The Secret Chapter – Genevieve Cogman

A Librarian’s work is never done, and once Irene has a quick rest after their latest adventure, she is summoned to the Library. The world where she grew up is in danger of veering deep into chaos, and she needs to obtain a particular book to stop this from happening. No copies of the book are available in the Library, so her only choice is to contact a mysterious Fae information broker and trader of rare objects: Mr. Nemo.

Irene and Kai make their way to Mr. Nemo’s remote Caribbean island and are invited to dinner, which includes unlikely company. Mr. Nemo has an offer for everyone there: he wants them to steal a specific painting from a specific world. He swears that he will give each of them an item from his collection if they bring him the painting within the week.

Everyone takes the deal. But to get their reward, they will have to form a team, including a dragon techie, a Fae thief, a gambler, a driver, and the muscle. Their goal? The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, in a early twenty-first century world, where their toughest challenge might be each other.

The Secret Chapter marks the sixth instalment in Genevieve Cogman’s wonderful Invisible Library books. I’ve been a huge fan of the series since the very first chapter of the very first book.

Short catch-up: Irene Winters is a Librarian. The Library connects worlds, and the Librarians jump between worlds to collect books. Oh, and there are dragons and Fae, and they don’t like each other much. The dragons prefer worlds which tend towards order, and the Fae towards chaos. Kai is Irene’s assistant. And a dragon.

Still with me? Excellent. Now, you’ve either read the other books, in which case you’ll need no enticement from me to read this one. Or you haven’t, in which case hie yourself off to the nearest bookshop (or library, of course) to get yourself a copy of The Invisible Library and settle down for some rollicking adventures.

In The Secret Chapter, our heroes must get their hands on a book. So far, so standard. Except the only copy of the book belongs to Mr Nemo, a delightfully Bond-esque villain (with a secret lair and a malevolent octopus, naturally). And Mr Nemo wants a very specific painting from another world in return.

Oh, and he’s assembled a motley crew (including Irene and Kai) to go and acquire it. A crew which includes a Fae thief, an ace getaway driver, a dragon computer hacker, a gambler and some muscle.

What could possibly go wrong?

Hijinks, naturally, ensue. And what hijinks they are. I love a good heist story! The action comes thick and fast. The gang fall out, get back together, fall out, and it’s all just wonderful.

I love these books so much, they’re very much a comfort read for me. Doesn’t matter where Irene and Kai end up, I know that we’re going to have a blast.

Very much recommended.

The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman is published by Pan and is out now. Huge thanks to Genevieve Cogman for the copy to review.