A quirky and humorous take on life’s oddities, Out of Service follows an unlikely group of characters, their personal issues, and the chaotic situations they find themselves embroiled in. The witty dialogue and eccentric moments will appeal to readers looking for lighthearted entertainment. This is the kind of quirky novel I would typically enjoy—though it might not hit the mark for everyone. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

This was one of those books where it was brilliant and hilarious. Management is badly organized and doesn't want to admit it.

Half the time I have no idea what is happening, but that actually makes sense. The characters are really we created. The plot is solid but it doesn't really feel like this is going anywhere.

I like that this is ghostbusters but timesed by 10 and a little more insane. I do enjoy this series.

I didn’t know that this was the second in a series, but I’m so glad to have found this anyway! This made me smile so many times, I can’t wait to read the first one while I hopefully wait for a third.

The Rook family, with the new addition of amnesiac priest Grace, are confronted with a new Hell Hole in Helsbury and have to save the world. Again.

This was such a charming read. The humor was really on point and made me smile and laugh several times. The characters were all fun and interesting, although their voices felt a little too similar a lot of the times.

And the world building idea of a corporation of Heaven and Hell was very funny and kept my interest.

I feel that I would have engaged more with this story if I had read the first book initially, so that’s a failing on my part. I did feel invested enough in the familial relationships, and the secrets that were discovered in this book that I will be seeking out the first book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrago Books for this arc.

Another moving and hilarious book by GHC. A brilliant follow-up to "Wish You Weren't Here". Gabby Hutchinson Crouch has a delightfully (wicked) British wit that has hints of Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman whilst retaining her own style. The paranormal Rook family has to deal with even more demons and another hell hole but this time in a British service station (which us Brits know can already be horrifying at the best of times!). A worthy sequel and I can't wait to see what adventures the Rook family get upto in the third (and final?) book in the series!

I have read and enjoyed the Darkwood Series by the author earlier. It is purely based on my prior experience that this review is going to sound the way it is.
The style of writing in this book and the others I have read are not for everyone. There is so much subtext hidden in the quirkiness (just like the cover page here! Note the use of Hell). I am not claiming that this book is not funny. It has its moments, and I had trouble from the very first book. I only continued with this series because, with Darkwood, it got progressively better.
I would not recommend jumping in at this point. Any single event in this will make sense only if you have read the previous one. The Rooks are an almost dysfunctional family whose job is to send ghosts over to the 'other side'. They were invited to a remote location where they rescued a woman who is unable to remember her own past and the entire family as they ran away from a job almost well done are only thinking of their next steps.
The Rooks find themselves a part of something bigger at play. Demons and other similar creatures are to feature in their future as well.
In this adventure, secrets are revealed, and fights are fought - not all of them are won, though.
Almost all secrets with regard to the story are laid out in the open, and by the end of the book, there are personal differences that are left to be untangled.
After saying all this, I must admit I did not enjoy this book. I put this across solely because I enjoyed the style of narration and had a great time earlier, so My expectations here were quite strong. They were not met. The individual dialogues and scenes were funny, but I was not invested in the overreaching arc. I was disappointed by my own reaction to the adventure.
I would still recommend this series to people who are interested in quirky verbal sparring, but I am not sure I will be reading more from this series. The saving of this world was not as engrossing to me as saving Darkwood was. I still highly recommend the author. Her style is unique and highly entertaining.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and the author's previous works.

This is the sequel to Wish You Weren’t Here and picks up right where the action left off, so definitely read that one first!

We re-join the Rook family immediately after their dramatic escape from Coldbay, that resulted in the loss of one family member and them picking up a stray vicar – who insists she isn’t a vicar – and adopting her like a church cat.

Then they are all dragged straight into another mass Hellhole event, involving ghosts, angels, demons, The Manager and more detail about what happened when Charity was orphaned and adopted.

Gabby Hutchinson-Crouch has created a really fun approach to magic and ghostbusting (well, not fun for those involved, but very entertaining to read about!) that feels fresh and intriguing, and mixes well with all the personal drama. Because there’s not just the issue of Charity’s parents, there is also Darryl’s parentage, Richard’s complex bond with Murzzzz, Brenda’s addiction issues and Grace’s memory problems). And it is all intertwined with a dramatic second attempt at the Apocalypse.

While there is some sort of resolution at the ending, but things are very clearly NOT OVER and there is a bit of a cliffhanger that has me desperate for book 3 already!

This series is proving to be a witty, dark treat of a read, packed with action and intrigue and very easy to read – I swallowed each book whole, all in one sitting. Fans of humorous fantasy from the likes of Tom Holt and similar will enjoy this humorous battle against the forces of Hell, and possibly Heaven too.

I love the quirky members of this ghost hunting family. This book made me laugh and I think it is a great 2 nd installment.
Many thanks to Farrago Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

A supernatural comedy adventure about a family of ghost hunters - Stranger Things meets Little Miss Sunshine

This book was everything I look for in a book. It was so exciting. The plot was fantastic. It really had me on the edge of my seat, and my heart racing. It was very well written and flowed well.

I love Gabby Hutchison Crouch and thoroughly enjoyed this, can't wait to read more in the series. This is a quirky read about a family of ghost hunters.

I loved this book! I laughed, I flew through the pages needing to know what happens. I read it in 24 hours and couldn't put it down. 5 stars!

Apocalypse Now--Almost

Author Gabby Hutchinson Crouch writes irreverent, hip, sarcastic, doomsdays with flip wit in that oh-so-British and off-center style we know from Monty Python. This is the second book in which a family of Van Helsing wannbes (read "Dracula"!) do their ghost-hunting thing in aid of saving the universe as they know it. This story does stand on its own, but let's face it--you really should read book one first for maximum enjoyment. And we are promised a book three, although the events herein do come to their conclusion!

This book really jumps straight into the action! No waiting around for something to happen here-it's clear from the very first chapter that something significant is going down.

I went into reading this book thinking I was going to get a clear protagonist, but this story is told from the perspective of many different members of the family. The book gives vague 'Supernatural' vibes with a family of ghost hunters working together to save the world from demonic powers that be. I really liked how each narrator had their own style. The leading characters were all so different, yet I never had to work to think about whose perspective I was reading from now-one of my pet peeves about multiple POV books-because this one was so super clear!

Ends on a *bit* of a cliffhanger so I'm looking forward to reading the next one to see how the adventure ends!

This was a Netgalley review.

The Rook family returns home, worn out, and in Richard's case, mourning his loss of Murzzzz. Grace the not-vicar is with them, with little memory of her life before the now vanished ColdBay island.

After resting up for a few days at home (Grace is with them as she has nowhere else to go at the moment), they decide to go back to business, and take Grace to Elendale where she hopes to meet with someone within Church leadership for a clue about her background.

Instead of ever reaching Elendale, the crew is diverted to a service centre, with a new Hell Hole forming and lots of very recently created ghosts with no accompanying bodies. Aaaaannnd, more demons coming at them.

There's much demon punching in this story, but also much arguing amongst the family, as Darryl and Charity have questions for their parents about the secrets they've been holding and evading divulging. That Brenda repeatedly refuses to answer for much of the book, only further annoys her children, and the family is not left in a happy place by the end, even with various truths finally laid out for everyone.

I enjoyed this, but much like "Empire Strikes Back", this was a darker installment, and closes with much unhappiness and tension. I liked how messy things got (and that's not including all the demon action), and how painful some of the feelings and revelations are. Also, I flet much anger for Brenda for never allowing Charity contact with her aunt and the Xu family. It was a selfish decision when Constance and Harry were killed, and became so much worse and disrespectful each time Brenda refused to provide Charity with any answers, or have even given her the option to meet her birth family.

So, though this was a heavier and less humourous book, I liked the messy family dynamics, and the decisions Charity and Darryl made at the end. It leaves the family in an awkward place with respect to their ghosthunting business, and with ongoing damage by Brenda and Richard, but also leaves me wondering how they'll move forward, particularly in light of the ending.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Farrago Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I was not aware this was book 2 until I opened my copy. The premise is right up my alley and I don’t want to give a bad rating having not read the first book. I will now find the first book so I can come back to this one. The first few chapters I did read were very good though.

We’re back with Rooks and after the events of the Coldbay hellhole we are down one demon and up one unassuming may or may not be rector who can’t get in touch with anyone at her diocese to find out just what the heckin peck is going on. So the family Rook decide to get in their new shamelessly red people carrier drive to the diocese and fine out but on the way they are sucked into a ghost heavy service station with - guess what? - another hell hole attached. Book two is full of the same good stuff as book one. There’s plenty of bickering and bad blood, mama Rook is off the booze and trying her best, Papa Rook is lost without his other demon half and trying his best, sister Rook is dealing with finding out the truth about her birth family and son Rook is dealing with finding out he’s part demon that his husband won’t stop saying is cute. Januz remains my favourite and not only because he always remembers the snacks.

series: rooks book two

paw marks from my reading buddy Perry the pug: 3

keywords: end of the world, ghosts, sarcastic humor, demons, family drama, addiction, trauma, alcoholism

in short- A great end of the world, ghost filled adventure, full of sarcastic humor and more drama you could shake a stick at.

Full review:

Thank you Netgallery for giving me a chance to read and review this book.

Out of service is the second book in the series of the Rook family and this story was just as good book one, wish you weren’t here.

Like wish you weren’t here, while investigating some of the issues that were created from the first ghost hunting adventure, another hell hole is found while the Rook family attempt to get to Edendale where Grace believes she will find the answers to what started everything in Coldbay. Sadly Grace and the rest of the Rook family never make it as far as Edendale, instead they get stuck in the middle in a run down service station that not only too quite for comfort but is actually full of ghost that appeared to have only recently been made that way and that not the only problem, if the ghosts were made just before the rooks got there where are all the bodies?

This is only one of the questions that the Rook family will attempt to answers along with why is there another hellhole, what is Charity past, can Richard cope without Murzzz, is there anyway to get him back and will Darryl ever come to terms with a new part of him and learn to love and forgive?

The storyline pretty much follows a similar pattern to book one but with more information about the bombshells we received from wish you weren't here and we finally learn a bit more about the manager of the hellhole and the company that completes the end of the world, along with leaning who Grace actually is, all this is done with sharp humor in-between real raw emotions and serious issues, the characters show real progress and new sides to themselves and despite the oddest of the situation their responses and reactions all feel very genuine, the only slight issue I had was that Linda sometimes tiptoed the line between being a very blunt character towards being annoying but otherwise I got along with all the characters and cant wait to find out what happens in book three especially now there might be a new big bad villain coming the Rooks way.

This book, is fun, fast paced and a great new look at the ghost genre with no second book issues. I cant wait to read book three!

Out of Service by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch is a ghostly comedic tale following the oddball family the Rooks on a quest to seal up yet another hell hole to save humanity.

The Rooks are a ghostbusting family that have a knack for finding chaos...and hell holes! The dialogue throughout this book is on point with witty zingers and one-liners. Alongside the humor you will also get a heavy dose of action with plenty of chaotic destruction and mayhem.

This is the successor to Wish You Weren't Here in The Rook series, which unfortunately I did not realize until I was well into the book. That was my oversight and does not affect my rating in any way, but I would definitely suggest reading the first book before this one as they jump right in to the plot without recapping any of the previous storyline. All in all it was a fun book and easy read.

Following on from the narrowly averted apocalypse on Coldbay Island, the dysfunctional ghost-busting Rook family are thrown into another crisis while on their journey to discover the truth behind their new possibly-not-a-priest amnesiac adoptee, Grace. A simple stop at a motorway services becomes a fight for their lives and continued human existence, and with their only muscle being a half-demon who looks like he came from a Halloween range at Build-A-Bear, survival is anything but certain.

Gabby Hutchinson Crouch delivers another excellent genre mash-up, filled with one-liners, daft situations, ghosts, demons, family angst, and adorable Polish accountants. Light-hearted and somehow cosy, Out of Service provides a welcome break from reality, and make us all wish we had a Janusz in our lives. Not to be read without reading book one in the Rook series, Wish You Weren’t Here, first.

I received a free reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book two in the series. I read book one and enjoyed it so glad I could get book two to read. The Rook family are very quirky but these are great books to read during spooky season

Great fun and soothing read. I have laughed and has a ball with this book. Is it different? Yes. Quirky characters. Unusual plot? Yep. But it worked. I've been getting in a rut with books lately and they were all starting to read the same. This was what was needed to break things up. I love it when different genres are mixed. Unfortunately, not many authors can pull it off. This book? The author took a risk and it played of effortlessly. Authors should take note on how it's done. The flow and writing style was easy to get into. I finished this book in one sitting. This was a second in a series. I liked that I was able to come into this book, without reading the first one. Now I can't wait to go back and read the first one and I look forward to future books in this series.

#NETGALLEY #OUTOFSERVICE