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Snuff
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4.4 • 380 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
For nearly three decades, Terry Pratchett has enthralled millions of fans worldwide with his irreverent, wonderfully funny satires set in the fabulously imaginative Discworld, a universe remarkably similar to our own. From sports to religion, politics to education, science to capitalism, and everything in between, Pratchett has skewered sacred cows with both laughter and wisdom, and exposed our warts, foibles, and eccentricities in a unique, entertaining, and ultimately serious way.
At long last, Lady Sybil has lured her husband, Sam Vimes, on a well-deserved holiday away from the crime and grime of Ankh-Morpork. But for the commander of the City Watch, a vacation in the country is anything but relaxing. The balls, the teas, the muck—not to mention all that fresh air and birdsong—are more than a bit taxing on a cynical city-born and -bred copper.
Yet a policeman will find a crime anywhere if he decides to look hard enough, and it’s not long before a body is discovered, and Sam—out of his jurisdiction, out of his element, and out of bacon sandwiches (thanks to his well-meaning wife)—must rely on his instincts, guile, and street smarts to see justice done. As he sets off on the chase, though, he must remember to watch where he steps. . . . This is the countryside, after all, and the streets most definitely are not paved with gold.
Hailed as the “purely funniest English writer since Wodehouse” (Washington Post Book World), with a “satirist’s instinct for the absurd and a cartoonist’s eye for the telling detail” (Daily Telegraph, London), Terry Pratchett offers a novel of crime, class, prejudice, and punishment that shows this master at his dazzling best.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pratchett's 39th Discworld novel (after 2010's I Shall Wear Midnight) brings back fan favorite Sam Vimes, the cynical yet extraordinarily honorable Ankh-Morpork City Watch commander also known (if unenthusiastically) as His Grace Sir Samuel, the Duke of Ankh. Vimes faces an onerous task: two weeks off in the country at his wife's family estate. It's not the thought of spending time with his beloved Sybil or precocious six-year-old Young Sam that bothers him; it's just that a copper can't stop being a copper. Fortunately, even in this conservative hamlet, there's plenty of skullduggery to investigate, beginning with the brutal murder of a goblin girl. With the help of untried local constable Feeney Upshot and gentleman's gentleman Willikens, Vimes takes on a fiendish murderer as well as the case for (in)human rights and social justice in this lively outing, complete with sly shout-outs to Jane Austen and gritty police procedurals.
Customer Reviews
Great Book, Appalling Typos
I have only just started to read Snuff, but I can tell already that it's yet another strong Pratchett showing. What is NOT strong is the quality of this digital version. It seems that every other page has a pair of words without a space. The publisher, Apple, or whoever is responsible should be embarrassed. Mr. Pratchett's prose deserves better.
Bad formatting
I have only read the sample, but will not buy the ebook version. Whoever did the proof reading missed a number of words which join together. Just because it is an ebook does not mean I don't expect quality. None of Pratchett's paper books had this level of error in them.
The book itself seems good, which is what I have based my star review on.
Highly enjoyable
If it was anyone else, this book would be a five star. But in the continuity of Pratchett's work it does not belong amongst the best of the best. Don't get me wrong, Snuff is an excellent addition to the Watch series. It is a compelling story the brings us closer to Vimes as he spreads his influence across the unnamed continent. It was a fun read that was over far too fast. I give it four stars out of reverence for other books like Thud! and Wee Free Men; books that dive into deep aspects of character development, while exploring larger themes. Whereas those books are examples of Pratchett at his most Ernest, Snuff ini a fun mystery read. A total update of the English countryside murder scenario that Agatha Christy was so fond of.