I really liked the core of this book: this man who is enmeshed in a darkly absurd gangland intrigue in post-soviet Ukraine. Its reminiscent of Kafka and Gogol, but sweeter and more entertaining - if only because there's a penguin in most of the scenes, and any book could be lightened up by simply adding a penguin. For example, my daughter is reading World War Z at the moment and it's good but the structure of the book makes it hard to relate to the characters. If only Raj Singh, the Tiger of Delhi had had an emperor penguin as his adjutant, I feel like it would make the book more relatable. In fact, Max Brooks really should have put a penguin in each chapter, like some sort of unifying theme for the narrative. Yes, the more I think of it, the more I think that's what the book needs.

Um... Where was I?

Oh yes. I have to admit, I'd have been happier if it had been a shorty rather than a full-sized novel because it felt like there was a lot of stuff going on that didn't really add to the plot and made the whole thing feel less sharp than it would otherwise have been. Its still good though. Three stars for the book and one extra star for the penguin.