A review by wyvernfriend
The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss

3.0

With some nods to some of the genre formulas in the Gentleman Adventurer, but in this case bringing the homosexual/bisexual subtext into some detail. This is Edwardian adventuring for the 21st Century and I don't know that it hasn't lost a certain amount in the transition. Lucifer Box lives in 9 Downing Street, is apparetnly an artist and dandy but is also a spy. Lucifer straddles that fine line between psychopath and patriot.

Full of nods to the genre and full detail of the period underworld it owes a firm debt to Alan Moore. However in parts it feels laboured and as if the writer had a cool idea that he couldn't not include so it was shoehorned in.

Honestly not someone's work I would hunt up but also not a book I regret reading.
The main character is very full of himself and certain that his place in the world is to be admired and loved. This is some of his charm and also a source of some of his errors.