The Atrocity Archives
Charles Stross
Ace, Jan 2006, $14.00, ISBN: 0441023651
reviewed by Harriet Klausner

"The Atrocity Archive" - The mission of the ultra top secret British espionage agency the Laundry is to defend the crown against occult attacks. The agency employs a variety of employees, but perhaps at the lowest rung is Bob, a computer repairman. However, Bob stops what could have been a nasty incident occurring during a demonstration. His reward is a leap into the cold to save the world from devastation from beyond that plans to snack on the universe once this essence pierces the once thought of impregnable barrier.

"The Concrete Jungle" - The country starting with the Laundry is in trouble as some big shot plans to change agents into zombies so that he can take over the country and ultimately the world. Only Agent Bob and local police officer Josephine stand in the way of stopping the zombie attack, but first he must explain why he failed to follow standard operating procedures when he called for backup during a deadly confrontation in which he failed to fill out the proper form and going through the chain of command. Saving the world does not stop a written reprimand and counseling as following the rules and not logic prevails.

Taking Get Smart into a technological paranormal world is what the novel (The Atrocity Archives) and the novella (The Concrete Jungle) are all about as Bob battles supernatural combatants and the bureaucracy with differing but always humorous results. Both tales are satirical fun as the espionage thriller goes through the rinse cycle as only officious government regulations would expect. Charles Stross writes a wild zany pair of occult spy escapades.