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A Snowball in Hell

by: Christopher Brookmyre

August 14, 2008
Mostly I give Christopher Brookmyre's books four or five stars. True I tend not to like books with gratuitous violence of foul language, but he is normally so inventive that I forgive such transgressions. Not so with A snowball in hell! Brookmyre seems always determined to push at the boundaries of acceptability, and I have no problems with that. In this latest book however he doesn't push acceptability; he kicks it out of sight. He takes his hero Angelique de Xavia through an improbable series of events with which she is impotent to cope unless she has guidance her lover Zal!
It could have been a hugely enjoyable romp! It could have been his usual skilful mix of the absurd! It is neither, it misses most of the tests which have previously ... Read More:

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Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks

by: Christopher Brookmyre

June 05, 2008
Short and sweet review as opposed to the tedious opening chapter(s). Definitely a change of style moving away from the earlier work and for my tuppence worth not a good move. If you're after the usual Brookmyre story telling then you probably won't be overly impressed with this one. I found it hugely disappointing and even by page 327 of 408 I was toying with not finishing it, something I've not done previously. Bored, bored, bored. Hoping for better next time...

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A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil

by: Christopher Brookmyre

April 05, 2007
Quite frankly one of the funniest books i've ever read.

As usual with Brookmyre there is killing and some gore running through the story but i found it hard to put down in all honesty and some of the school bits had me laughing out loud.

Fantastic

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Quite Ugly One Morning

by: Christopher Brookmyre

January 03, 1998
Jack Parlabane is a journalist who seems to find trouble wherever he goes. After fleeing the United States he finds himself crashing in a friend's flat in Edinburgh. Fast asleep he is unable to hear the murder downstairs, therefore, it's not his fault that the next day after locking himself out he is found in the victim's home trying to jimmy the window. Perhaps being caught by the police for something he did not do will be a blessing in disguise. He is a man with certain talents to uncover dirt where other people refuse to tread. It just so happens that this place is the NHS were the dirt is thicker than most.

`Quite Ugly One Morning' is a crime satire that combines both a good mystery with a biting examination of the NHS. Brookmyre is able ... Read More:

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One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night

by: Christopher Brookmyre

May 04, 2006
Nobody outside Carl Hiassen can write satire as black as Brookmyre. But the Scot's vicious humour surpasses anything the American has ever written.

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Country of the Blind

by: Christopher Brookmyre

May 30, 1998
I read Quite Ugly one morning and having run out of Rebus, Elizabeth George and Stuart MacBride books I thought I had found a crime writer to fill the gap
I started to read Country of the Blind and realised that Christopher is left of Gengis Khan!! Mr Brookmyre, you really shouldn't unbalance your books with so much left wing wrath, why don't you contact Gordon Brown - he needs a speech writer who has the sort of imagination you have - how are your economics? On second thoughts you couldn't come up with more dreamed up figures than he does!! I,ve bought one more of your books but I think I will take a rain check and give it to Oxfam!!
Oh Dear! Alan Shepherd

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A Big Boy Did it and Ran Away (Abacus Books)

by: Christopher Brookmyre

May 04, 2006
I'm giving this book five stars but I really would like to deduct half a star as I thought the whole thing sank into total incredibility on page 445. Still, having got that far I had no intention of ditching it. Yes - it is overlong, and you have to be on your toes to really know what's going on as it was so dis-jointed, but the flash backs did (eventually) all fit together. This is not a zip through conventional read for the tired or the undemanding. However, I found it very readable, witty, and clever. As said, the last few pages were ludicrous, but it brought the plot full circle. I will definitely read Brookmyre again

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The Sacred Art of Stealing

by: Christopher Brookmyre

May 04, 2006
I gave this three stars just because it's CB and so is immensely readable, but it was almost hard to finish. It starts out great, with one of the all-time best bank robberies, then it goes astray and nothing much works. The romance never seems believable, not for a second, and all the soul-searching dialogue between the two main characters seems like the kind of thing CB would laugh off as a big girl's blouse. (Once Innez gets all warm and funny and teary-eyed, he charm slips away.) The characterizations? Sorry, but making every American distinguishable simply by having him say "ain't" all the time ain't cutting it. And the plot? Gone to hell after that robbery, along with all the book's previous credibility. I mean, a massive heist is supposed to be going down and ... Read More:

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Boiling a Frog

by: Christopher Brookmyre

May 04, 2006
Be warned it took me about 4 weeks to read the 1st 200 pages of this book, and 2 hours to read the last 200. worth finishing, but not so sure if it's worth starting. the political satire is good, if not a little twisted. The development of the character Ian Beadie, seems to have been done just to justify a quick end. I won't go into details as it may ruin the end, but needless to say this characters development, despite being one of the most interesting part of the book, is largely ignored to focus on a lead character who doesn't really warant being the main character.

Ultimately there are a lot worse books out there, and it was an OK read, but I rather have read it with the focus being on a character who goes from reporting the news to creating the news, ... Read More:

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Not the End of the World

by: Christopher Brookmyre

June 17, 1999
I came to Christopher Brookmyre rather late in life (nine of his books already in paperback, and the tenth about to be published), but I have read all eleven in the past twelve months or so, and have found this to be one of his best. I have read his books in chronological order, so this was one of the first, and the first that wasn't about Jack Parlabane. Having recently finished his first two books, I started this with a little trepidation - it seemed odd to start off with that there was no sign of Parlabane (though he does get the briefest of mentions as being a good friend of lead character Steff Kennedy) - but I soon settled into things, and discovered that, actually, things were better without him.

There are times when the plot gets slightly TOO far-fetched (hey, ... Read More: