Simon R Green "The Man with the Golden Torc"

As a young man I went through a period were I read all the Bond novels.  I saw all the Bond movies.  I even had a James Bond themed fancy dress party at which there was an express rule that none of the guests could come as James Bond in a tuxedo (I alleged that this was to make for imaginative costumes, but really I looked good in a tux and wanted all the attention).  It was this love of Flemings flawed genius that made me spend good money on this book by Simon R Green, which seems to be something a series.

This book is part of a new sub genre in fantasy that I have been reading recently, in which the fantastical elements are embedded in the modern world.  It has been tremendously successful for the likes of Rowlings with the Harry Potter books and there is a lot of diverse writing in this area.

Unfortunately, I think that this book is part of a plot by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. to bring fantasy literature into disrepute.  I did not manage to get even a quarter of the way through it before giving up and turning it into a door stop.  It is filled with bad cliches.  It has no sense of timing.  The writing is sometimes OK but the errors in plot and continuity infuriate.  The plot is ridiculous without being funny (as far as I got in it).  In short I was a wee bit disappointed.  Whatever you do, avoid this writer like the plague.