The Annihilation Score

Charles Stross

Jul 2015 · Laundry Files Book 6 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

Hugo Award-winning author Charles Stross presents the next case in The Laundry Files, “a weirdly alluring blend of super-spy thriller, deadpan comic fantasy, and Lovecraftian horror” (Kirkus Reviews). 

Dominique O’Brien—her friends call her Mo—lives a curious double life with her husband, Bob Howard. To the average civilian, they’re boring middle-aged civil servants. But within the labyrinthian secret circles of Her Majesty’s government, they’re operatives working for the nation’s occult security service known as the Laundry, charged with defending Britain against dark supernatural forces threatening humanity.

Mo’s latest assignment is assisting the police in containing an unusual outbreak: ordinary citizens suddenly imbued with extraordinary abilities of the super-powered kind. Unfortunately these people prefer playing super-pranks instead of super-heroics. The Mayor of London being levitated by a dumpy man in Trafalgar Square would normally be a source of shared amusement for Mo and Bob, but they’re currently separated because something’s come between them—something evil.  

An antique violin, an Erich Zann original, made of human white bone, was designed to produce music capable of slaughtering demons. Mo is the custodian of this unholy instrument. It invades her dreams and yearns for the blood of her colleagues—and her husband. And despite Mo’s proficiency as a world class violinist, it cannot be controlled…

Ratings and reviews

Not as good as the predecessor, The Rhesus Chart, but still good. This one's all in the viewpoint of Dominique O'Brian. To do that, Stross works too hard at removing Bob Howard from the story, drawing attention to it being an effort by the author, and breaking the fourth wall. Add too many pages about Spooky the cat early on, and then it's relegated to scenery in the last parts of the book.

Overall I liked the addition to the series but I felt this could have been significantly shorter to get the story across. Decent payoff for Mo at the end and overall not a bad addition.

I've been a fan of the laundry series for years and, sadly, I'd recommend any of the other books over this one. I liked Mo as a protagonist but the plot is just weak.

About the author

Charles Stross, born in 1964, is a full-time science fiction writer. The author of seven Hugo-nominated novels and winner of three Hugo Awards for best novella, Stross has had his work translated into more than twelve languages. He has worked as a pharmacist, software developer, and tech-industry journalist.