DR NO

‘Dr No’ by Percival Everett is the author’s latest quirky comic satire, inspired by Bond’s supervillain Dr No with a mission intent on revenge and the hunt for literally ‘nothing’. A truly wild card choice for any book club.

The novel revolves around Kitu, a brilliant maths professor and expert of nothing who is employed by the aspiring billionaire villain John Sill who wants to break into Fort Knox to steal its hidden treasure. Just like Bond’s supervillains, this is all part of his master plan for domination and mass destruction. However Sill knows the ultimate outcome will be nothing and Kitu is the perfect partner for his madcap plan.

The novel employs oodles of humour in Kitu’s world of academia along with his mismatched pairing with Sill. Den readers enjoyed Kitu’s playful word games around nothing, juxtaposed with Sill’s bizarre fantasy outlook and his own playbook which embraces a Bond lifestyle taking Kitu (and us the reader) to shark invested waters, on private jets and surrounding us with a cast of dangerous manservants, goons and scantily clad beauties.

As Sill and Kitu move closer to the treasure, the reader is never far away from Sill's own story to avenge his father’s death which he suspects is connected to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Everett’s inventive style of writing has a uniqueness and absurdity that captures the imagination and will carry you to the last page. In spite of knowing how the story ends it is the journey that provides a wonderful escapist read for book clubs. Lots to unpick and talk about!

'Dr No' follows Everett's shortlisted Booker novel ‘The Trees’ - enjoyed by Den readers and book clubs.