Simply did not work for me: the stilted prose, the unlikeable characters (particularly the protagonist, the glacial pacing). I respect that others feel differently, and they did make a movie based upon the novel -- which I enjoyed more.

I was greatly surprised by my dislike of this work, since I admire what I have read of the author's work under his pseudonym K.J. Parker. ( )

Tom Holt has a great talent for writing little witticisms interspersed throughout the story ("Paul wouldn't have been able to tell a Vermeer from an optician's chart") and insightful philosophies that he shares as pithy little vignettes (In contemplation of chucking unsatisfactory employment ~ "it had taken him a very long time to find anybody who was prepared to trade him money for a part of his lifespan").
It is a Good Thing there are these light-hearted interludes because the story is glacial with next to no engaging characters or a discernible plot until well-near the end. The portable door concept was brilliant fun, however, for my tastes, Holt can't hold a candle to Terry Pratchett. ( )

Paul, a twenty-something with very little confidence, needs a job. Paul goes to an interview. There he meets, in the waiting room, Sophie. Neither of them expects to get a job, at J.S. Wells and co. Indeed, neither of them really have any office skills or experience and neither of them have any idea what J.W. Wells does. To Paul's astonishment he gets the job and when he comes in to work, there is Sophie who will share an office with him. The book moves slowly at first because the author, instead of following the current trend of throwing the reader into the middle of the churning action without a clue, chooses to keep up the suspense a) what does this company do? b) Why did they hire me -- or Sophie? c) What is happening with that long-handled stapler? d) I'd quit only I really need to have a job and I'll never get another one. e) Oh dear, I'm in love, help! f) Who made those scratch marks on the back of our office door? until, somewhere in the middle the situation comes into focus and the pace picks up. I'd say, enjoy the novelty of a gradual beginning. Paul is not quick to act, he thinks, and his process is enjoyable. **** ( )

Extremely slow-paced urban fantasy. I barely got through it. Some humor, and there is a plot in the second half, but it never becomes special. ( )

A return to form. ( )