Tony Moyle

I came here for the talking pigeons.

This book was funny and original, with its unique take on the afterlife and some interesting ideas, and it was thoroughly entertaining. The dialogue was very good and had me chuckling a few times. I'm giving it just three stars because the story lost me a little bit in some parts and I forgot which characters were doing what, and I think the writing could have been a bit more polished. I also picked up an imbalance between the number of male and female characters which I hope is remedied in later books (I have the trology and will be continuing with it). Overall though, I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.… (mais)

I give this book 3.5/5 pigeons.

So, this book, it's not necessarily about suicide but it's about death. Limpet syndrome means that the soul stays firmly stuck to the Earth, irrespective of how much force is applied by an external source. If you remember the movie Casper, Casper became a ghost because he had an unfinished business and that's what Limpet syndrome is. Limpet is actually a mollusk. So, when a soul is almost impossible to remove from Earth and be returned back to the afterlife. It's like a limpet stuck to a rock after the tide has gone far out to the sea. That was how it was explained in the book.

Now that we have that out of the way and you understand now what Limpet syndrome is, let's look at the story. The main character in the story is John Hewson. The story started with John's death and his trip to the underworld. He was given a special mission and was asked to go back to the land of the living and find two souls who are not supposed to be still on Earth. He was given instructions on how to spot these two and why it's apparent and important that he should retrieve these two souls with Limpet syndrome. The balance of the land of the living and the dead is precariously in danger if these two were left free to roam Earth after the summer solstice. These two souls that he has to bring back are Sandy Logan, the Mininster of Home Land Security for the UK and his assistant Ian Noble.

I suspected that John's death was somehow weird or there was something that was suspicious. I think his death was not an accident. I think something unknown had a hand in his death. It might be something supernatural or someone wanted him dead. At the end of the story, it was somehow revealed that John was actually chosen for the special mission and so his being dead had to be a part of it. But I wasn't satisfied. I feel like there was some unexplored portion about this death and circumstances leading to it that were still unclear to me. So, that's one of the questions that's still plaguing me about the story.

The two limpet souls that John had to capture were very bad people when they were alive and a part of them becoming limpet is because an accident happened on their last outing which was just karma taking over and reversed the situation and they ended up having a taste of their medicine. Yes, it served them right. But on the later part of the story, as these two realized what happened to them and what's their current situation, they somehow turned around and actually used the remaining minutes of their borrowed life to do the right thing which I really liked. And it also revealed that there are two other persons in the story that are madder than these two. It's good that the story ended with these two being instrumental in saving London or the whole of UK from eventual doom.

This is an entertaining read especially when it comes Sandy and Ian. Ian is probably the dumbest and the most simple person in the whole universe. He's antics are just hilarious to the point of irritating. I personally wanted to knock his head off. He was just too stupid. I feel for Sandy being always at the end of his patience when it comes to Ian. John, on the other hand is also a funny character at times. His monologues are in a way funny too.

I give this book 3.5/5 pigeons. This is a good story about reincarnation and how people are so consumed by ambition and power that they would do anything to keep it. Even to the point of controlling people's minds just to keep them subdued and obedient. I think the intentions of the people in power here are darker than the levels and creatures described in John's tour in hell. Their selfishness just know no bonds and the sense of loyalty and dedication to the job was greatly misplaced. I think it's still selfishness, right? The great urge to do one's assignment and reach a goal, even if somehow you know that what your pursuing is definitely wrong. I just hate that Agent 15 ignored his conscience because of his false sense of loyalty and duty. He just went on even if he knows that he's a pawn to an evil plan. I wished he could have turned around and had a change of heart.

There are some other important qualities about the solstice you may not know. When the sun is in its highest position in the northern hemisphere it literally stops. Its name comes from the Latin 'sol' and 'sistere'. Sistere means stand still and sol means sun. Yes, but it actually refers to the soul. The soul stands still. In medieval times, people would light huge bonfires to ward off evil spirits. Although stuff of pagan propaganda, it wasn't so far from the truth.
- Tony Moyle, The Limpet Syndrome -

Thank you again, Tony Moyle for the copy.… (mais)