From Goddess Fish Promotions a Review Only Tour
For Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab,
by Columbkill Noonan.
This isn't exactly promoted as a YA fantasy, however,
I was so grabbed by the title, I decided to help out.
After reading this book, (review to follow), I can see that
it would appeal to most YA fantasy readers anyway. This is a
review only tour, so a nice mix/amount to view. This is also
a giveaway tour with the award of a $25 Amazon/BN gift card
going to one lucky winner at the conclusion of the tour.
And as always, please leave us a comment so that
we know you were here! Nice to see everyone again, TBSP!
Barnabas Tew and the Case of the Missing Scarab
by Columbkill Noonan
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GENRE: Mystery/Mythology
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BLURB:
Barnabas Tew is a private detective struggling to make a go of it in Victorian London. Fearing that he is not as clever as he had hoped to be, he is riddled with anxiety and plagued by a lack of confidence brought on in no small part by his failure to prevent the untimely deaths of several of his clients. Matters only get worse when Anubis, the Egyptian god of the dead, is referred to Barnabas by a former client (who perished in a terribly unfortunate incident which was almost certainly not Barnabas’ fault). Anubis sends for Barnabas (in a most uncivilized manner) and tells him that the scarab beetle in charge of rolling the sun across the sky every day has been kidnapped, and perhaps dismembered entirely. The land of the dead is in chaos, which will soon spill over into the land of the living if Barnabas (together with his trusty assistant, Wilfred) cannot set matters to right. Pulled from his safe and predictable (if unremarkable) life in Marylebone, Barnabas must match his wits against the capricious and dangerous Egyptian gods in order to unravel the mystery of the missing beetle and thereby save the world.
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Excerpt:
“Perhaps there’s been a mistake,” he said. “Maybe I’m not really dead. Is there someone I could talk to? Someone who could straighten out this mess?”
“Sorry,” said Anti. “But this is how it is. You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t dead.”
“I just would have thought that dying would be, well, more noticeable,” said Barnabas sadly.
“So does everyone,” said Anti. “Almost no one really believes they are dead at first. And it must be especially hard for you, to have gone in such a, well, an unexpected way.”
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MY REVIEW
First off, the title is spectacular, the book cover is spectacular, and anything with a Steampunk/Victorian flavor is right up my alley. The two lead characters, Barnabas and Wilfred, are masterfully written in that perfect old English way of speaking that hearkens back to an age of politeness, well mannered actions, and flowery prose. I love that! Although, I will say that the (in my opinion), excessive use of exclamation points in the first few chapters nearly ruined it for me as a flowing read in my brain. Too, too many! (that's a joke there).
So the one thing I did learn from this experience is to make sure I read the entire synopsis of a book before jumping in. As I mentioned, I loved the title and the cover so much I went straight to Amazon to read the sample first few pages and was hooked enough to commit. So imagine my surprise when suddenly our main character is dead and speaking to someone with the head of a Falcon! Unfortunately for me, or the author I suppose, I'm not big on the 'mythology' theme in my reading...simply not my cup of tea. So once I accepted that this was indeed the journey we were on, I plunged forward. I will say it is very clever, as well as odd, the whole idea of all these characters with the heads of animals and how they relate to one another. The good news is that Barnabas and Wilfred never lost their character, and only became more endearing, which is what held the book together for me. I can't say as much for the Egyptian gods..they all spoke as you and I would, so that felt less likely and lost a touch of the magic/whimsey for me.
Now, if you're into the mythology, Egyptian/Greek/Norse god thing, and two lovable colorful characters, then this is your book...as a sequel promises more of the same.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Columbkill Noonan has an M.S. in Biology (she has, in turn, been a field biologist, an environmental compliance inspector, and a lecturer of Anatomy and Physiology).
When she's not teaching or writing, she can usually be found riding her rescue horse, Mittens, practicing yoga (on the ground, in an aerial silk, on a SUP board, and sometimes even on Mittens), or spending far too much time at the local organic, vegan market.
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