Product Description

The third book in "The Brentford Trilogy", following on from "The Antipope" and "The Brentford Triangle". Once again it features the further adventures of Jim Pooley, John Omally, and all the regulars at the Flying Swan.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #39718 in Books
• Published on: 1992-12-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From the Back Cover
'Ahead, where once had been only bombsite land, the Lateinos and Romiith building rose above Brentford. Within its cruel and jagged shadow, magnolias wilted in their window boxes and synthetic Gold Top became doorstep cheese...'

Something sinister is happening east of Ealing. The prophecies of The Book of Revelation are being fulfilled.

Lateinos & Romiith, a vast financial network, is changing all the rules with a plan to bar-code every living punter and dispense with old-fashioned money. A diabolical scheme, which would not only end civilisation as we know it, but seriously interfere with drinking habits at the Flying Swan.

Can Armageddon, Apocalypse and other inconveniences of the modern age be stopped by the humble likes of Pooley and Omally, even with the help of Professor Slocombe and the time-warped Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street...?

About the Author
Robert Rankin
Robert Rankin is the author of Web Site Story, Waiting for Godalming, Sex and Drugs and Sausage Rolls, Snuff Fiction, Apocalypso, The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag, Sprout Mask Replica, Nostradamus Ate My Hamster, A Dog Called Demolition, The Garden of Unearthly Delights, The Most Amazing Man Who Ever Lived, The Greatest Show Off Earth, Raiders of the Lost Car Park, The Book of Ultimate Truths, the Armageddon quartet (three books), and the Brentford trilogy (five books) which are all published by Corgi Books. Robert Rankin's latest novel, The Fandom of the Operator, is now available as a Doubleday hardback.

Customer Reviews

Technology Rules
From the outset this book is undoubtedly as weird and twisted as the first two books, whilst grounded in a reality where the objects and situations being described can be imagined and understood, it quickly spirals out of control taking the things of our world to a whole other level of pure 'odd'. The way this takes you on a little journey, watching events as they unfold is good fun.

This time we deal with a little thing called Armageddon, nothing to worry about though, because we have the help of one Sherlock Holmes to prevent it. The devil and his hordes are coming and they are doing so because man has created the perfect mechanism for them to do so, but it is in a seemingly unlikely guise.

Having completed the third book containing John and Jim I still find myself confused between the two, trying to remember which one of them is which is a constant struggle, for me they merge into one single ball of complete weirdness - but such a lovable and easy to connect with pair they are.

The other characters are all like friends now, so gone are the long descriptions and introductions that come in early books. Each person is well known to us and they exhibit all the traits we expect, however, this does not go to make the book boring, more it makes it warm and inviting, like a family friend!

As the book drew to a close I got excited, waiting for the strings to come together. Characters who had disappeared at opportune moments earlier in the story began to reappear, performing their parts well. The tension was building and I was anticipating a finale that would shock me by virtue of its twisted method as the strands met. But I was somewhat disappointed to find the book doesn't really end, the characters are not all closed out completely and I was left a little empty. Now I know that life doesn't always close up nicely with neat little ends for each character, but I quite like books to pay attention to the little things too, and especially have some kind of end rather than a whimper.

Overall the book is a quick read and an easy page turner, its also very enjoyable, however, it is not a patch on the first two books, and as such you should make sure they come first. As for the next couple of books in the series, im looking forward to them quite a lot!

Tricky one to review - good, but SO not the best
I just can't give this one three stars (even though it deserves it) because the other Brentford books are so very good, and I don't want to put anyone off. This is the weakest in the series so far, sadly, and the ending is particularly unsatisfying. Can't shake the feeling that Rankin's usual "hey, lets have THIS happen and see where we can take it" approach to writing rather got away from him on this one. So, read it if you've read the others, but whatever you do, be sure to read "The Antipope" or "The Brentford Triangle" first!

The 4th in the trilogy (!)
Rankin takes his time getting to the good stuff in this forth part of the Brentford triology, then its all aover too quick and a little to extreme. (Four books in a trilogy, thats Rankins humour for you)

In this volume, there is mention of the issues in the last volumes, except the characters names, which is weird.

Not as much fun to read as rankins more imaginative stuff, such as the chocolate bunnies or the voodoo handbag for instance.

This volume is a bit of British pub life mixed with a storyline from 'The Goodies' only without the humour, the trike or the giant cat.

I'm determined to read it, but am finding it an excellent cure for insomnia at the moment!

Newbies should try something else in Rankins enormous repetoire first methinks.