Cover Image: Anarchy of the Mice

Anarchy of the Mice

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Molly McGill is a twice-divorced single mother with a struggling P.I. business. She's struggling to hold her life (and her kids' lives) together and seeing her teenage son wearing a t-shirt that supports the "Blind Mice" - a group of anarchists who have been disrupting government functions and have been in the news frequently - puts her on edge. Everything seems to be falling apart around her when she gets a visit from Quaid Rafferty, a former (now disgraced) Massachusetts governor and his partner Durwood Oak Jones. They have a job for Molly ... infiltrate the Blind Mice.

They establish Molly as an outspoken blogger opposing government interference and Molly finds it surprisingly easy to write her vehement blog posts. Her blog posts get her noticed and she's soon invited to do some radio talk shows, and up the ladder to television, and then she's finally invited to become a more 'official' member of Blind Mice.

What Molly didn't foresee was the life-threatening dangers involved with associating with this highly organized group.

I'll admit that one of the main reasons I requested to read this book was the very pulp-like cover. I've been in a mood to read more classic pulp fiction and I've been searching for some modern day pulp that harkens back to the pulps of the 50's and 60's. This awesome cover brings precisely that to mind. The writing, unfortunately, does not.

The biggest downfall here is the amount of time we spend setting up the story. It feels like it takes such a long time to establish our main character, then build up her cover story before we get to any actual pulp-like action.

Once we get to the action we have another problem - believability. We spend a great deal of time with Molly, Quaid, and Durwood and there is a small cast of supporting characters who aren't as well established and we are forced to simply believe in their capabilities. One, in particular, made me roll my eyes when she (who has absolutely zero skills with computers) goes undercover as a tech genius and bluffs her way past the highly skilled employees. This kind of suspension of disbelief is okay with complete buy-in to the story, but because of the length of the set-up, establishing a quite believable premise, asking the reading to go back and forth ('believable, suspend your belief, believable' etc) makes this hard to really get in to.

I liked the general character of Molly and I'd be curious to read more of her adventures, but this lengthy adventure isn't strong enough to get me to read any more.

Looking for a good book? Anarchy of the Mice by Jeff Bond appears to be an attempt to bring back the adventure of classic pulp fiction, but where the pulps are fast and furious, this is slow and methodical and a bit of a challenge.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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this was a great start to a series, I loved getting to know the characters and found the writing style a nostalgic trip, I read both books one after another. I'd love a third book in the series.

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Jeff Bond's Anarchy of the Mice is the first installment of the Third Chance Enterprises Boo Series with the second one Dear Durwood. The series stars Quaid Raferty, Durwood Jones, and single mom Molly McGill.

Molly received an offer to infiltrate and go undercover in the Blind Mice, a terrorist hacker group that is causing havoc in the States that quickly causes chaos around the world. Quaid is a washed-up politician who has a sweet spot for Molly. Durwood and his dog Sue-Ann (whom I loved) is the muscle in the group. Molly was able to get inside the Blind Mice organization and got involved easily.

The story started out fast for me, told in alternating chapters, believable and likable characters, even a few in the Blind Mice. They have their reasons to cause chaos in the world but they still need to be stopped. Like I said fast-paced, a story that could almost feel like what is happening in the world today, but with a more sci-fi feel to it. Can the terrorists be stopped? There is lots of danger, romance between Quaid and Molly, lots of intrigues. An action-filled book.

I read the Pinebox Vendetta and enjoyed that one also. An author of which I look forward to reading more of.

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Jeff Bond has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Regardless of genre, he manages to weave an engaging tale.

This new entry into his rapidly expanding body of work skews toward a James Bond feel, with an overarching world domination plot, foreign locations, pretty women, strong and suave leading men, and over-the-top bad guys.

The book is long - I believe it's the longest of Jeff Bond's novels thus far. Stick with it, as it is definitely worth the time and investment. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and can't wait to start in on Dear Durwood.

Thank you to the author for an ARC to read and review.

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This book is a bit of a rollercoaster. Our three main characters keep getting themselves in hot water. I dislike the character Quaid Rafferty. He reminds me of a slimy politician, maybe because he is a slimy ex-politician. Love Grandma and I can just picture her giving Quaid her uncensored opinion of him. You feel for Molly and her frustration trying to deal with her teenage son and the demands of Third Change Enterprise. Durwood with his dog seem to be the more stable influence. With the entire computer hacking in today’s world you can visualize some of the results portrayed in the story. The action episodes are a bit over the top. The real hero is the elderly dog Sue-Ann who ended up saving the day. All by all it was a fun book to read but personally I liked Jeff’s other book better. They are more realistic

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If you want engaging material, then look no further. Highly character-driven and wholly original, Anarchy of Mice was well-written and engaging. Anarchy of Mice ventured away from standard tropes and delivered a strong storyline.
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I connected with characters so deeply that I didn't want their story to end. I was totally immersed in their unique plights throughout the entire book. Considering the current political landscape, my mind could not help but wonder what would happen if the actions in this story were to occur.

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Anarchy of the Mice is the first book in a new PI/thriller series by Jeff Bondt. Due out 15th June 2020, it's 462 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

I really loved the pulp cover (yes, even the faux distressing) and was hoping for a rollicking story. I wasn't disappointed. This is a well told tale featuring a trio of altruistic mavericks with three wildly different skill sets. Much of the situational tension is funny and happily the book doesn't take itself overly seriously. Many of the critical story elements are somewhat farcical, if not downright ridiculous (lead character Molly is going to infiltrate a hacker collective despite not being tech-savvy in any way shape or form?)... For me, it was a bit like hot dogs, delicious as long as they're not examined too closely.

Although set in the present day, the action and adventure hearken back to the days of the pulps like Creasey's Baron and Toff, and Gardner's A.A. Fair books (Donald Lam & Bertha Cool), with a tiny smidge of Hap & Leonard thrown in for good measure (much less active violence and much cleaner language than Lansdale's duo, though).

I really enjoyed it. Pure escapist over the top and well written. The author is a capable wordsmith. Bonus for this edition, a sneak peek at the first chapter of the next book: Dear Durwood.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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This was a long read. It certainly felt longer than 517 pages. At one point I thought it was over and looked at my kindle % which was only... 53%. Quite a slog.

Some of this story just didn't seem to go together or add up. Parts of it jumped around 6 months later, 10 months later, etc. Just too much.

Lots of crazy overlooked details too like a smart group of folks (the mice) who are fooled by Molly's dumb antics? Just not believable. Add to that Piper's non technical ways when she is supposed to be the group's technical expert. Too many blunders for me.

Durwood was the only saving grace here and even he wasn't a great character but he held the story above water for as long as he could.

Giving two stars because at least I was distracted by all the mistakes and silliness in the book during this pandemic.

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Anarchy of the Mice is the first book in a new series about a small team of altruistic mercenaries who call themselves Third Chance Enterprises. I’d read and enjoyed Blackquest 40 (a techno thriller) and The Pinebox Vendetta, (a political drama) and struck up an email correspondence with the author who’d told me this and the next one were up on NetGalley. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have requested them otherwise, based on the Pulp Fiction covers and strange titles, but I like his storytelling and ability to write in multiple different genres. This ended up being a rollicking action adventure that was good fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Molly Wixon is a single-mother of two struggling to pay her bills, so when charismatic former politician Quaid Rafferty and his tough-guy associate Durwood Jones show up to offer her another contract she puts aside her misgivings to join their mission. Infiltrating a group of anarchist hackers with a social agenda called the Blind Mice, led by the deranged Josiah, Molly is initially attracted to their ideals of punishing large exploitative corporations, but as their campaign escalates into violence, and chaos spreads around the world, only the Third Chancers can stop the Mice.

This is told from various character POVs, but only Molly’s is first person. She makes a great heroine - trying her best, not always getting it right but willing to put herself out for the cause. Quaid and Durwood reminded me of Elvis Cole & Joe Pike, one of my favourite crime-fighting duos, although Quaid’s womanising and manipulations mean the jury’s still out for me about him. Ex- soldier Durwood is a more straightforward hero, with his loyal elderly dog Sue-Ann - I went off them when it’s revealed she has a history of killing cats, which he condones, but she’s smart and heroic and saves the day more than once so I forgave her.

It’s quite a long book, over eight hours on my Kindle, but keeps up a good pace with lots of action so this was not a problem. The plot became progressively more preposterous and James Bond-y the more it went on - no spoilers, but there are piranhas, black holes and killer plants, not to mention apparently unkillable villains, and some of the characters’ motivations made no sense to me, but I enjoyed the ride and will be reading the next book soon. There is an associated website with various short stories, including an audiobook and some character graphics at https://www.thirdchancestories.com which is also worth a look.

Thanks to NetGalley and Jeff Bond for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review. Anarchy of the Mice is published on June 15th.

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I admit the cover of this book captured me first. I love the pulp novel feel, and Jeff Bond did not disappoint once I opened up this book. Get some good whiskey and enjoy a damn fun book.

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