I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Dr. DOA
by
Simon R. Green
urban fantasy in a hardcover edition that was published by ROC on June 7, 2016 and has 352 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Something From the Nightside, Mean Streets, Agents of Light and Darkness, Nightingale's Lament, Paths Not Taken, Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth, Hell to Pay, Just Another Judgement Day, The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny, A Hard Day's Knight, Hex and the City, The Unnatural Inquirer, The Bride Wore Black Leather, Home Improvement: Undead Edition, Hex Appeal, Man with the Golden Torc, Daemons are Forever, The Spy Who Haunted Me, From Hell with Love, Live and Let Drood, Casino Infernale, Blue Moon Rising, Tales of the Hidden World, Blood and Honor, From a Drood to a Kill, The Dark Side of the Road, Dead Man Walking, Very Important Corpses, Moonbreaker, Property of a Lady Faire, The House on Widows Hill
Tenth in the Secret Histories espionage urban fantasy series and revolving around Eddie Drood, from a family of secret agents out saving the world from aliens…and things that go bump in the night.
My Take
Green is crazy. He’s gotta be with that imagination he has! And it always surprises me how incredibly creative he is — makes me wonder if his wife ever gets scared, lol.
It’s a frame story with a number of vignettes of Eddie and Molly running about — all told from a first-person protagonist point-of-view from Eddie’s perspective — trying to find a cure, and encountering groups who are beyond strange, and yes, even beyond seriously gut-wrenching creepy.
Green really knows how to tease it out! It took pages before we finally find out just why it is that Eddie is in such trouble. And you’ll have to read Moonbreaker, 11, to find out how it turns out!
It’s entertaining, hilarious, and rather annoying with that deus ex machina near the end, but then Green drops that cliffhanger of an ending on us. Talk about being caught flat-footed!
The Story
Eddie Drood is a dead man walking, yet the Family demands his aid when a new secret organization steps outside the bounds of what Droods will accept.
It’s only the start of the strange path Eddie and Molly Metcalfe will follow, as they hunt for Dr. DOA, the man who murdered Eddie.
The Characters
Eddie Drood is a very secret agent, one of the terrifying Droods. Shaman Bond is his friendly alias. His parents, Emily and Charles, are in London putting together a new Department of Uncanny.
Molly Metcalfe is the Wild Witch of the Woods, near the top of every wanted list in this world and others. She’s also Eddie’s girlfriend. One of her alter egos is as Roxie Hazzard. Isabella and Louisa are her equally wanted supernatural terrorist sisters.
The Deep Down Pit in Wales made…
…a good hiding place for supernatural terrorists: The Ghostly Gunman, a.k.a., Ben Luger, one of the world’s best-paid political assassins — until he tried for the wrong guy; the Fury, a.k.a., Angelica Wilde; her husband, Armin del Santos, a.k.a., the Rage; the Damned; and, Chakra Cutie who used to train girls to weaponize their sexuality.
The Droods have…
…been protecting the world ever since they were Druids. Headquarters is the very protected Drood Hall (the scarecrows are stuffed enemies forced to protect). The Serjeant-at-Arms is the Head of Security, enforcing discipline and loving his work. Margaret, the former head gardener known as Capability Maggie, is the Matriarch, the head of the family (For Heaven’s Eyes Only, 5). Elliot is the pilot for the Blackhawke jet. Kate is Eddie’s handler back at the Hall. Dr. Mary Drood is in charge of the Special Isolation Area. Dylan Drood had been one of Eddie’s childhood friends. Uncle James was a favorite uncle, like a father to Eddie, until he betrayed him.
William the Librarian is coming back to normal aided by his wife, Ammonia Vom Acht (For Heaven’s Eyes Only, 5), the most powerful telepath in the world. Yorith is William’s assistant. There’s an Old Library where the Pook hangs out (For Heaven’s Eyes Only, 5) and the Library. The dragon head is still out in the gardens, alive (From Hell with Love , 4). Scraps.2 is a brilliant robot dog built by Uncle Jack, the former Armourer whose position has been filled by Maxwell and Victoria Drood. Christopher. Cuthbert didn’t make it. Ethel is an alien entity who is the source of the Drood power and resides in the Sanctity (For Heaven’s Eyes Only, 5). The Drood Inquirer is the underground family newsletter.
Edmund Drood is from another Hall from another Dimension.
The Wulfshead Club is…
…a bar where the weird go. People like Waterloo Lillian; Janissary Jane; Monkton Farley, the famed consulting detective; Persecution Psmith is a Puritan adventurer agent for the Good, too morally upright for words; Enid is the Midnight Masque who can look like anyone; and, Harry Fabulous who used to be the go-to guy for anything bad. The Management owes Eddie a favor. The Roaring Boys are the club protectors.
The Peter Paul Clinic can…
…save anyone. Dr. Benway and Dr. Raven are partners. Adam is their prize “patient”.
Cassandra, Inc. is…
…a new “bad-guy” organization that claims it can see the future.
Dr. DOA was thought to be an urban legend who kills from the shadows and is never noticed. Merlin Satanspawn was the original Merlin and gave the Droods a suspect Merlin Glass. The Manichean Monk is a spiritual enforcer specializing in righteous retribution, hunting down sinners for the Church of Last Resort. Moxton’s Mistake had been a living rogue armour (Live and Let Drood, 6). Jack a Napes, a trickster adventurer who dedicates his life to a cause, is a title only granted by the acclaim of your peers. The Demon Demoiselle. The Psychic Surgeon can cut anything out of you, including the bad from your soul. Jack Shelter had been a poltergeist handler.
The Survivors are…
…a group based in Under the Mountain whose members are dedicated to staying alive in the face of anything. The Overseers are those really in charge. Dr. Melmoth is the head research scientist. The Soul Witch is the head of their Magic Division. Bishop Beastly is the head of Death-related Studies.
Black Heir is…
…an alien artifacts salvage company under Drood scrutiny. Who have moved house. Again. They’ve left the Caretaker to watch over the house. The government stirred them up, hoping to make trouble for the Droods.
The Immortals were…
…originally created by the first alien entity who helped the Droods, the Heart (From Hell with Love , 4). Django Westphalion is one of the few surviving Immortals.
Lud’s Ward will turn any attack on its wearer back on the attacker. The Overnet is the Internet’s shadowy twin, deeper than the Darknet. A vampire jewel is a vampire distilled down to its basic essence. The Organisation set up the Pacts and Agreements that keep aliens and others from misbehaving. The Hiring Ground, which is all about commerce, is way downmarket from the Hiring Hall.
The Cover and Title
The cover is a sci-fi comic of reds and grays, from the red alien ship against a red sky that descends into the white that highlights the silhouettes of a line of gun-toting soldiers, terrified to be confronted by Molly Metcalfe in form-fitting black leather, a smoking gun in one hand, wearing knee-high leather boots while Eddie is approaching from the right, looking quite respectable with his short curly hair in a deep gray suit jacket and trousers, the golden glove of his armor appearing on his left hand. The title is aslant at the top left in white and a pale yellow while the author’s name is spread across the bottom in white. The series info (thank you!) is a dark slant of script between Molly and Eddie.
The title is the man Eddie is hunting, Dr. DOA, if that is, Eddie wants to live.
