by E.V. Greig

Genre:  near-future, dystopian, cyber-spy

The Dust Cover Copy

It is the late 21st Century. Whilst mega corporations and governments fight a less than discreet war for control of the general population, there are others who operate within the traditional boundaries of Intelligence. Walking in the shadows and trading in secrets, these operatives will do whatever is necessary to complete their missions. In the interest of maintaining public ignorance, someone is needed to clean up in their wake.

Introducing socially non-gendered British International Intelligence operative Nightingale Spence – aka Housekeeping. Assassin, medic, alibi merchant, and therapist to some of the most inventively lethal people in the world...

The Scene

Worldbuilding

This is a powerful and engaging setting. It's dry, sly, clever and completely engrossing, with a surprising humanity under the very hard shell of operative pride and gallows humor. The future tech is woven in subtly, along with some extremely disturbing cultural changes. In this world, corporations are this close to replacing governments. Bond contracts of those who’ve gotten in trouble with the law can be bought. And cynicism is a survival trait. Yet for all that, there’s still that play-the-Great-Game energy and comradery we know and love from the espionage genre.

The Crowd

Characterization

With the resolute and so effing over it non-gendered Agent Spence leading the way and a zany and lovable crew of amazing characters along for the ride, this series is a delight. Spence is hands down the best non-gendered character I've read. As the reserved, distant, and bulletproof center of the story, over the course of several books they very slowly open their flinty protective shell and show us the brittle, utterly loyal, and damaged person underneath. All without losing their British aplomb and absolutely lethal competency.

This series provides everything you hope for in an ensemble story: characters with well-rounded motivations in their own right that create great dynamics when they combine, a fierce sense of comradery, and a classic Play The Great Game ethos. Oh, and a villian you love to hate. Greg Hull is the best kind of antagonist: the sort that you start to empathize with, and then hate yourself for liking when he does something heinous. Greig’s genius is writing the situation from Hull’s point of view just often enough that it all seems so reasonable, you almost forget that he’s a sadistic prick. It’s delicious.

Writing Style

In a beautifully snappy and sly manner, this series draws on all that is best of the espionage-thriller drama, while throwing the blatant misogyny and outdated societal tropes out the airlock. The one liners are a delight! Just take a sample of these:

“Mr Whitby, why have you armed this cleaning robot?”
“Ah, good – you’ve met him already!”

“The last time that I agreed to meet one of your projects it tried to kill me.”

“You’re troubled.”
“And you’re observant.”

"I handcuffed him in place; you're welcome."
This quote in context makes the book worth reading alone, but there are so many other great one liners in this series. Amidst terrible cruelty, amazing genius, and the moral corruption of a robot ( teaching him poker and pub slang is just the first step) there's also a wonderful set of complex friendships, and even-yes-love. I adore this series.

The Moves

Plot

This series is absolutely delightful, and the first few books wrap everything up beautifully. But I will admit that, as the series grows, it starts to sprawl a bit and readers start getting a notebook and jotting down who’s who and how they’re related. That can be a bit of an issue, but it’s balanced nicely by the scope given to slowly evolving emotional situations; an ongoing series allows for deeper and more interesting emotions to build slowly over time, and Greig uses that to full advantage.

Overall Rating

A witty romp through spy-land with a wonderful LGBT twist. An absolute delight!