One of our foremost writers of naval fiction

Shipwreck, survival ... a spirited battle ... a splendid yarn

Ackroyd takes Mary Shelley's hint of a doppelganger and plays with it fascinatingly in a fast-paced thriller which also nods towards the notion of split personality enshrined in Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde... The novel leaps to its climax nimbly as a pursuing fiend, adn ends suitably in fiery revelation

Distinguished Frankensteinian fantasia...Ackroyd loves taking what we, the general reading public, think we know about great writers, only to twist that knowledge into new fictional shapes....Ackroyd is the great pretzel-baker of contemporary fiction. And this is one of his tastiest, and twistiest, products so far

Terrifying and fascinating in equal measure

Tremendous fun: it glows with intellectual enthusiasm and love for London

Ackroyd deftly brings to life the atheist rebellion and Enlightenment values of the time while giving full vent to his imagination...What amazes is how effortless it feels...a consummate and blood-freezing piece of writing

Ackroyd once again proves himself to be a master literary vetriloquist ... eerily convincing and highly atmospheric

One thing is for certain - Ackroyd has brought Frankenstein back to life ... Ackroyd's spin on this classic is entertaining to ignore

Ackroyd's new novel works on so many levels it's difficult to know where to begin. As a pacy thriller, it delivers assured edge of the seat action. As historical fiction, it abounds in authentic detail...as homage to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein it brings both invention and wit...a worthy shadow to Mary Shelley's creation, roaming with impish disruption between the pages of history, biography and literature

Ackroyd is in his element as he depicts the activities of those involved in supplying anatomists, or researchers like Victor, with recent corpses, the fresher the better...Peter Ackroyd is a fine biographer as well as a successful novelist...He has written an instructive as well as entertaining work

wonderfully inventive...a remarkable oeuvre, hovering between history and imagination

Intelligent, beautiful and utterly chilling

I constantly find myself drooling with admiration at the sublime way Wodehouse plays with the English language

Quite simply, the master of comic writing at work

To pick up a Wodehouse novel is to find oneself in the presence of genius - no writer has ever given me so much pure enjoyment

Compulsory reading for anyone who has a pig, an aunt - or a sense of humour!

The funniest writer ever to put words to paper

P.G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than valium and far, far more addictive

My only problem with Wodehouse is deciding which of his enchanting books to take to my desert island

The Wodehouse wit should be registered at Police HQ as a chemical weapon

Witty and effortlessly fluid. His books are laugh-out-loud funny

P.G. Wodehouse wrote the best English comic novels of the century

Sublime comic genius

Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in