▁sub ter f uge ▁and ▁rival ry '. ▁ ▁Re ception ▁Kevin ▁G ilde a ▁writing ▁in ▁The ▁Irish ▁Times ▁comp ares ▁it ▁with ▁M ills ▁debut ▁novel , ▁" In ▁this ▁new ▁book , ▁M ills ▁once ▁again ▁maintain s ▁a ▁sust ained ▁tone ▁that ▁drives ▁the ▁comedy ▁of ▁his ▁book . ▁However , ▁although ▁the ▁tone ▁is ▁related ▁to ▁The ▁Rest raint ▁of ▁Be asts , ▁its ▁result ant ▁perspective ▁is ▁not ▁as ▁distant ▁or ▁cold , ▁with ▁the ▁result ▁that ▁it ▁is ▁not ▁as ▁fun ny . ▁But ▁what ▁it ▁los es ▁in ▁hum our ▁it ▁g ains ▁in ▁a ▁warm th , ▁in ▁a ▁genu ine ▁ev in cing ▁of ▁the ▁quiet ▁jo ys ▁of ▁the ▁characters ’ ▁concerns ... There ▁is ▁a ▁sweet ▁tend ern ess ▁at ▁the ▁heart ▁of ▁the ▁book ... ▁The ▁For ens ic ▁Records ▁Society ▁is ▁a ▁fun ny ▁book , ▁but ▁it ▁could ▁have ▁been ▁a ▁lot ▁fun nier . ▁The ▁story ▁runs ▁out ▁of ▁some ▁steam ▁towards ▁the ▁end , ▁but ▁the ▁tend ern ess ▁holds ." ▁T oby ▁L itt ▁in ▁The ▁Guardian ▁concluded ▁that ▁the ▁novel ▁was ▁" a ▁story ▁that ▁could ▁be ▁read ▁as ▁a ▁dis gu ised ▁ret elling ▁of ▁the ▁Russian ▁revolution , ▁or ▁the ▁Re formation , ▁or ▁the ▁Sun ni - Sh ia ▁sch ism , ▁or ▁any ▁great ▁human ▁falling ▁out . ▁As ▁soon ▁as ▁you ▁form ▁any ▁kind ▁of ▁“ us ”, ▁M ills ▁suggests , ▁a ▁“ th em ” ▁will ▁form