The Unhappy Medium: A Supernatural Comedy. Book 1

Wow, this is best thing I've read in many years. An artful blend of comedy and thrills featuring a bloodthirsty revenant from the Spanish inquisition. The author has a knack for clever dialog and amusing phrases. The characters are interesting, and quite believable - if you make allowances for the wildly imaginative circumstances, and don't include the villains who are at once clownish and horrifying. Do yourself a favor, and ignore the naysayers who would doubtless emerge unscathed from a soul-killing machine.

I finished the book do it held my interest but there really isn't a plot until you get 60% through. Written well in some parts and other areas just make the story overly silly. I understand it was supposed to be a bit of a farce, but the villain is like a poor mans version of Dr. Evil without the smart humor. Can't necessarily recommend here.

The introduction of the characters took about 3 pages apiece for 2 characters. Both characters were bland to the extreme. The story was so bogged down in unnecessary description that I was tired of it going nowhere. I'm deleting the story without finishing chapter 1.

Started off with great promise, but about halfway through it begins to feel rushed and forced, and finally sprints to a ridiculously unsatisfying ending. The initial premise was intriguing, the characters engaging and nuanced, and the author showing a gift for evocative turns of phrase. Somewhere along the way, though, the characters become one-dimensional action-hero parodies of themselves, the dialog drowns in a morass of generic glib quips and macho cliches, the plot degenerates into a bland shoot-em-up, and the prose becomes hilariously overwrought.

Good thing it was free.

I thought of dropping this several times as I was reading, but slogged through it. It's a bit derivative, and I think several authors have done this theme more skillfully and with sharper wit. I thought it was okay, but not worth keeping. Glad I got this at a discount, definitely not worth a full price.

To be honest, there isn't a lot to say about the book itself. I tried several times to get into it but lost interest each time. Might be a good book, but it didn't hold my interest long enough to find out.

I've hated spoilers ever since I learned that Darth Vader was Luke's father in a sermon one Sunday morning, so I won't be telling you which part of this delightful book first made me giggle, gape like a 12-year old, or (very nearly) brought a tear to my eye. I will tell you that this book is witty, exciting, and yes, at times, even poignant. Buy this book! You'll be happy you did.

I picked this up looking for a light comedy to refresh my palate after finishing The Iliad. I guess it did succeed at taking me out of the mind frame of reading classics, but that's about all it was successful at.

First, the humor. It's pretty clear T. J. Brown was going for a Douglas Adams/Monty Python/Terry Pratchett vibe. The problem is that it was forced when that kind of humor only works when it's natural and casual. There were a bunch of types of jokes or goofy ways of wording things that he would repeat multiple times, not in a comic repetition kind of way, but like these things were some of his limited repertoire of jokes that he had to get in whenever they might make sense. For example, characters would "fall x over arse." One character falls "kevlar over arse" another falls "tits over arse." It can only sound natural once, doing it multiple times is forcing it. There were times when he'd go off on a tangential story that was clearly supposed to be funny but it never justified the extra length in the book. I get that Douglas Adams did that sort of thing with great success, but T. J. Brown just isn't funny enough to pull it off. So much of the comedy was just overused tropes, which got old fast.

Second of all, all the characters are as flat as paper dolls. They're just stock characters. I can understand the use of stock characters in short forms of comedy (such as improv or sketch comedy), but in a novel it just gets boring. And to make it worse, his female characters are sexist stereotypes for the most part (that is, there's only one named exception and she has no personality, just serves a function in the plot). There's the "b*tchy" ex wife, sulky goth teenager, and two different "sl*tty" nuns. Newton (the main character) goes internet dating with six different sexist stereotypes at one point. Viv is a "cool girl," that is, straight guy wish fulfillment. There's a bunch of other miscellaneous sexism beyond that as well. Ms. Dryer is described as having a "warped libido" at a point in the book when all she was doing was making passes at a man while being older than him (the man is in his thirties, should be mature enough to straightforwardly reject her but if he did that it wouldn't be funny I guess). There are several times when male scientists are shown as being held back by their wives' expectation that they'll actually participate in the family, as if men don't benefit from marriage far more than women do. And besides, if these guys didn't want children maybe they could have talked about it before getting married and/or chosen to marry a woman who didn't want children.

Tangential to the stock characters, someone must have told the author his characters were flat because he gave some of them excessive backstories which didn't actually fix the problem and completely messed up the pacing. Like, it's obvious from the title that this book is about a medium, right? Well, Newton doesn't become a medium until 40% of the way into the book. We have to hear the whole process of how his grandfather was a scientist, his father was a scientist, he was a scientist, he gets married, he spends a bunch of time on tv being an outspoken atheist and debunking the supernatural, he has his downfall in the science community, he has a messy divorce, he gets another job that he doesn't like as much, he goes internet dating, he starts dating Viv. Finally at 40% of the way into the book there are ghosts and he becomes a medium. And then his process of adjusting to this new job goes by in just a couple paragraphs. It would have been a lot better if Newton's arc had started with his becoming a medium, the backstory could have been dropped in as it was relevant, and there could have been more time spent on his process of reconciling his skepticism with his new life as a medium.

Backstories aren't the only pacing problem. The main villain isn't really introduced until about two thirds of the way into the book (he appears earlier, but only briefly). Towards the beginning of the book there's an organization introduced that seems like it's going to be important to the main conflict of the story but it never shows up again. Newton is very obviously the main character by the end of the book but for the first quarter or so it is not at all obvious who's supposed to be the main character or what the plot is. The ending action sequence goes on forever to the point where it's very boring. Action sequences aren't supposed to be boring!

Actually, being boring isn't the only problem with the action sequences. They also have this problem where it's really hard to tell how various events work spatially. For example there's a part where this one character tries to shoot at Newton but accidentally shoots at a different character instead. I could not figure out how the characters were situated so that that could happen. In the same scene there are several "evil" characters in a car (or is it a truck?) and two of them seem to incompetently shoot at Newton from the front seat. Who's driving? I don't know. How are they not shooting each other or the windshield? Again, I don't know. The scene can't be visualized which makes it boring.

And maybe this is a minor point or just a dialectical difference between my American English (pacific northwest more specifically) and the author's British, but there seemed to be a bunch of times when he'd overuse distracting words. Like, he referred to Newton's hair as his "quiff" several times. I'm all for using unusual words for humor, but when you use the same unusual word multiple times unnecessarily it's just distracting. He also uses the word "careering" about five times all in places when I would use the word "careening." The first time I thought it was a typo, the second time I actually looked it up and determined that he was actually using a correct term, the third (or was it fourth) time he in fact used it wrong and the word needed to be "careening." Granted I wouldn't have known this if I hadn't looked it up.

There are more things I could complain about, but this is probably enough. I considered just not finishing the book, but I don't feel qualified to review things when I haven't finished them and I wanted to post my first ever one star review. Never reviewing books you hate probably throws off the accuracy of the average ratings, right? Anyway, I'm rambling. I definitely do not recommend this book.

Did not care for this one at all. Never did figure out who or what was the medium. The title indicates a supernatural story but after reading 5 chapters I have up.perhaps if I had read more it would have come together for me.

This is one of those authors who tend to cram so much description, adjectives, word play and sometimes big words into every single sentence that it is a challenge to read. I have an IQ of 140 so it has nothing to do with understanding - it's just impossible to read with any comfort level. The story (is there one?) dragged and jumped all over the place. Every time I picked it up I could not remember what was happening or what the story actually was or even who the characters were. Some say they liked different parts - like the middle - but I gave up on it after reading 10% of the book. Something I almost never do.

Stopped reading 20% of the way through. Never found any plot related to being a medium. The beginning chapters were a mismash of seemingly random characters. This was just boring. I tried to power through to at least get to the middle. Could not do it. Nor sure why there are a lot of positive reviews for this one.

I want my money back on this one! previous reviews must have been friends and family and other people who stand to make a buck on it.
I am a voracious reader, going through a couple books a week and I am a generous reviewer.
But I couldn't even get half way thought this one. Could not find a plot, a central character, could not find a thread.
Books are our friends and I would never even dog-ear one. But this one would hit the bond-fire without a twinge.

The Unhappy Medium has everything I look for in a comedic fantasy/SF novel. The protagonist is a skeptic (think Mythbusters, James Randi, Harry Houdini et al) who finds that reality is...not as he had always assumed. Call it supernatural noir with a dash of historical (not to mention prehistorical) fiction for flavor, along the lines of the Bobby Dollar series by Tad Williams, the Inferno series by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the Reality Dysfunction series by Peter F. Hamilton, or the Ghost Trilogy by L. E. Modesitt.

Although the novel is a self-contained story, the author also sets up what looks to be a bang-up series. Highly recommended to any SF, fantasy, or horror fan who likes their humor dry and their spooks snarky. In the interest of avoiding spoilers, I’ll just say if any of this sounds like your cup of tea (with a nod to the charming UK and continental settings, including castles *and* pubs, not to mention the lovingly restored WWI-era tank that plays a role), grab this book!

It was stupid and I did not even finish it. It kept jumping around and was very hard to follow. Lost my interest about 1/4 of the way through. Skipped ahead to see if it got better but it never did.

This was unexpected. I happened upon this after developing an itch to read a book by a new author and at the same time having this one recommended to me by a friend. It hooked me early on as it zigged and zagged and outpaced my expectations. Just when I thought I had a handle on the book, Brown shifted scenes and styles -- scientific, historical and magical moments follow one another in The Unhappy Medium and Brown handles them with equal aplomb, eventually placing them all on equal footing as the book became impossible to put down. Along the way there's a warmth in each of those distinct perspectives that felt like taking a vacation to a foreign place I've always wanted to visit and finding the best tour guide who shares both his home-grown excitement for the spots that made me want to go there in the first place and his disfavor over the things robbing it of its essential charm. There is an unmistakable, genuine British wit in the Unhappy Medium that can't be manufactured elsewhere. It's worth seeking out and sharing.

Of note is that the characters and scenes are drawn with a painter's eye for detail and precision. I found the depictions of the characters and scenes engrossing in and of themselves -- beyond what what they contributed to the story's progression. Those finely wrought moments were like going to a museum and appreciating a painting without worrying about what movement the painter belonged to or what it's supposed to mean.

Collectively, though, the book concerns a Dr. Newton Barlow, a character who initially struck me as sharing a similarity to Richard Dawkins in their outspoken reliance on science as their first and last method of understanding the world. The book's ultimate worth to me came in the building crescendo of impossible moments that challenge and enrich Barlow's world of theretofore sterile, definable and limiting certainties. After journeying so far with him, I was sorry to reach the final page and now have my fingers crossed for another outing from Dr. Barlow in this same happy medium.

I really wanted to like this book. I stuck with it until the end, but I skipped parts. The first 30% (sorry I don't have numbers)was supposed to introduce the characters, but I spent the whole time thinking what is this all about and where is the medium. The middle I enjoyed when the main character started doing missions but things started getting violent and gross. I don't enjoy reading about torture so I skipped large portions of the book in the back. It just might be my age, but I didn't like it.

The author's humor lifts this modern tale of good v. evil into something special. The characters are drawn well. Descriptions of the environment and action are great--maybe a little too vivid, sometimes, with regard to the elements of horror. On a purely metaphysical side, some readers may not be pleased that God is not overtly present in the battle to destroy evil. One can extrapolate that the Purgatorians are acting as God's tools (or not, depending on one's beliefs). So the author manages to cover the bases for all possible readers. I did find the humor more present toward the beginning of the book; that proved helpful, because the disparate happenings early on take a while to coalesce into the body of the story.

When I downloaded this book I didn't really have much of an idea of what to expect, but thought it was worth a try. My goodness I'm glad I did! Brilliantly written, full of dry wit and humorous turns of phrase this book as an absolute gem! It reminded me of the novellas of another indie writer, Phil Church, which I also love. Newton is the last person you'd expect to be picked by his old colleague and friend for a job helping out those hanging around in Purgatory. He's skeptical, a brilliant physicist but a complete wally when it comes to dealing with big business. That sets him up nicely to help his old friend rid the earth of some of the most evil spirits around. A great yarn, fast paced and sprinkled with the understated humour that Brits write so well. I checked on the store, but there's no sequel. Why on earth not? More please Mr Brown!

I really enjoyed this book. At first, I was slightly concerned because minor characters were so fully developed, but I found myself thinking, "So what? This is great stuff." The storyline is excellently plotted. The writing is absolutely first rate, and the characters and their interactions are very believable. It was snarky, irreverent, and held my interest from the second page. I have already downloaded the second book, and hope there are more to come. I would like to see more of our protagonists!

I must say, when I received a complimentary copy of Unhappy Medium from author T.J. Brown, I had no idea I would be in for such a wild ride. Brown is a master at creating an unlikely action-packed adventure liberally laced with droll wit. The manner in which the humor is used was so understated that I found myself backing up to reread passages--a metaphoric double-take. Join Dr. Newton Barlow as he takes on a job that is the antithesis of everything he has professed to believe--but use a safety harness. Unhappy Medium is full of unexpected twists and unforgettable characters. Enjoy!(

Overall a great read. Several parts are mired down in historical details and extra details that drone on. The explanations could be shortened quite a bit so that the reader doesn't loose interest. By halfway through I could recognise the start of several pages of nonsense and skip those parts. There is such a thing as too much history. A sharp thinning of extra details that don't add to the book would make it a 5 star book.

I enjoyed the book, but it did take a long time to set up the story. American readers will need to keep in mind that the story takes place in England, and the language is a little different. "Trousers" means pants, and "pants" means underwear, for example. All in all, it was a fun story of mortals assisting in a supernatural battle between good and evil.

Brown's writing style flows with ease; a wry smile quickly appeared in the corner of my mouth and I was laughing by page two. This book has all the promise of a great potential series! Respected physicist Newton Barlow has spent his life rejecting the spiritual, but when your reputation is destroyed and your dead mentor tells you (to your face) there's more than just this life, and offers you a job, well...things get interesting!
There are really relatable characters in this tale and everyone, from heroes to villains, is distinct, memorable and enjoyable. I'm a big fan of this genre and this one was a true joy to read. It's earned its place alongside my favourite books, and there aren't many debut novels on that shelf! I really hope he writes more of these, I'm hooked!

An astonishingly high romp into British humor and ghosties I can't wait to start on the sequel. Slyly hilarious and spot-on when poking fun at serious subjects. I'd been searching for a really good read and found it . You must read this book!

I enjoyed this book, at times the jumping from character was a bit tedious but it all came together nicely. In the final chapter a young female ghost came forward and rescued the two female heroines it was mentioned she was tied to the site until it was no more. It would have been a nice touch to see she was finally released.

I really enjoyed this book. At first, I was slightly concerned because minor characters were so fully developed, but I found myself thinking, "So what? This is great stuff." The storyline is excellently plotted. The writing is absolutely first rate, and the characters and their interactions are very believable. It was snarky, irreverent, and held my interest from the second page. I have already downloaded the second book, and hope there are more to come. I would like to see more of our protagonists!

I must say, when I received a complimentary copy of Unhappy Medium from author T.J. Brown, I had no idea I would be in for such a wild ride. Brown is a master at creating an unlikely action-packed adventure liberally laced with droll wit. The manner in which the humor is used was so understated that I found myself backing up to reread passages--a metaphoric double-take. Join Dr. Newton Barlow as he takes on a job that is the antithesis of everything he has professed to believe--but use a safety harness. Unhappy Medium is full of unexpected twists and unforgettable characters. Enjoy!(

Overall a great read. Several parts are mired down in historical details and extra details that drone on. The explanations could be shortened quite a bit so that the reader doesn't loose interest. By halfway through I could recognise the start of several pages of nonsense and skip those parts. There is such a thing as too much history. A sharp thinning of extra details that don't add to the book would make it a 5 star book.

I enjoyed the book, but it did take a long time to set up the story. American readers will need to keep in mind that the story takes place in England, and the language is a little different. "Trousers" means pants, and "pants" means underwear, for example. All in all, it was a fun story of mortals assisting in a supernatural battle between good and evil.

Brown's writing style flows with ease; a wry smile quickly appeared in the corner of my mouth and I was laughing by page two. This book has all the promise of a great potential series! Respected physicist Newton Barlow has spent his life rejecting the spiritual, but when your reputation is destroyed and your dead mentor tells you (to your face) there's more than just this life, and offers you a job, well...things get interesting!
There are really relatable characters in this tale and everyone, from heroes to villains, is distinct, memorable and enjoyable. I'm a big fan of this genre and this one was a true joy to read. It's earned its place alongside my favourite books, and there aren't many debut novels on that shelf! I really hope he writes more of these, I'm hooked!

An astonishingly high romp into British humor and ghosties I can't wait to start on the sequel. Slyly hilarious and spot-on when poking fun at serious subjects. I'd been searching for a really good read and found it . You must read this book!

I enjoyed this book, at times the jumping from character was a bit tedious but it all came together nicely. In the final chapter a young female ghost came forward and rescued the two female heroines it was mentioned she was tied to the site until it was no more. It would have been a nice touch to see she was finally released.

Lots of well written action, plenty of horror, interesting history. It’s probably just me, but I found the characters unappealing. Especially when it came to the ex.
As I said, well written, and certainly worth your time if you like the offbeat.

start out reading about one story then suddenly the next chapter your reading a different story. Another chapter. Another different story then back to the first. some people who tried reading it couldn't get into it. Bear it out, the writer does tie it together and makes sense of it all. I found it worth the effort.

Extremely entertaining and we'll written. It's the kind of British humour I love. The grotesque nature of the Inquisition is taken to another level and all the evil doers get their comeuppance. A very satisfying read!

What happens when a renowned scientist and firm disbeliever of ghosts finds himself recruited by his dead mentor to stop the rise of the undead and Armageddon - all before Monday? Read and laugh your way to find out.

I greatly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the next in the series. Sometimes It felt like the author was a little TOO influenced by Monty Python and Douglas Aadams and as such would ramble on for pages for a punchline. But the story itself was fun and well thought out, and I liked the mythology introduced.

This book is full of good humor and a very lively tale.
I hope there will be a sequel.
I think if you enjoy fantastic modern day
Adventures and have enjoyed books
like Neverwhere , Kraken and
Discworld books , you will most likely find this an entertaining
Read.

This book at the beginning reminded me a bit of a Douglas Adams book. Witty & a bit glib.......then the plot sort of became more important than the wit & the characters. There were some parts that seemed a little bogged down towards the end. But it was a good story.....quite enjoyable!

The perfect blend of fantasy and humor. Although it would be nice to know if the Bonetaker and Eric rekindled their previous friendly relationship. I so want that Neanderthal to experience some happiness!

I was a little worried at first after having read another review about this story being too violent, talking about torture etc.. I found it to be humorous and very original. The violence was not over the top and moved the story along. I loved the relationship between father and daughter.

Although I thought this book was a little slow to get going, I found that by the end I was hoping for a sequel to have already been written. The attention to detail in character development finally pays off in an attachment which makes you not want to see the last of them. Looking forward to the next book by T.J. Brown.

I got to 39 percent mainly on the strength of the quirkiness of the descriptions and some humor in the writing. But the book just rambles. I'm not too sure I care much about these characters or what happens to them so I won't be finishing. It just seems like a fairly straightforward good versus evil type supernatural story clogged up with a lot of rambling, pointless asides, tons of unneeded description and following back everybody's family tree. Several chapters into the book very little has actually happened.

This is the one of the most humorous horror books I have read in a long time. From the main character -an atheistic scientist whose lack of beliefs is questioned, the oleaginous triplets and including the dead shot ninja monk the characterisations are quite monochrome in that villains are suitably villainous with no redeeming features and the heroes are exactly that -heroic. The writers style is witty, pacey and continually held my interest until the very last page and hopefully, this is the first in a series.

I received this book as a review copy and started in to it a bit dubiously. A few pages in though and I was hooked. If you are a fan of Tom Holt, Robert Rankin or Christopher Moore, this is your next go to author. The Unhappy Medium is a well written book with a solid series of plot twists and turns, and more than a few laughs. I can honestly say, I am so pleased to have read this book and that it will now rank among my favorites. Here's to hoping for many more in the future from T.J. Brown!

The story of Newton and his gang is captivating with every chapter - even if i felt at times it was dragging, it all paid off in the second half of the book. Definitely recommending this to any fans of comedy, supernatural and anyone who enjoys British humour.

I give this high marks for a debut novel because it is extremely hard to find the proper pacing without a lot of practice. There are places where exposition brings the novel's energy down a couple of pegs so I can only provide Mr. Brown with a recommendation to do what so many others have found useful which is "Show, don't Tell". For instance, using dialogue or circumstance to bring forth Newton's history would have made it feel less like a biography and given the main character more dimension. The professional consequences Newton faces seem so real, I had thought the author was himself embroiled in the world of for-profit scientific endeavor. The characters were a joy to read and the relationship between estranged father and adolescent daughter was so spot on. As an Evanovich fan, I enjoy the uproariously ridiculous situations and characters that are evident in this novel. You must suspend your disbelief and recognize that the author's tongue is stuck firmly in his cheek or you will just call BS throughout. I am looking very forward to the next novel in the series.

I have to admit, it took me awhile to get into the groove of this book. At first, it seemed rather doomy/gloomy and not funny, while the 'stage' was being set, but then it picked up speed and the humor started to become humorous. From the out load chortle, to laugh out loud funny at times, along with some just plain 'eww' moments, found it to be all in all a pretty fun read. Looking forward to reading the second one.

I just could not get into this book. I found it boring with too much narrative, little dialogue, nothing I could grab onto, so I did not finish reading it after about 20 pages. It read like a history book to me and not a novel. Just not my cup of tea, although I like books about mediums and psychics and such things. This one failed to engage me.

I gave this book three stars because it was a fun, original story. I liked the plot and where the author took it. The development of the main character was reasonable, although the overall character development was pretty light. However, this book is in serious need of an editor. The writing is elementary and commas are needed throughout. If I hadn't thought the story was engaging, I would have gone with fewer stars just because of the language and punctuation issues.