The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes

Synopsis From Goodreads:

Once the toast of good society in Victoria's England, the extraordinary conjurer Edward Moon no longer commands the respect that he did in earlier times. Still, each night he returns to the stage of his theater to amaze his devoted, albeit dwindling, audience, aided by his partner, the Somnambulist—a silent, hairless, hulking giant who, when stabbed, does not bleed. But these are strange, strange times in England, with the oddest of sorts prowling London's dank underbelly. And the very bizarre death of a disreputable actor has compelled a baffled police constabulary to turn once again to Edward Moon for help—inevitably setting in motion events that will shatter his increasingly tenuous grasp on reality.

I so wanted to love this book.  I wanted to be submerged in the off-kilter  action and nonsensical setting.  I wanted the atmosphere of the book to overwhelm my senses and take me to a place I've never been before.  What I got instead was a book that reminded me of every other book in the genre.  It was a book full of unlikeable characters and plot twists that seemed to exist more for the sake of showing the cleverness of the writing, as opposed to furthering the story along. 

I' m not saying I disliked everything about it, because I didn't.  I loved the author's vision of London.  He created such a decadent, dark city that I, at times, wanted to step into the page and wander the streets for myself.  Not something I would have done by myself, mind you.  I would have had to drag a friend along.   There is no way I could have walked into a whorehouse staffed by circus freaks, without forcing someone to hold my hand the entire time.  I just wish the setting could have saved this one for me.  I would love to revisit this London, I'm just not sure I can stomach the storyline again.

The story just never felt cohesive to me.  The narrator, who's identity I won't divulge, has an obvious contempt for Edward Moon.  That contempt, which oozes off the page at times, so clouds Edward that I was never able to like the guy.  I think that if I had seen him through other eyes, I may have felt differently about it.  I'm sure it was purposefully done by the author, as was the the sarcasm that spewed from the mouth of the narrator, but it just left me feeling cold at times.  It also got in the way of the action, it felt like the story was being interrupted in order for the narrator to get his point of view across.  It ended up, at least for me, cutting the story up into sections that never really fit back together.  

The book was a disappointment for me, one that I'm not sure I'll ever be able to forgive.  It had such promise, but I think the author allowed the "oddness" of the setting to get in the way of the story.    I think others will like it, I actually know a lot of gifted bloggers who loved this one, I just wish I could count myself amongst them.