The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss

...picked up this book in the book shop, even the endorsement on the front from Stephen Fry made me want to read it immediately: "The most delicious, depraved, inventive, macabre and hilarious literary debut I can think of…More, I want more!" '''About the Author & The Story''' "The Vesuvius Club" is the first in the series of books on the main character, Lucifer Box. Mark Gatiss the author, although new to the novel writing business, is not a total ...
...Lucifer, to most of the Edwardian society in which this story is set, is a painter, albeit one who loves men and women alike ("I am not adverse to a pretty face and a pretty rump, whether they be man's or woman's") but his secret life sees him as a secret agent, an assassin - much like James Bond, he is hired to kill for HMG - minus the fancy gadgets but plus much more wit, naughtiness and intelligence! This brings us to his latest assignment. Box ...

burtybookworm 28.12.2008 · Read full review
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Review of The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss

...a new character out of the pulp - let me introduce you to Mark Gatiss and his protagonist Lucifer Box! Lucifer lives in London, Downing St No 9 (“I know, ostentatious, isn’t it? But somebody has to live there.”) at the beginning of the twentieth century, he’s got fine features and a beautiful body, has exquisite taste, is well behaved in societal circles, defiles maidens, loves men and women (whoever is available), is vain and vicious. ““The fêted ...
...bad.““ He’s a painter to the world at large but really a hired assassin, yet - and here Dorian Grey recedes in the background and James Bond comes to the front - he doesn’t commit his deeds for his own pleasure but for his country, he’s a secret agent for HMG with the licence to kill. The secret service agent in Naples has disappeared but not before sending a cryptic message to HQ mentioning the names of two professors who died within two days of ...

MALU 23.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss

...Whether these scribblings eventually form the core of my memoirs or are found secreted in oilskin wrappers at the bottom of a lavatory cistern years after my demise, I have no doubt that, by the time you read this, I will be most terribly famous." Many readers will know Mark Gatiss as one of the people behind the macabre and surreal TV comedy 'The League of Gentlemen'. He is also an avid fan of sci-fi and graphic novels so it is no surprise that ...
...'The Vesuvius Club' is the first outing for the Edwardian Artist/Scoundrel/Socialite/Secret agent the aptly named Lucifer Box. Lucifer is a colourful character to say the least. A society painter by profession his other line of work on 'Her Majesty's Secret Service' was forced upon him by the threat of having some immoral indiscretions with like minded young men brought in to the public eye at a time where that would mean imprisonment. Persuaded ...

Mauri 09.05.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss

...Aunt got me this (and the excellent Kath & Kim DVD - so shes cool) for a belated birthday. Having said that without her having bought it I probably wold have gotten it. Murder and mystery in the Upper Classes circa the late 18th Century what more could you want... plus I love Sherlock Holmes. Not that this is anywhere like. THE PLOT Lucifer Box is an artist and scoundrel, he is also one of Her Majesty's Secret Service. The book indeed starts with ...
...undertakers and missing bodies, plus the murder of an elite Lady, Lucifer must pull all these together and save the world. You know the sort of thing. WHAT I THOUGHT I love a good murder. I love Agatha Christie novels and I love Sherlock Holmes (Perry Mason is yet to convince me) so I like the genre. Mark Gatisse though adds a wonderful humour and realness in his sardonic portrayal of a secret detective back in days of old. Th facy Lucifer is ...

simoon69 17.09.2005 · Read full review
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Review of The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss

...on a whim - saw the name Mark Gatiss and thought 'why not'? I've loved his work in the League of Gentlemen and this didn't disappoint. All too often when writers attempt to portray a particularly scathing wit or impressive intellect, they will come to a point where their own lack of such qualities becomes a hindrance. I was therefore delighted that the protagonist, Lucifer Box, was every bit as deliciously devilish a rake as I could hope for. This ...
...perfectly pitched to fit with the time period. The 'dark underbelly' of Victorian or in this case Edwardian society is certainly a literary cliche, but Gatiss does a fine job of bringing it to life. I don't wish to give too much away, suffice to say that there are enough twists in the narrative to keep even the most avid reader of thrillers on the edge of their seat. These could seem contrived in the hands of a less skilled author but even the most ...

Clio233 26.01.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss