Peril in the Old Country (Terribly Serious Darkness, #1) by Sam Hooker is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. The first few pages were difficult to get into but once I got going I enjoyed the clever and witty story up until about half way through. There things got complicated. (At least for me) I never could pick up the same rhythm I had with the book like I had in the first half. I did enjoy the book.

Hello. The following review will be published in Grimdark Magazine Issue 15, April 1, 2018.
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Peril in the Old Country by Sam Hooker
Review by malrubius
Peril in the Old Country is a hilarious new novel by Sam Hooker (The Winter Riddle, not that you’ve heard of it). It pits the hapless and hopelessly timid accountant Sloot Peril against numerous adversaries as he attempts to protect the fortune of wealthy dimwit heir William Hapsgalt, discover his own identity, fall in love, and maybe even stay alive for a short while longer, not that that’s entirely necessary in his opinion. In a style (very) reminiscent of the late Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide and Dirk Gently series, Hooker spins a very funny tale with some fairly complex characters, tense conflicts, philosophizing, a nicely realized setting, and line upon line of funniness. It’s also chock full of nasty goblins, secret societies, ancient wizards, undead armies, wizards, and a little of the stabby stuff.
Thanks to the ineptitude of one of his co-workers, whose paperwork he must clean up in a hurry, Peril is thrust into the secret spy agency of Salzstadt, the capital of the Old Country (the name of which cannot be mentioned without inviting a congress of goblins into the general proximity, which then must be battled with brooms), against its longtime nemesis, the neighboring country of Carpathia. After his successfully brief summary of the giant stack of paperwork he corrects just in time, he is chosen by Mrs Knife, the head of Three Bells Company, to help oversee the wealth of the daft heir to the richest man in the Old Country as the young lad (about forty years old) makes his own way in the world at the family’s goblin-infested estate at Whitewood. Peril oversees the hiring of the household staff: Myrtle, a cute housekeeper, who is possessed by the spirit of a dead and very bored philosopher; Roman, a sneaky valet; and Nan, the ‘young’ heir’s nanny, who won’t take no for an answer and quickly rids the estate of goblins with her trusty broom. Once the hiring is settled, the enormous fortune and everything else in the estate is abruptly stolen, and Peril must undertake a deal with Winking Bob, the head of the underground mafia, Four Bells Company, to win a small portion of the money, still amounting to an incredible fortune, back or else face the wrath of Mrs Knife, among others. Dirty deeds and double-dealing ensue as Peril takes his team, plus Greta, local watchmaker, on an ‘expedition’ to Carpathia, a very nasty place whose citizens, as far as Peril knows, “wore the untanned skins of beasts they killed, communicated only through grunts and bloodthirsty screaming, ate fruit without washing it first, and worse,” to help regain William’s fortune. All of which ultimately leads to a deadly and comical climax as the forces of Salzstadt must battle an undead army of Vlads from Carpathia. Many, many twists and turns complicate the way to a surprising and funny, though perhaps slightly unsatisfying, ending, which I won’t describe since it would spoil the fun.
Sloot Peril is a beautifully conceived accountant: he is exceedingly self-conscious, hates to deal with anything that can’t be assessed strictly in terms of numbers, is socially inept, and ridiculously afraid of anything not entirely sanctioned by the Domnitor, the head of the Old Country. Every morning, he wakes, says the Loyalty Oath to the Old Country, and walks to work, going a mile out of his way to touch Salzstadt’s north gate, which secures his home city from the very likely evil Carpathians who live directly to the north and have conquered pretty much everywhere else. His social circle consists almost entirely of conversations with his beloved mother, who reveals her secret identity to him, thereby crushing all of his preconceived notions of self, leaving him adrift on a sea of doubt. Nevertheless, he tries to court Myrtle, though her inability to stifle the voice of the cynical know-it-all philosopher, Arthur, who possesses her, makes it very awkward, to say the least. The other minor characters are equally as endearing in their own ways: Roman, a house valet, seems to know all about the underground, secret societies, and Carpathia; Greta, a humble yet kick-ass watchmaker, who longs for adventure but might be forced to marry Willie despite her pleas; Nan, the nanny, who forces herself on Peril and follows along, though uninvited, on their adventure and is really the character who turns this humble adventure into an extremely perilous one; and Willie, a forty-year-old spoiled brat who alternates between commanding authority and acting like a six-year-old (which Nan is convinced he really is, thanks to a spell). There are other important characters as well, including a couple of wizards, who act as nice foils to each other, Vlad the Invader herself, Queen of Carpathia, and the undead army of all past Vlads going back thousands of years, including the comically annoying Vlad who died of a head wound and can’t remember that he is no longer king and is, well, dead.
As if the situations and characters weren’t entertaining and humorous enough, the settings of Salzstadt and Carpathia are both thoughtfully rendered. Salzstadt comes with a strong dose of Orwell’s 1984. There are rules for everything, including swearing, fighting, and which fork to use, all seemingly to keep out goblins, which would seem to be easily eradicated were it not for a certain prohibition against brooms. Carpathia, on the other hand, is comically spooky with gargoyles peering down from every rooftop, underground sewers, and a giant non-working clock tower. It is decidedly more medieval gothic than the Old Country, which seems more Victorian, but it really doesn’t matter. It is the work of a lively imagination and never fails to set the stage for a relentless assault of humor and antics.
Overall, though, it is Hooker’s writing that makes Peril in the Old Country so enjoyable. Yes, it cannot go without comparison to Douglas Adams, but nevertheless, the wordsmithing and phrase-turning of the third-person narrative and dialogue are the real stars here. For example, when Roman describes the rituals of a secret society, the Serpents of the Earth, he says
“Of course, they mostly do their black masses in the library basement. Fairly rare. Blood moons.”
“Black masses? You mean with human sacrifices and the like?” [asks Peril.]
“Oh no,” said Roman. “I mean yes, they do that kind, too, but they use the basement of the Great Cathedral for human sacrifices. Much better drainage.”
Similarly, after watching the elite Old Country guard in battle, the narrator gives us Peril’s thoughts: “It’s hard to be proud of two dozen corpses no matter how shiny their armor is.” And so on. It’s great fun, if you’re into that sort of thing. Fun, that is.
But is it grimdark? Nicholas Eames’s brilliant Kings of the Wyld leaves no doubt that dark fantasy can be written with a hefty dose of humor. Peril in the Old Country brings humor to the forefront. However, both sides of this story’s conflict, the salts of Salzstadt and the Carpathians, as well as a third party that arises, seem equally ridiculous, and none is always in the right, if a ‘right’ even exists in this absurd melee. By the end, even Peril himself is unclear which side he is on and if it’s the right one. So, if it’s possible to create an all-out comic grimdark novel, I think Hooker has done so with Peril in the Old Country. Yes, I was a little let down by the last page or two of the novel, but Peril in the Old Country, all the way through its climax, is hilarious good fun, and many readers will enjoy the interesting ending twist. (No, it’s not all a dream or anything stupid like that.)
Peril in the Old Country is scheduled to be released in trade paper and e-book by Black Spot Books on June 5, 2018.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sam Hooker for allowing me to read and review Peril in the Old Country. What a fantastically enjoyable book! Loved it!

This is one of those books that you will either find funny or you won't. I, unfortunately, didn't laugh at all. Silly people do silly things for silly reasons or no reason at all, which seems to be the same thing. I would recommend reading an excerpt. You will either laugh or you won't. It doesn't get funnier. Good luck.

Sloot Peril the accountant is a nervous/befuddled/pathetic character on the order of Arthur Dent or Rincewind the Wizard, and he lives in a world that sounds like 1984 as written by Terry Pratchett who has just read a bunch of dark fantasy (be careful which characters you get emotionally attached to). Poor Sloot, the most law-abiding of citizens, renders great service to an important man (correcting an accounting report that implied he wasn’t so rich that he didn’t have to count his money) and is plunged into a world of plots within plots.

The characters are ridiculous, the situations are absurd, and the narration is hilarious and snarky (beware if you are easily offended by something you value being satirized). This was on it’s way to being a 4.5 to 5 star book, but the end really annoyed me. There are plot unveilings, deaths, swearing (e.g. “the one that rhymes with elbow” or “the one that starts with m and refers to the face you make right before sneezing”), true love…and then the book ends before we find out how the situation resolves…I hate that kind of cliffhanger ending. If you’re a good author you don’t need to string me along like that! You should be able to offer some resolution and still keep my interest. It annoyed me so much that I almost dropped this clear down to 3 stars, but I had too much fun overall to do that.

If you love the humor of Terry Pratchett, you absolutely must pick up a copy of Peril in the Old
Country.  It is a delightfully absurd novel with elements of the movie Brazil. Witty, astute observations on the nature of man and the reality he creates are paired with strange situations that become more and more convoluted as Sloot Peril endeavors to do the right thing and keep his head attached to his shoulders.

All Sloot did was correct a memo. Now he is the financier of an idiot nobleman, a spy, and possibly falling in love for the first time in his life.  He is way outside his comfort zone and the situation is becoming more ridiculous and more complex as it progresses.  Peril in the Old Country is an absolutely wonderful novel.  Not only was it extremely funny, it also had just the right way of pointing out truths that left the reader groaning and or rolling in laughter.  My only quibble is the abrupt ending.

5 /  5

I received a copy of Peril in the Old Country from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

— Crittermom

The topic of this book intrigued me. I loved the wit and sarcasm of its characters, and the world-building enticed me. Sloot Peril is hardly the hero we expect of a fantasy novel, and that definitely gave me buy-in for the novel. Unfortunately (at least for me), I got lost somewhere in the middle. I don't know if I wasn't following the narrative correctly, or didn't get where the writer was going, but things didn't make sense to me. The ending seemed rushed and left me puzzled (but not curious to see what would be next).It could be that I didn't understand Mr. Hooker's humor and wit. Or that I'm new to the adult fantasy genre. But Peril in the Old Country is a pretty good book - it simply wasn't for me.

The author’s voice is what drew me in from the first page. First paragraph, really. With its tongue–firmly-in-cheek prose, the story kept me turning the virtual pages.

Sloot Peril is a great hero because although he is a walking neurosis, he feels real. Most readers probably know someone just like him. His progression throughout the story is cleverly done, so that we see him slowly changing, managing to do some things that he wouldn’t even have considered at the start of the novel. This growth on his part is one of the things that make him such a believable character, even in such a series of wacky plots. Roman was another favorite of mine because he is both so bad and so good at the spy business that you never know if his plans will actually work or not.

There are some real laugh-out-loud moments, making this definitely a story I would recommend for people who want something lighter. I especially enjoyed the queuing scenes because they show an exaggerated version of the bureaucratic nonsense we have all put up with. Oh, and the black market. Which is actually a black market, underground and super secret. All of those details add flavor to an already fun read.

If you enjoy witty narratives that have plenty of comedic moments, then I highly recommend this one.