What a book!

Rob is a fairly successful lawyer in New Zealand. He has a little brother called Charley who can pull characters out of books. Charley was very much a gifted child and Rob has always felt that he needs to protect his brother. Especially when he would accidentally pull characters from books who often wouldn't want to be put back.

This time though, Rob gets a call from Charley at 4am. He's accidentally released Uriah Heep and he's struggling to contain him. During the dangerous fight to put Uriah Heep back in to David Copperfield, the brothers are told of a "new world" that is coming and things begin to happen fast.

They discover that there are many other fictional characters living in "the street" and Charley had nothing to do with these being released. This means that there is someone else out there with the same talent as Charley and this other person seems intent on changing the world as we know it.

There is a great insight into so many characters. Some we see more than others and some are very much a hinderance rather than a help . I loved the fact that there were so many Mr Darcy's. Of course there would be. What other romantic character has made such a lasting impression on women over the last 20 years!

I loved all of the characters. Some more than others but the author has done such a fantastic job of making them more than just one dimensional. Rob was clearly the frustrated big brother who is jealous of Charley's ability and the brotherly relationship between them both was so very realistic.

This was an utter joy to read. I don't think it matters if you have read any of the books that the characters have come from. You'll know who the majority of they are anyway and if you love books and reading - this is the book for you.

I shall be recommending this book to everyone and anyone.

This is a fun, exciting, literary adventure. Rob Sutherland is a lawyer in Wellington, who lives with his girlfriend, Lydia. His younger brother, Charlie, is a Dickens scholar and, somewhat the bane of his life. For Charlie has a secret which his family have closed ranks on, to protect him, for most of his life. He has an ability to take characters out from books and deposit them in the real world.

So, when Charlie calls Rob at 4am to say that Uriah Heep is on the loose and he can’t catch him, Rob sleepily makes his excuses and sets off to help catch the ‘umble Uriah. What evolves is an extremely fascinating romp through literature. This involves a character called Milly Radcliffe-Dix, who Charlie brought out of a book as a child, and who is now living in a secret, hidden street, peopled by characters such as Roald Dahl’s Matilda, various Darcy’s, Dorian Gray and Heathcliff.

It soon appears that Charlie is not alone in his abilities. There is another ‘summoner,’ who can bring characters out of book and he is putting not only Milly, and her friends, in danger, but the whole world. Rob, who has always slightly resented his brother, becomes involved in this adventure and also in investigating where these secret skills of Charlie’s have come from. If you are a book lover, you will enjoy meeting everyone from Dickens, to the Jabberwocky and the Hound of the Baskervilles, in these pages. A great read, with characters you will care about.

I love any story that involves famous characters from classic literature in a modern setting, so this seemed right up my street from the blurb.

At first I found the story a little hard to get into, mainly because I took an instant liking to Charley and wanted to see more of his special talent, which was unfortunate because the main character is Charley’s brother Rob, who is pretty unpleasant towards his younger sibling and would do anything to STOP him using said talent!

It didn’t take very many pages though before I was utterly hooked in to this tale of two brothers and many heroes (and villains).

With a character list featuring multiple Mr Darcys, Heathcliff, Dorian Gray, Holmes, Matilda and Narnia’s White Witch, among many more distinguished faces, it would be very difficult for a literature lover to not be delighted by this book. The characters are familiar and yet re-imagined, as they take on the qualities interpreted into them by whoever read them from their book, meaning that there is a chance for the villains to come good if they wish, and vice versa, for heroes to exercise their darker sides. The possibilities are endless!

Rob may start the book ungracefully, but the development of the two – very different – brothers and the exploration of the complex relationship between them is the finely-crafted heart of the novel, and everything revolves in an ever-tightening spiral around the young genius and his reluctant guardian.

The main focus of the plot, outwardly, is a mixture of fantasy and mystery as Rob and Charley attempt to work out who is causing the already-blurred edges between fiction and reality to wobble dangerously. Aiding them, or often directing them, is the indomitable Millie Radcliffe-Dix, a fictional character in more than one sense of the world, originating in a series of fictitious girls’ adventure stories. Much like Charley, Millie is instantly endearing, except that where he is vulnerable and creative, she is jolly, bossy and full of good old-fashioned spunk. I could read a whole series just for these two characters alone.

Emotional, exciting and full to bursting of bookworm enthusiasm, I thoroughly enjoyed this fantasy romp through Victorian fiction, and hope there is more to come from the talented H.G. Parry.



At four in the morning, I was woken by a phone call from my younger brother. He sounded breathless, panicked, with the particular catch in his voice I knew all too well.
“Uriah Heep’s loose on the ninth floor,” he said. “And I can’t catch him.”
My brain was fogged with sleep; it took a moment for his words to filter through. “Seriously, Charley?” I said when they did. “Again?”

– H.G. Parry, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

I have never read any Dickens, I saw the Oliver movie many times as a child and I adore The Muppets Christmas Carol, but that's about it. Reading this, I want to read some of his works. Parry clearly has a deep deep love and understanding of them and it shines through on every page.

The premise is also brilliant, haven't we all wanted to be able to conjure the worlds from books? Have tea with Sherlock Holmes? Sign me up please!

All the characters are written beautifully, especially Uriah Heep, I think I have the measure of him and when I meet him in David Copperfield I will be prepared for his 'umble self. The only character I had a problem with was Rob, I kind of wanted to punch him in the head - but I think we're supposed to, so that's OK.

My only difficulty with the book was that despite the story and the characters and the writing all being good, the book felt long. I can't quite describe what it is, or what could be done differently, but there were definitely points where I felt "I'm enjoying this but am I not done yet?"

Rob Sutherland is a moderately successful lawyer in Wellington, his younger brother Charley is a professor of literature at a local university - so far, so normal. However Charley has a secret, not only is he an academic genius but he is also able to pull characters from books into everyday life. Luckily he can also put them back. One day Charley finds that someone else has the same skill as he does and is releasing characters for not so pleasant reasons. It is up to Charley and his reluctant brother to save the world before the story reaches The End.
Having loved the books of Jasper Fforde which reimagine fictional characters in a parallel universe I am quite well-disposed to these literary mash-ups. Most are fairly poor when set up against Fforde because they lack his joie-de-vivre. Here the story is a little more interesting and, at the heart of it, there is a genuine love for literature which comes through loud and clear. A bit messy in places, a bit frenetic in places and sometimes trying to be too clever for its own good, this book is still a really entertaining read.

Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group and Orbit for a review copy.
Quite simply this is one of the most unusual, inventive and absorbing stories that I have read for a long time.
Superficially it is a fantasy adventure centred around two brothers, Rob and Charley Sutherland. Mostly the story is told from Rob’s point of view and in the first person though some chapters are told from a third person perspective based around other characters. Rob is a lawyer in Wellington, New Zealand and his brother Charley is an English lecturer at the university there. Charley was a child prodigy winning a scholarship to Oxford at the age of 13 and subsequently returning to his home town to take up an academic post. Charley though, also has a very special gift. He can bring characters and objects from books into the real world.
The story starts with Charley calling Rob in the middle of the night to help him catch Uriah Heep whom he has accidentally summoned from David Copperfield. Charley has always tried to keep his ability under control and secret but it is not long before we learn that a second summoner is also bringing forth literary creations, at first to commit crimes and then with a more sinister purpose.
Although the book is quiet lengthy the story moves along quickly and the plot soon develops as Rob, Charley and their allies race to try and identify and contain this second summoner before their plans reach fulfilment.
On this level the story would certainly appeal to fans of the Harry Potter stories or other novels where magic seeps into the real world and the roller coaster adventure can be enjoyed as just that. I visualised the characters as looking and sounding similar to Charlie and Don Eppes, the brothers from the TV series Numb3rs, probably because that Charlie is also a prodigious academic but needs his more practical brother to look out for him. We also meet Millie Radcliffe Dix, a grown up version of a post war girl detective who has been living in the real world since Charley accidentally summoned her when he was aged six. As far as I can see she is a character invented for the novel rather than genuinely featuring in any stories of her own but she is beautifully written and acts exactly like one would expect a heroine of the era to behave.
This book however also worked, for me at least, on deeper levels. For one thing it is clearly written by an author who genuinely loves literary criticism. That does not mean in any way that the novel is inaccessible to those of us who are not steeped in that field of study (I am a chemistry graduate) but the author clearly obviously has a background in the joys of the Victorian novel. Many books are both name checked and brought to life (literally) through the story, these include David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Pride and Prejudice, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Frankenstein, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Wuthering Heights, The Count of Monte Cristo and, my personal favourite, Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy. It is not necessary to have read these stories to enjoy the book, I have never read any of Dickens’ novels for example, but the author skilfully uses them in her tale in such a way that the plot points we need to know are easily understood.
It has even tempted me to venture into the world of Dickens and perhaps listen to some of his novels read by a good actor who can bring the story to life (though perhaps not as literally as Charley!) I never enjoyed the comprehension-type questions we had to do in English at school but I wonder if I would do so more now that I have more world experience.
The novel is also about the importance of family as exemplified by the relationship between Rob and Charley and, to a lesser extent, between Rob and his parents. Who we are and what we can do is, or should be, of secondary importance where family is concerned and keeping secrets from those closest to us is almost always turns out to be unnecessary and sometimes even dangerous.
All of these themes are there in the story if you want them but do not in any way detract from the excitement and the action as Charley and his friends go head to head with an evil villain. This is a truly excellent book and, although every loose end is beautifully tied up, I hope that the author might consider a sequel as I would love to know what happens next. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good story which is well written; an easy five stars.

This was a fun read, especially if you are interested in Dickens. The premise is that Charley can 'read' people and objects out of books, for example Sherlock Holmes and Uriah Heep.As an English professor, there are also a few amusing post-modern parts about different 'readings' of the texts and how these affect how the characters behave. A familiarity with David Copperfield helps the appreciation of the book but is not crucial.
As you may have guessed, Uriah Heep escapes and begins to cause problems for Charley and his family in New Zealand, especially his brother Rob. I liked the way the relationship between the brothers and their parents was described.

It reminded me of a version of Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair, imagining the life of characters if they could escape a book, but as a thriller rather than a comedy. It was really interesting and I wanted to know what happened next.

I absolutely love this book!

The story is told from the viewpoint of Rob, a lawyer whose brother Charley can pull characters out of books – mostly by accident!! A bit of a child prodigy (Charley), Rob has always felt his task was to protect his brother but he’s beginning to get fed up with it after his brother moves back to Wellington from London and calls him at all hours of the day/night to help him right his mistakes. On this particular early morning, Charley has accidentally let Uriah Heep on the loose……

Battling with the character to put him back where he belongs, he mentioned something of the ‘new world’ coming…….and their lives start to change dramatically. More fictional characters are out of the street and then something (horrifying!) is sent to attack them! They know that Charley hasn’t summoned these characters, which can only mean one thing – there is another summoner out there trying to cause havoc. Rob (reluctantly) and Charley team up with an unlikely bunch to try and save the world as we know it……but will they find out who they are up against? And will Charley be strong enough to save the world?

This was so fantastic and not like anything I’ve read before. All the classic characters appear (some more than once) and you get to see different parts of them, and see their strengths and weaknesses but in the real world. Every time I came across a new, classic character I was like ‘yesss’ – they’re going to help!! If you love literature, especially the classics then you can’t not love this book!

The main characters are fantastic – I fell in love with Charley and Millie straight away. I even fell in love with Henry the dog (not what he seems – you’ll have to read to find out more!). Rob was. a bit frustrating at times – I wanted to kick him occasionally and tell him to sort himself out. He clearly has jealousy issues, but he does love his brother and this comes out in the book. Their relationship is interesting and heartwarming to follow. There were characters in here that I didn’t know I could love, but I did – all thanks to H. G. Parry’s wonderful story telling.

This story had me absolutely and completely sucked in from chapter one. I was there in the story with them! The story is written so well that you can’t not be sucked in. I read this over 2 days (mainly my whole Sunday!) and I genuinely didn’t want to put it down! I wanted to continue to be immersed in this real/fictional world that was beautiful yet scary at the same time.

This is a brilliant debut from H. G. Parry – what a storyline to come up with! It is fun, engaging, terrifying and will have you on the edge of your seat! There are twists in this that you don’t even know are coming!! I would really love there to be another book…..so am keeping my fingers firmly crossed. However, even if there isn’t I can’t wait to see what the author brings us next. Even though we’re in January, I already feel like this is going to be one of my favourite books of the year! I’ll most certainly be re-reading this and recommending to my friends. This is a must read for all book lovers!! Fantastic!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was an unusual and unique idea, which appealed to me immensely, as a huge fan of Victoria’s literature, and the book did not disappoint. I also enjoyed that the book was set in New Zealand, and I think it made it more interesting than it would have been had it been set in London, which would perhaps have been the more expected setting, it made the street even more incongruous.

The plot was very good, it did keep me guessing throughout, and there were more than a few surprises along the way, which I had not expected. The ending was good and it left an opportunity from a sequel, which I would encourage, as there are so many possibilities for the author to explore.

The characters were well drawn, quite literally, I loved Charley and Rob, and their relationship, which reminds me of that of my own sons. I also enjoyed meeting the myriad of characters introduced throughout and their personalities based on their readings, which added an extra dimension to them.

As an English graduate, I would love to think there is such a street out there, but until I happen upon it, I hope the author writes another instalment!

Thoroughly enjoyable. A book set in a world where literary characters can be read into life: most frequently by accident, but by rare readers they can be read to order and given specific character slants depending on the passage, and mental imagery that breathes life into them.
The book revolves round one such reader and his brother, Rob (our narrator)who has spent a lot of time in his life helping Charlie to capture his escapee characters and return them to their books. Things take a dark turn in this book as Charlie becomes aware that his abilities are not unique, and that someone out there is bringing literature to life for their own nefarious purposes.
Peopled with many familiar characters, this is a highly entertaining read. Totally recommended.

How would you like to be able to hit a brick wall and find yourself in an alternate world populated with mostly literary characters? If that idea appeals, join Charley and Rob as they manage to do just that. Their adventures in wonderland are amazing and a delight and the whole book succeeds where others in this style have failed. I slowed my reading speed a little as I did not want to lose out on some of the less obvious twists and turns that some of the characters created; totally beneficial.

I found this to be a highly original story and plot and thoroughly enjoyed every page. If you like something a little unusual in a plot, this is definitely a book you should consider. Actually, do not consider it, just buy it as I doubt that you will be disappointed.

Charley and Rob are brothers with an awkward past.  Charley a former child prodigy with the very unique ability that he can read characters out of books and have them appear in ort world.  This concept I found utterly delightful, not least the opportunity to meet some of your favourite characters in the flesh. However, for Rob its something of an embarrassment, his brother is deliberately ruining his life and always has done. Especially as Rob is a Solicitor and has a serious life that he has built with his partner Lydia.

The brothers are not close and Charley feels like the kind of vague professor who is so much more caught up in his studies than in anything that goes on in the real world. Rob is a lawyer and he just wants to live his very normal life with his very normal fiancée thanks.

Their relationship is put under further strain when Charley calls Rob in the middle of the night to deal with a version of Uriah Heap that he has inadvertently summoned into being. Things get stranger still when a different Uriah ends up working as an intern at Rob’s firm.

This is such a fun novel.  The characters of Charley and Rob are believable including their tense relationship with the unequal power between them, the fact that Rob can’t seem to forgive Charley for Something and Charley just being himself and never quite being able to fit with his brother’s expectations.

It appears that there is another Character Summoner out there and one who isn’t quite as moral as Charley is.  Drawn into a parallel pocket universe where characters that have been read into existence have gathered like refugees there is a really knotty plot being explored and I love the idea of critical theory being used to reshape characters and as an ex literature student I loved the idea of the implied reader and there being multiple Darcys from pride and prejudice.

I also don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has been set in Wellington NZ before and the author really brought NZ to life for me. As well as playing with tropes of Dickensian London in the Street and all the denizens there.

Things I loved, the character's that were summoned into being. Parry clearly had fun imagining with the literary characters that were summoned.  Not all were from 18th and 19th century literature and I don't want to give too much away.  I loved the idea that reading as an active thoughtful discipline was the superpower within the world.  That interpreting a text and can change how characters can act and it amused me in my dark heart as a Literature graduate.

Things that were a bit odd, I felt quite strongly that Charley should have been the narrator at the beginning of this and that it was a choice to have Rob as the narrator.  This is explained in the text but it seemed odd. Likewise there were several different point of view narrators that were sprinkled through and whilst necessary for the story I'm not sure that it detracted or not.

Overall rollicking good fun and if you have read some of the classics there are lots of references which are just there to give a wry smile at. I enjoyed it very much and I look forward to seeing what H. G. Parry does next.

Orbit provided me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is out now.

Firstly, I want to say thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep really spoke to me in relation to the synopsis that I read. I found that it was really intriguing and something I would love to read. I cannot explain my excitement when I was accepted to read this book.

I love the idea, the concept and the execution of the world within this book was excellent. The fact that the main character, Charlie, can read characters and objects out of books is so exciting. I literally found myself thinking about my favourite books and what I would want to read out of those. Obviously I am still waiting for Dobby to arrive, I'm sure he will be here any day now if I read hard enough. No, on a serious note this is a really unique and complex idea that came across really well. The idea had me hooked, I did not want to put this down as I just wanted to know what Charlie was going to do next.

I absolutely love the characters, the two brothers and their relationship was so heart warming. I think this might be my favourite part about the book. The fact that they had been estranged for some time due to distance and then they come together, Charlie creates so much trouble but Rob stands by him no matter what. I really loved to see their relationship develop even further and I just wanted more and more from them.

The only thing I will say, which is not a fault of the book itself but a fault of my own, because we focused on a lot of classic books that characters and objects were being read out of some of the humour and information was lost on me because I had not read the books. Like I said this is my own fault. I have made a list of the books mentioned in The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, I am going to make it my mission to read these books and then come back for a reread. I think this will really add to my reading experience because at times reading this I felt like I was lost. I am already excited for my reread.

I would recommend and will be recommending this book to my friends. I enjoyed my time reading it and I am looking forward to seeing what this author comes up with next!

This is a curious and original fantasy book, to delight any reader and engage with the more reluctant fantasy ones, I can assure you, a pleasure!
This is the story of two brothers: the boring one, Rob Sutherland, and the other, Charlie, who has an amazing power, make the characters of the books you are reading real. This is their story, unique, special, unlikely, of course!
I was interested in this book since the first moment, the plot sounded so original and special that I really couldn’t wait to start reading it. It’s a little bit long but the story is so addictive that you don’t feel that the number of pages is relevant, only the story!
So, let’s talk a little bit about this story, it’s really interesting the contrast between the two characters, how the young totally relies on the older brother to help him when he needs help, mostly taking care of his characters… But that’s what makes the story more real, because their relation is special but difficult, like most brothers have. Everything will start when there are some characters that appear on their lives without Charlie’s help, how is it possible? Is there someone else with the same powers as him? You’ll have to read the book to know more, of course!
This is a book dedicated to literature lovers, how the characters of the books are created and their special paper on the story they are from. But what intrigued me most is how the author show us that any character of a story, no matter how the author has described them, will change their personality and treats depending on the reader. And this is so true! There are so many movies that try to recreate a book, but the characters are never the same as how I imagined them, small things that make the character special to each reader, and that’s possibly the most interesting thing of reading a book, that you can create your own special world in your mind and it will be unique.
This is a book I recommend to any book lover; action, mystery twists… it’s the dream we always had but put it in paper!

Imagine if the characters of the book you’re reading could come out? At first, I think I would freak out, but then I would find that having tea with Sherlock Holmes would be an unforgettable experience. Charley Sutherland does that. He has the gift to bring out characters from the books he is reading, often involuntarily and unwillingly. And since Charley spends his days among books, it happens quite often. For his brother Rob, Charley’s gift is more of a curse because he always has to get his younger brother out of trouble and so he finds himself chasing Dickensian characters around the university campus in the middle of the night. Until now, things have been quite under control, but as the characters starts to behave strangely and new worlds appear out of nowhere, Rob and Charley need to stop them before it’s too late.

This is the story of two brothers who are completely different: one is a close-minded lawyer trying to have a normal and undisrupted life, the other lives in a world of books from which he can summon the characters. They couldn’t be more different. And yet, they are both unique and relatable characters. I adored Charley, quiet and always trying to do the right thing. I just wanted to hug him and protect him.

I loved how the author represented the characters that Charlie pulls out of classic novels. Heathcliff, Mr Darcy, Dorian Gray, Sherlock Holmes, Victor Frankenstein, Fagin, Artful Dodger, Charles Dickens, they all make an appearance (and many more) and H. G. Parry made a great job making them as close to the original as possible.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is a fun read with suspense, brilliant characters, and an original and beautiful plot that kept me completely glued to the pages.

As an avid reader, I was intrigued by the premise of this book. Set in Wellington (not a known literary hub!), it concerns Charlie who has a talent for bringing characters in books alive - literally. He has always been able to put them back but they start escaping and he and his long-suffering brother, Rob, discover a whole community of them living in a Diagon Alley style hidden lane. They discover that there are other summoners, and one of them may have evil intentions. So it started off well but became repetitive with too many explanations and I finally gave up at 40% and read the ending which seemed a little silly.

I am a complete magpie for books about books, bookshops, libraries and bookworms. I’m not actually a big fantasy reader nowadays but when it has a bookish slant, I’m powerless to resist.

Literary prodigy Charley Sutherland has been able to ‘read’ fictional characters off of the page for as long as he can remember. His ability has always been kept a secret from everyone, save his immediate family, including his older brother Rob. Rob is a lawyer with a nice house in Wellington, a beautiful fiancee and a normal life but he has been tasked with protecting Charley from the dangers of his ability and the real world. When a few characters begin causing trouble and talking about the arrival of a new world, it becomes apparent that Charley isn’t the only person out there who can do what he can. And that person seems to have some less than savoury plans…

This book is very witty. I didn’t laugh out loud at all but I did smile a lot several times. The humour is very subtle so I can possibly see it going over the heads of readers who aren’t familiar with the characters that appear. However, if you’re reasonably well-read in the English classics, particularly the Victorian period, you’re in for a fun treat!

Rob and Charley’s relationship is a realistic one that is lovely to watch. They bicker but they’re so protective of each other. In the midst of the uncertain chaos and impending danger, Rob decides to read more Dickens in order to be able to help his brother, which shows his loyalty and commitment to Charley’s cause.

There are several passages in the novel that read like an ode to reading and literary criticism. As a former literature student (and of course, an eternal voracious reader), I really loved this appreciation of the power of reading yourself right into a book. The brain pathways start speculating, connecting and understanding true meanings and subtexts. It’s real life magic!

The differences between the five Mr Darcys reminded me that every reader has a slightly different experience from the same book. Mr Darcy is a character who has been interpreted in so many ways. Some see him as the ultimate romantic hero. Some see him as a spoilt rude aristocrat. Sometimes he’s a secretive introvert and other times an emotionally damaged, cautious lover. These interpretations are often shaped by the reader’s own experiences, thought patterns and personal tastes, which I find fascinating. Parry offers a unique opportunity to see all of these versions of Darcy interact, which was so much fun!

We also meet versions of Dorian Grey, Heathcliff, Sherlock Holmes, The Artful Dodger, The White Witch, Matilda and of course, Uriah Heep. Obviously, these characters have never had the chance to meet in their stories but watching them team up and fight together actually provoked quite an emotional reaction in me. I was so invested in their wellbeing that I raced through the final nail-biting 10% of the book!

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep is a brand new fun, whimsical adventure for book lovers. The concept is mad and incredibly unique. I went from really wanting Charley’s ability to realising the dangerous ramifications of having said power. The book reminded me of why I love reading deeply and delving into multiple interpretations of the same stories. Fans of The Invisible Library and Mr Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore won’t be able to put down this quirky, literary romp.

This book is a love letter to literature. If you love books you will love this book. Told from the perspective of a lawyer whose brother can pull fictional characters from the pages of books into the real world. The story itself was fun, with just the right amount of horror. Very unusual and unusually enjoyable.

4☆ A Riveting, Unique and Enchanting Tale I Highly Recommend

When I first read the blurb for The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep I wasn't sure what to expect just that it really intrigued me.
It's not my normal genre but I have to say I really enjoyed it.

Charlie is special, so special in fact that when he reads any kind of literature he can bring it to life.
Ever since he was a small child he has always over excelled in his development but this was completely unique and his mother and older brother Rob swore to keep it secret & him safe. However Rob resents the fact his younget brother has never needed him... that is until now! He needs him more than ever.

So it comes as no surprise to Rob when Charlie calls him up in the middle of the night for help, when one of his characters escape from the book David Copperfield and comes too life causing chaos.
However this one character Uriah Heep came out with a warning and is determined to cause trouble.

But can Charlie and Rob discover what is happening before it's too late? And just what was Uriah Heep talking about when he said something is coming?

The Characters are eclectic, fascinating, beautifully researched and very memorable.
The pace flows along seamlessly it's not a fast paced read, but there is adventure, mystery and danger which makes for a highly Compelling and Evocative Read.

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep
is a riveting tale filled with colorful characters and is simply Enchanting in every sense, one unique read I couldn't put down and highly recommend reading.


Thank you to Compulsive Readers Tours and Orbit Books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I think just about everyone knows that I am a little bit of a Dickens enthusiast. So when I saw a book with the name Uriah Heep, that oily, creepy anti-hero from David Copperfield, I was always going to be interested to see how a modern day author would deal with something intrinsically Dickensian. And well, although I might quibble with the interpretation of Heep (and many other characters depicted in the novel), I thoroughly enjoyed the intellectual adventure.

This book asks the question that most of us bookworms think about at some point - what if reading was a superpower? What if, by using nothing more than the tools of your own imagination you were able to summon a character right out of a book and have them standing beside you? And what if you can bring characters to life from the pages of a book and forget to put them back? This book takes us on that journey.

The narrative was well-paced, and the main characters the type that you can identify with and really invest in - especially the fictional ones. We want them to survive when their world, and their place in it, is threatened. The intellectual exercise of trying to place literary references is also a source of much enjoyment for those of us who are partial to the odd Victorian novel or two. Having Charles Dickens show up was, I thought, a bit of a risk, because who dares to try and accurately depict the inimitable? But it worked.

I particularly loved the point that characters can be read in different ways by different readers - and this is true of The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep as well. My own interpretation of what makes a Darcy, or a David Copperfield, or even a ghostly Heathcliffe might be very different to another's vision.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, the premise being very different to anything I have read recently, and it did engage me on the depiction of Dickens characters I have known and loved for years. My fellow Dickensians, I think you will enjoy it.