I suppose this book deserves a full review, given that now it’s become a full official re-read, and that I enjoy recommending it to others as well. This is one of those gems of a book (well, the first one which turned into reading all of them, of course) that I got from Cannonball Read (narfna, maybe?) (confirmation yes) which reminds me yet again as I do my year end reading reflections that I should take more recommendations from people whose taste I gel with.
The Will Darling trilogy is somewhat set up 12 3, with the first two books serving as bookends to the central conflict between our two main characters–namely, that Kim is the titular Slippery Character, and Will is damn tired of trying to trust someone and bring them into his little circle (no mean feat) despite the fact that the someone is constantly trying to achieve their own ends. Kim keeps trying to be his spy self and Will keeps getting caught up in it.
…well that’s not entirely true, right, because Will also misses having a mission (that he believes in). In that sense reminds me of Mycroft telling Holmes that “he misses it” in the BBC Sherlock series? But Will has less faith in “duty to country,” having served in WW1 and been disabused of any such notions. Kim didn’t serve, and is a bit guilty as a result, but isn’t just blindly following a different leader–he truly believes in the work of the Division and is against the Zodiac.
In any case, what I love in this book is the balance that Charles strikes between the two men. They both have issues, they grow naturally as a result of conflict, they regress from time to time, but they come back together through conversations and effort. The entire vibe is so 1920s fast talking dames one can be excused for forgetting that the entire continent will fall back into war in two decades. Highly recommend.
