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If British Secret Intelligence Service operative Toby Greene worked for MacDonald's he'd be sacked for ineptitude. Unfortunately for the nation , he cost thousands of pounds more to train than your average burger-flipper so he's off to Section 37 instead. The Section's label mentions anti-terrorism but, as his former boss told Toby ''If the security service is the circus, then Section 37 us where we keep the clowns.'' Meanwhile , an old school Russian spy is coming to the UK with enough power to destroy London. This may only be Toby's first job for 37 and will include a touch of astral projection but what could possibly go wrong?
British author [[:Category:Guy Adams|Guy Adams]] does a better job of introducing himself on his [http://www.guyadamsauthor.com/ website] than I ever could here. This could be why he's a writer and I'm a reviewer, but I'll have a go…
Guy's maxim is that he's 'never met a genre he didn't like' which leads said genres to being mixed up a little, normally between the covers of the same book. Where ''The Clown Service'' is concerned, his heroes make genre identification easy: August ''Shining'' and Toby ''Greene''? Yep, horror spiced espionage - bring it on!
The basic backdrop of stumbling-around-in-the-dark newbie and seasoned-battle-worn-cynic may be an old one but Guy jooshes it up to a high standard. Toby is what we feel we'd be like in similar situations. Ok , he has army experience that comes in handy but we gradually learn even that's as much a handicap as it is a blessing.
August (unimaginative parents – his sister's called April!) is the sort of British old guard who lurks in the corner of British Intelligence behind a copy of ''The Times'' but when it comes to revenants, he's the chap we'd want in our corner, as we see. See? Yes, perhaps I should explain.
Guy also maintains his wonderful way with words we noticed previously in Guy's take on [[Sherlock Holmes: The Breath of God by Guy Adams|Sherlock Holmes]] For instance, a whole new level of insight is added to the old cold war spy films when we're told ''Espionage in the 60s reeked of boiled cabbage and old rot.''
The book blurb likens ''The Clown Service'' to one of the best 1960's 1960s ''The Avenger'' TV episodes. While I can see what they mean, Guy seems to inject more thrills into his. In some ways, as passers-by are temporarily possessed by a mystery and increasingly sinister voice, it feels like ''Men in Black'' but a lot more British and sensibly funny. There are shades of ''Torchwood''ism which isn't surprising since Guy wrote the BBCTV series' tie-in books. In the end , though, the way that influences blend is pure Guy Adams and I loved every moment of it. Meanwhile , the sequel his ending ensures we're gagging for comes out July 31st 2014. Form the usual orderly queue behind me , please!
(Thank you so much , Del Rey , for providing us with a copy for review.)
Further Reading: If you'd like more Mr Adams, we recommend the aforementioned [[Sherlock Holmes: The Breath of God by Guy Adams|Sherlock]] novel. If you prefer the urban fantasy/horror angle, get thee to [[Eden Moore – Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest]]. We also enjoyed [[Class: Joyride by Guy Adams]].
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