The Anubis Gates

Okay, this is a fun book. Deformed giggling evil clowns, four thousand year old egyptian sorcerers, body switches, time travel and poetry. Tim Powers does it all. More interesting is how well he manages to weave in little jokes here and there which aren't even mentioned in the book; like the unnoted appearence of Spring Heeled Jack about two thirds into the book. Or the exploitation of paradox inherent in time travel, and an ingenious solution for introducing uncertainty into pre-determined events. I still prefer Last Call, but this book kept me up till about 5 am yesterday. So it must have a hook.