Customer Reviews

The Agency

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I appreciated this novel, The Agency, for what it is. I hate to use the term "chick lit" since I actually thought it was not quite all fluff. It took about 60 pages to get into the book. Tess Drake, the main character isn't exactly like-able at first, but engaging enough to keep reading. Once you got past the background, first 60 pages or so, everything unfolded quickly and constantly until the end of the book. You have your chick lit staples in here, with relationship issues, fashion, women in charge. But - there are also additional fun twists - murder mystery, frenemies, and an interesting agency setting. I read it in one night, I think it's a great plane or beach read.

"The Agency" is surprisingly written by two writers who use the single pseudonym Ally O'Brien - I say surprisingly because unlike so many co-written books, the novel has a single voice - at once feminine, snarky, smart, and randy as all get-out.

And thus it is that "The Agency" is a semi-guilty pleasure to tear through. This is not one of those books that you curl up in your easy chair with a cup of good coffee and a blanket. This is one of those books whose accompanying beverage must have a strong kick.

Set in present-day London, "The Agency" nevertheless feels a bit dated as it tells the tale of Tess Drake, a thirty-six old sexpot of a literary agent. She lives in the glamourous publishing world blissfully unaffected by the current financial crisis hitting the publishing industry. While today's New York Times has a story about publishing houses cutting back on three-martini lunches and holiday parties, Tess Drake's agency is pure flash and glamour - where deals are done over two-hundred pound bottles of Cabernet or martinis at a New York restaurant where mac-and-cheese costs $55.

Tess is a very-successful but no-longer young (in her cruel world, 36 rates you a "ma'am") agent juggling numerous crises. She's considering breaking out on her own but risks alienating her boss, Cosima, a dead ringer for Cruella deVil. She's having an affair with a married man and has also lost her best friend by sleeping with her fiance. And while her best client is a dottering old librarian whose panda books are currently as hot as Harry Potter, Tess's favorite client is a suicidal genius whose first book has been read by about a dozen people. And to top it off, the male figurehead for her company (Cosima is the real power) has just been found dead in kinky circumstances, and Scotland Yard is sniffing around Tess's heels.

All this silliness comes at the reader fast and furious, along with pell-mell pop culture references. Tess lives in the world of high celebrity, and so if you aren't up to speed with Hollywood or fashion, you will miss out on a lot. Tess doesn't have time to explain entirely who "Tom and Kate" are, or just why you should be laughing when she jokes that Liz Hurley is really a man, so you'd better bone up on your celebrity press a bit before reading this book. Fortunately for me (I only have a toe in that cesspool), most of the celebrity references are sufficiently A-list that even I've heard of them.

This is a witty, fast-paced book of treachery, sex, and intrigue. The book jacket promises "sex, drugs, and literature." While there's a definite amount of sex, the whole drug angle isn't really there - except for some references to the off-stage heroin use of Tess's favorite client. And I'm not sure much that Tess publishes qualifies as "literature," either.

But that's neither here nor there - this is funny, clever stuff. Tess is an enjoyable protagonist - talented, proud, and hilariously flawed where judgment and men are concerned. If you're looking for a page-turner and won't get embarrassed by carrying around a book with a brazenly "chick-lit" cover, give it a whirl.

The Agency A Novel by Ally O'Brien

Once you meet Tess Drake you will never forget her. She has it all: the high powered career, the right clothes, many lovers, and is a suspect in a murder. What she doesn't have, she will fight, claw, lie, use her body and scheme to get. You may not like her, you may even hate her as I did, but by the time you finish this novel you will never forget her; and even hope that the author's (Ally O'Brien is the pseudonym for a writing duo) will do a follow up so we can see how Tess fares with the next part of her life.

This book is one part chick lit, one part mystery and two parts pure, unadulterated, evil fun. You see, Tess has a dream. She wants to open her own media agency and it seems that the death of one of her bosses via erotic asphyxia is just the kick in the butt she needs to get her out the door.

Her clients include an eccentric children's writer, a depressed fantasy author who has published a book that sold 11 copies and various others that we never get to meet. The secondary characters kept me going when I thought that I couldn't take one more moment of Tess's slavishness to her body's needs and vindictive, egocentric self-destructive behavior. But the best is yet to come. Her pigeons will come home to roost and roost they surely do.

I ended up loving this book and am very sincere when I say that I hope that the authors do some sort of follow up on Tess's life. After all we've seen her at her worst, she can't get anymore self-destructive (or can she?) so why not let us see her grow? This is a fun and sometimes vulgar look into the life of an agent, and I recommend this highly to anyone looking for an alternative to the angst driven books that seem to populate the shelves lately.

"The Agency" is a fast-moving pleasantly appealing novel set in the world of literary agents and authors. The narrator, Tess Drake, is a sex-mad 'hottie' who thinks with her genitalia, not her brain, and continually finds herself in hot water due to her carnal desires. This is more than simple chick-lit, as a mystery frames the goings-on at the literary agency.

Brian Freemantle (actually, Brian Freeman, as the helpful comment by GS Foster tells me), an author of numerous spy novels (thrillers, actually, credit again to Foster), is co-author of this book, and delivers lots of inside dish and dirt on the world of publishing.

The Agency introduces Tess, an aggressive yet insecure grunt at a prestigious entertainment agency. Tess has plans to strike out on her own, and plans to take her clients with her. However, the dalliances in her active personal life have made her many enemies: mostly female. When she simultaneously becomes a murder suspect, gets dumped by her secret boyfriend, and her highest-earning client is threatened with a plagiarism lawsuit, Tess fears that her open legs may have closed too many doors for her.

I bought The Agency because it is co-written by Brian Freeman, who is a thriller author that I very much enjoy. This is a night and day departure from his other work. The Agency is a sex and shopping (for clients) novel: it features a sassy heroine, illicit affairs, and lots of celebrity name dropping. I particularly enjoyed the jabs taken at the publishing industry and several best selling authors. Initially Tess might be off-putting to some because of her behavior, but the character shows a potential for growth. The Agency is a smart and sexy beach read.

THE AGENCY by Ally O'Brien was a very fun book to read. I think a book about the book industry is fun to read every now and then and this one spins a nice entangled web for the reader. The book's cover definitely signals chick-lit but inside is a good mystery that I enjoyed as a dedicated mystery lover.

THE AGENCY features the sexy, daring literary agent, Tess Drake, who is likeable as your book friend but not sure you would want her as your real best friend. The book's main setting is London so I found the vocabulary was 'just right' to give it the needed English flavor. The author is a pro at developing good solid characters and describing a scene for the reader.

As a reader, I challenge myself to figure out the mystery and expect the author to slip in clues with hopes to say 'gotcha' later. Ally successfully "sprinkled" in these clues which I didn't discover until the mystery unfolded. This book was enjoyable as the author integrated current actors, actresses, authors, and books into the story as characters and comparisions. Lastly, I found myself smiling alot with the humor-filled comments and thoughts of Tess throughout the book.

For any of you that know Ally O'Brien is actually a pseudonym for a male author of a top-notch mystery suspense series then you might even appreciate this book more. Quite a Stride for him to Dial up something so different from his normal excellence! If you haven't read his other books then you are in for edge-of-your seat suspense!

Last but not least, Oprah might like this book as one of her favorites is in it! LOL

Thanks,
Mike

The Agency by Ally O'Brien is definitely my type of book. I am a huge chick lit fan and this book definitely fits perfectly in the chick lit genre, with the exception that The Agency even offers up a mystery that needs to be solved - but I am getting ahead of myself.

We meet Tess Drake - my absolute favorite type of main character. She is fierce and determined and knows what she wants - and she intends on getting it. I certainly won't be complaining here about a main character that gets stepped all over and can't figure her way out of a paper bag. This novel has everything sex (lots of that), drugs (quite a lot of that) but more importantly it is entertaining.

This inside look at the entertainment business - starting in the boardroom and ending up in bedroom is a fun and dirty romp into the slightly "naughty type literature" that I always associate with Jacqueline Susann. There is quite alot of swearing in this book and the author does not use quite names to refer to body parts - so if you offend easily - this is not the book for you.

But if you are looking for a down to earth and realistic look at the world of show business - and all the dirty little secrets that come with it and if you love to read about a woman who knows what she wants and will not take "no" for an answer then this is the book for you.

What an entertaining read. I LOVED IT.

I just finished reading The Agency by Ally O'Brien. The author name is a pseudonym for Brian Freeman, author of Stalked, Immoral, and Stripped, and a media agent in London, England.

When I first looked at this book to purchase it, I thought it was about the CIA or something and decided to pass on it. The book was brought to my attention again a bit later, and I realized it had to do with the entertainment industry! If you love that TMZ type of trashy gossip, and who is doing what to whom, you will love this book! No celebs are spared!

Tess Drake is an entertainment industry agent and at the top of her game at 36 years old. The action centers around London and a parade of celebrities and wanna be's that would make readers of People magazine drool..

Tess is not an easy person to like; she is foul-mouthed, loyal to only a few, and wants to take her only top selling author away from her witch of a boss and start her own agency. She is having an affair with a married man, and slept with her best friend's fiance. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

While the dialogue is sometimes "in your face" hard core, I got used to it and didn't take it personally! The pace of this book was a tad slow in the first 50 pages or so, and then I just couldn't put it down. The authors cleverly ended most of the chapters with teasers about what was to come, and I just had to keep going until the end!

I look forward to the next entree by this new duo.

I liked this book, which gave us an insight into the world of entertainment and some of the wheeling and dealing that goes on in the boardroom and bedroom. As a professional or "suit" in the entertainment business I would say the writer defintely has a background in the business and hits it dead on with many of the "fictional" antedotes. An enjoyable read especially when one is traveling.

Took a few pages for me to get into this, mostly because the Brit-speak was tough at first. The main character is difficult to like with her cynical and ascerbic personality but she grows on you and I was ultimately kept entertained, mostly by the mysterious plot line. She reminds me of a younger 'Miranda' (of Sex & The City). Definitely would recommend this for a quick read.