Robert Glancy

I was given this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

For the first few chapters this book drove me nuts. I hated all those darned footnotes and asterisks. I hated the constant repetition of the term "Terms and Conditions" in the chapter heading. I thought that I would be reading this book with my teeth clenched throughout.

In the end I lightened up and did what the book warns against: I ignored them. It proved to be an easy read thereafter although still somewhat contrived. I didn't find the book funny - perhaps some things were too close to the truth for me (I guess I'd describe the book as containing many truisms).

I don't have my copy to hand but I seem to remember the book being compared to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and having read both I would totally agree with this.

Oh and I really did expect more from the main character...
… (altro)

Robert Glancy’s debut novel Terms & Conditions was one of my favourite books of 2014. It was ingeniously told, fast-paced, and literally laugh-out-loud funny. In it he introduced us to a group of audacious characters that felt so genuine. I wanted to know more of their life stories, beyond that novel’s conclusion — and none more so than Frank’s free-spirited younger brother Malcolm.

Unconditional‘s steamy Thailand island setting is about as far as you could get from Frank’s past buttoned-up life in London, but nonetheless this reconnection with much-loved characters felt like a homecoming. Alongside Frank and girlfriend Sandra, readers get to know Frank’s brother Malcolm, the many layers of his life and colourful people in it. Contine reading >> https://bookloverbookreviews.com/2020/01/unconditional-by-robert-glancy-review-d...… (altro)

PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB comes with a wonderfully evocative sense of place and people, delivered with an affectionate comic touch. There's something reminiscient in here of lots of these styles of novels set in developing nations, where the people in positions of power and leadership are over the top, the worker's invariably put upon, hard working and blessed with bucket loads of patience and understanding, and everything seems to sort of muddle along in a way that would drive incomers mildly mad if you didn't see the funny side of it.

Glancy does a terrific job here at pointing out the absurbities in elegant prose. It is, however, populated by a huge cast of characters, contributing a lot of similar narrative voices to a plot which is frequently overcrowded with points to be made, and lacking forward drive as a result. Great sense of place and character though - possibly just needs a bit more focus, drive and maybe a more judicious spread of the personalities over more than one outing.

https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/review-please-do-not-disturb-robert-glan...… (altro)

For if the devil's in the detail, I'm the devil's ghost-writer, typing cautionary tales in font so small they're rendered invisible. You can barely see them and when you do it's too late.

I have been wanting to read this book for a little while. This is one of those books that I knew I would love even before I started reading it. When I finished it I was mad at myself that I hadn't read it sooner.

Frank is a lawyer whose job it is to write terms and conditions for all kinds of contracts. Frank gets into a car crash and after the crash gets amnesia. This book shows you just how Frank deals with his amnesia and all the many terms and conditions of his life.

I really liked Frank right from the start of the book. I just loved his sense of humor. Frank is as clueless about his life as readers are in the beginning. I felt bad for him that he couldn't remember anything and because it seemed like something had happened that no one was telling him about. Once he started to remember everything that had happened I liked him even more.

I felt this book had great secondary characters as well. Whether I loved or hated a character, I still found myself wanting to read about them. I especially loved Doug and Malcolm, but maybe that is because they were the nicest to Frank.

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone wanting to read this but I wasn't really shocked with what was revealed when Frank started remembering everything. It was a bit predictable (but that didn't stop me from enjoying it). I was very pleased with where Frank ended up at the end. I didn't want the book to end but since it had to end, that was a really good ending.… (altro)