A review by macaronoui
The Riddle of the Fractal Monks by Jonathan Pinnock

4.0

I was actually delighted that I found out this was the third book in the series. I figured it was worth reading the first two first, which was a good idea. Although the books are standalone stories, there are a lot of details and spoilers if you don't read the others.
I have spent the last two weeks with Jonathan's characters and it was super lovely. Reminded me of Carl Hiaasen (I love his books). So this is the third adventure for Tom, Dorothy and Ali and some of the fringe characters.
While the first book was paced well, the drama unfolds in every chapter and you will be sitting on the edge of your chair. Tom is a really likeable protagonist, although I would have personally made every single decision differently. The book feels very international though set in England, and sometimes some British pop slang seeps through. I really enjoy math, but I can't say if the difficult stuff is actually correct, but I assume so. I loved all the conspiracy theory stuff, crazy monks, people winding up dead (am usually very pacifistic).
It was really a perfect book to take my mind off of Corona. Every time you read you will say to yourself "this is the last chapter", but it is not. Read it in two sittings. Am very excited for the fourth book when it's done.
Highly recommend if you want to really dive into something for a few hours.