagonist, and the characters from J. W. Wells & Co. felt like "returning cast" in a series. By that I mean that one got the sense there was more to them... but you didn't have an idea what it was, since there was no "last week, on ..." to fill you in. So looking at this as a character-driven tale wasn't much of a go.

Which leaves the plot. I don't mind a mystery at all, but I rather like for the clues to be there *before* the end. There were quite a few times where characters effectively said, "Ah, but I had found out [insert clue that the reader had no idea about]..." It feels like a deus ex machina using a MacGuffin not once, but three or four times during the text. You simply don't have any way to properly even guess what's going on before a character lets you in on the secret - and that just leaves you frustrated, not suspenseful.

In short, this book thinks it's a lot funnier and smarter than it really is, and it shows. It's not horrid - the writing style is tight, and the concept's a rather good one - but it is weak overall.

After seeing some other reviews of this book claiming this is far from Mr. Holt's best work, I may give another one of his stories a go... maybe.

Editorial Review:

Colin Hollinghead is a young man going nowhere fast. Working for his dad might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but starting at the bottom in the widget-making industry has, predictably, lost its appeal. And now the business is in trouble. At least his father has a plan to turn things around—a new work force that will improve profit margins and secure the company's future for all eternity. The deal looks great on paper, but they do say that the devil is in the detail—and the arch fiend definitely seems to be involved in some capacity. Colin needs help. Perhaps his new friend from J.W. Wells & Co. (Practical and Effective Magicians, Sorcerers and Supernatural Consultants) can help…Sparkling with wit and oozing charm, Tom Holt's new comic caper proves once and for all that going to work actually can be hell.

Earth, Air, Fire and Custard

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Good, but not as great as Portable Door or In Your Dreams. 4 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

3 stars for people just looking for a book to read.
4 stars for those who've read the other two books and are looking for a conclusion.

I'm sure most of you reading this know already, but this is the third (and probably final) book in the adventures of Paul Carpenter. The first was Portable Door, an excellent and witty book, and the second was In Your Dreams, which was almost as good.

Portable Door was terribly funny in that you could relate to so much of what Paul was going through. In Your Dreams kind of got bogged down in the fairy? story. It was more serious, not like the lighthearted romp of Portable Door.

EAF&C isn't really that funny at all. It does have moments of witty dialogue, but not the laugh-out-loud, repeat-the-lines-to-everyone-you-know sort of dialogue. Much of it even got confusing, and the explanations for the weird happenings didn't make sense. Whereas, In Your Dreams tied all the loose ends up and explained everything (you could just see how all the events tied together and made sense), EAF&C just lost me. They start all this talk about people hiding out in custard-space, and how Sophie and this goblin were linked through it, then there was this bit about living swords, battles that didn't get fought, etc. It was just all smushed together, and didn't really form a cohesive, fun-to-read story. I mean, I still love to read about Paul and his misadventures, but I really had to make an effort to get through this one. If you've read the previous two, you'll know what I say when I just wanted to get through it to see how Sophie and Paul ended up (which is resolved, by the way).

Overall, read it if you liked the other two in the series, but if you haven't read those, start out with Portable Door and In Your Dreams. By the end of those, you will want to find out what happens to Paul and the gang, but reading EAF&C alone won't really be a completely fun experience. I guess it seems that Tom Holt was just trying to finish up with Paul so that readers would be happy. Most of his books are much better than this one.

Editorial Review:

The fiendishly funny follow-up to The Portable Door and In Your Dreams.

For Two Nights Only: Contains Overtime and Grailblazers

Tom Holt

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Editorial Review:

Two of Tom Holt's best-loved tales are brought together in this omnibus edition. In Overtime, it all started for Guy Goodlet somewhere over Caen. One moment he was heading for the relative safety of the coast, aware that fuel was low and that the Mosquito had more than a few bullet holes in it. The next, his co-pilot was asking to be dropped off. This would have been odd if Peter had still been alive. Since he was dead, it was downright worrying. In Grailblazers, 1,500 years have passed and the Grail is still missing, presumed ineffable; the Knights have dumped the Quest and now deliver pizzas; the sinister financial services industry of the lost kingdom of Atlantis threatens the universe with fiscal Armageddon; while in the background lurks the dark, brooding, red-caped presence of Father Christmas.

Falling Sideways

Tom Holt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Back to Storytelling 4 out of 5 stars.
16 of 0 people found this review helpful.

In Falling Sideways, Tom Holt has returned to storytelling. He is good at random quipping, but I felt that some of the books he cranked out in recent years- Overtime, Faust Among Equals, and Grailblazers- were long on random quips and short on plot. Falling Sideways is a good yarn- it almost develops like a creepy mystery at the beginning. The funny bits are in service of the plot,and not as fast and furious as in some of the earlier books, which might disappoint some, but I found a relief. The book is perhaps not quite as satisfying as Expecting Someone Taller or Who's Afraid of Beowolf? but does suggest that Holt is past his lazy phase or whatever that was, and bodes well for the future.

Editorial Review:

From the moment Homo Sapiens descended from the trees, possibly onto their heads, humanity has striven towards civilization. Fire. The Wheel. Running Away from furry things with more teeth than one might reasonably expect—all are testament to man's ultimate supremacy. It is a noble story and so, of course, complete and utter fiction. For one man has discovered the hideous truth: that humanity's ascent to civilization has been ruthlessly guided by a small gang of devious frogs. The man’s name is David Perkins, and his theory is not, on the whole, widely admired, particularly not by the frogs themselves, who had invested a great deal of time and effort in keeping the whole thing quiet.