Dead Lies Dreaming
Charles Stross
Tor
10/27/2020
While this is technically the 10th Laundry Files book, Dead Lies Dreaming is more of a stand-alone story in the Laundry Files universe than a continuation of the series. There is an obvious nod to the Cthulhu Mythos in the title. While the story has Lovecraftian references, it is far from cosmic horror. An evil businessman wants to get his hand on an actual copy of the fabled Necronomicon that’s up for sale on a private online book auction. He sets his power-hungry assistant to the task. However, many forces want to get ahold of it, and the stakes are high. The plot is not treading any new ground. Still, it is a solid and fun romp through the dark work where technology literally is magic and world leaders are actually evil supernatural beings. Dead Lies Dreaming has action, adventure, double-crossing, and double-double crossing. My favorite part of this story features 19th century Whitechapel, but to say more would spoil the fun. If you have read Charles Stross, you know what to expect. If you haven’t, you will be entering a cyber-punk/Lovecraftian/dystopia/magic-meets inefficient government bureaucracy with a lot of wry British humor and a dash of James Bond-style action-adventure. Read this!
The Dunwich Review 