An intriguing read with some unusual supernatural elements and plenty of momentum to keep you reading. I did feel my interest wane during one conversation, but overall it's an engaging shorter story/novella with substance. ( )

Wow. Just, WOW!

Undercover is a short story that will stick with me for a long time.

I'd seen good reviews for this story and I've read Gideon The Ninth, so I knew that Tamsin Muir was likely to deliver something special but even so, I was taken by surprise.

I mean, the story only takes two hours to narrate. That didn't seem like enough time to build a new world, connect me to strongly drawn characters, generate an ever-increasing sense of threat, deliver some of the bloodiest, most violent scenes that I can remember reading and still keep most of my attention on trying to guess the what will happen next. Yet, Tamsyn Muir does all of that and more.

The ideas are fresh and vividly described. The plot is intricate and twisted. There are layers and layers of deception and betrayal here and Tamsyn Muir repeatedly lulled me into thinking that I'd worked out what was really going on and what would happen next, only to strip away another layer and show me how wrong I was.

This is a tale of cold calculation and extreme violence but the calculations make sense in the end and none of the violence is gratuitous.

Susan Dalian's narration was perfectly judged and enhanced my enjoyment of the story.

When I'd finished the story, the first thing I wanted to do was go back and listen to it again so that I could work out how I kept not seeing what was going on.

The second thing I wanted to do was to buy the rest of the Into Shadow collection in the hope that at least a couple of them might live up to the standard the Tamsyn Muir set with Undercover. ( )

The ending of this book is chef's kiss.

Tamsyn Muir knows reanimation of the dead to an artful level. Like the Locked Tomb series, this novella pulls out all the stops when it comes to creating unique characters build from the bones of the dead.

I want more of this universe. A Law & Order level series of the government trying to get a handle on ghouls? Or maybe the Amy Star Files. Whatever, just give me more please!!

The writing is so elegant, and immersive it's hard to believe that the story was over so fast. Loved the pick for narrator, brought even more to the table for the characters.

You'll love this book if you enjoy surprise twists, and gory necromantic ascetics. ( )

I don't really remember this one so well anymore. Only that it had a predictable twist about 2/3rds of the way in that, like all her other works thus far, I predicted by about 1/3rd of the way into the story. Basically, cops and robbers, zombies, and confused lesbians; which is pretty much a lot of schtick corner so far.

My very last listening comment on this one was:

I liked this one more than I thought I would, but her twist invalidated some things written before the twist. Just like her second book. But I can see the small steps of her writing getting better still. ( )