Posted on  20/08/2024 13:46:35

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Any book that keeps you up till half past stupid in the night to know how it all ends is worth a 5 star rating!

And that’s exactly what A Subtle Agency did for me! I had to read it to the very end, once I got to start it, despite the fact that it was already past 1.30 am and the alarm was supposed to ring in another 4 hours.

Hand on heart I can vouch that this book is one of a kind! It’s original, violent and totally awesome! And the most important part – it doesn’t read like a book; it reads like a supernatural action movie!

I decided to give it a try because of the blurb and review posted by the author.
Super heroes and vampires are fighting a secret war for control of the fabric of reality. Whoever acquires mastery of the reality shifting powers of the Metaframe will become the new gods of the universe.

So we can expect a modern dark fantasy, action adventure technothriller, with lots of violent action, high body count, mysterious agencies, and secret government organizations - all with a big side order of vampires with attitude.

Attitude - I mean bad-ass attitude.

And I was like: Secret society of vampire hunters, the Order of Thoth, Shadowstone operatives, supervillain, vampire General – Hell Yeah!! Count me in!

The plot grabbed me from the very first page.
Witness to a brutal murder, eighteen year old Anton Slayne is inducted by the mysterious Mr Wu into the secret society of vampire hunters, the Order of Thoth. He soon discovers that vicious local gangsters, determined Boston Police Detectives, and relentless Shadowstone operatives pale into insignificance as he is drawn into the machinations of the enigmatic supervillain, vampire General Chloe Armitage. – Don’t tell me this doesn’t sound great!!

And I loved the characters.

Anton Slayne, the MC. I loved the way Graeme wrote him. As a normal teen with a light rebellious streak, who’s lived a sheltered life and was all of a sudden thrown into a whirlwind of action, witnessed the horrible murder of a parent, had his whole world upended and was set on the run, Anton’s reactions are perfect. He mourns like a normal person and even loses it at one time breaking down under the strain of all that he’s been put through – which is what any normal real person would do. He is a teenage boy! He is allowed to!
It would have pissed me off to no end if he had been the tough-macho-hero taking it all in and not giving a crap about it! There’s a fine line an author threads when writing a character the perfect mix in between strong and weak, or tough and whiny and to me, Graeme had that spot on with Anton.

I loved his development and the way he slowly toughens up, turning into a superhero. I sort of imagine him ramping the way Keanu Reeves moves in Matrix



And let’s not forget Chloe. General Chloe Armitage of the Vampire Dominion
She rocks! She’s like the kick ass heroine from Underworld, except on the bad side!



She’s smart, tough and brilliant and an awesome ruthless vampire supervillain! Did I just use awesome and ruthless in the same sentence to talk about the same person?! I guess so! But I can’t help loving her!
I’m still not completely sure about her endgame though, so I guess I’m going to have to read the sequel. :D

Li Wu – trained from small age to fight vampires she is a master swordswoman and is the one that provides the steadiness as opposed to Anton’s rashness. If she goes on like this she will become my favourite. (Even despite my love for Chloe.)
In my mind she looks a little bit like this


The guys from the Order of the Toth remind of Blade – fighting vampires till the end and wanting to protect the world.


But what I loved most is the plot inside the plot and plan inside the plan. Inside each of those secret organisations there are factions and there is intrigue.

Three factions fighting to control the world, a teenager with a legacy of super powers, superheroes and supervillains equipped with the latest available technology and super weapons! This book is not a book. It’s an ACTION MOVIE!

So if you like action movies, you’d do well to give this one a try! After reading it, I can honestly tell you:


Check out this book and more by Graeme Rodaughan here! 

I'm telling you folks, his books are movies on a page!!