Amberlough
Ratings12
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings12
Average rating3.6
Le Carré meets Cabaret in this debut spy thriller as a gay double-agent schemes to protect his smuggler lover during the rise of a fascist government coup
Welcome to Amberlough City, the illustrious but corrupt cosmopolitan beacon of Gedda. The radical One State Party—nicknamed the Ospies—is gaining popular support to unite Gedda's four municipal governments under an ironclad, socially conservative vision.
Not everyone agrees with the Ospies' philosophy, including master spy Cyril DePaul and his lover Aristide Makricosta, smuggler and emcee at the popular Bumble Bee Cabaret. When Cyril's cover is blown on a mission, however, he must become a turncoat in exchange for his life. Returning to Amberlough under the Ospies' watchful eye, Cyril enters a complex game of deception. One of his concerns is safeguarding Aristide, who refuses to let anyone—the crooked city police or the homophobic Ospies—dictate his life.
Enter streetwise Cordelia Lehane, top dancer at the Bee and Aristide’s runner, who could be the key to Cyril’s plans—if she can be trusted. As the twinkling lights of nightclub marquees yield to the rising flames of a fascist revolution, these three will struggle to survive using whatever means—and people—necessary. Including each other.
Series
3 primary booksThe Amberlough Dossier is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by Lara Elena Donnelly.
Reviews with the most likes.
Amberlough is a highly impressive first novel, but it was too dark for me. While I want to know what happens to the three protagonists, I'm not really likely to go on and read volumes two and three.
This reminded me a lot of Mark Gatiss' Lucifer Box series, with more violence and less tongue-in-cheek humour. I agree with a lot of previous reviewers that it kind of starts in the middle of a conversation none of us were having - the writer casually drops names and places with no explanation or introduction. This would have been less of a problem if it took place in our own world, but it is set in a fictional city with elements drawn from New York or London in the 1920s and 30s. Think Bright Young Things gone spy thriller. It took me a couple of chapters to feel familiar enough with the setting to be interested and then I really got attached to Aristide and Cyril in a way that made the ending a goddamn bitch of an unsatisfactory situation. Now I eagerly await the sequel.
3.5 stars. Dark and somewhat nihilistic. I enjoyed it. Can't say anymore without spoilers.
Amberlough is a spy thriller that takes place in an eponymous fantasy nation, which largely takes its aesthetic from early twentieth century Europe (if steampunk is based on Victorian England, maybe we could call this Belle Epunque?). It features a spy named Cyril, his lover, jazzy burlesque dancers, and the rising spectre of a fascist party that could threaten everything they hold dear. Amberlough was a fabulous, fantastic read that felt chilling and topical, with three-dimensional characters that weren't afraid to show you their ugly side.
