A Snowball in Hell - Christopher Brookmyre

...Darcourt, villian of both " A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away" and "A Snowball in Hell".

Brookmyre brings back characters from several earlier works in this novel - Angelique de Xavia, Glasgow policewoman; Simon Darcourt, the egotistical terrorist maniac and Zal Innez, erstwhile bank robber and budding magician.

"A Snowball in Hell" is in some ways a vicious indictment of what our society has become. ...
...her one-time lover but also a bank robber.

Zal is followed throughout the book as he escapes from the law and criminals alike who want to catch him after his big bank job. ("The Sacred Art of Stealing"). He finds sanctuary on a cruise ship performing a magician's act.

I found this quite an enjoyable read as Brookmyre was so scathing through the device of Simon. Even the egomaniac terrorist is appalled by the modern ... more

"If he was made of chocolate he'd eat himself" - so Angelique de Xavia says of Simon Darcourt, villian of both " A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away" and "A Snowball in Hell".

Brookmyre brings back characters from several earlier works in this novel - Angelique de Xavia, Glasgow policewoman; Simon Darcourt, the egotistical terrorist maniac and Zal Innez, erstwhile bank robber and budding magician.

"A Snowball in Hell" is in some ways a vicious indictment of what our society has become. Brookmyre takes the cult of celebrity and takes the piss out of it and its effect on our society.

The book switches between the three main characters - Angelique, Zal and Simon. In this fashion we follow Simon on his maniacal celebrity shopping spree as he kidnaps various "celebrities" for his own version of reality TV. This really allows Brookmyre to stick the boot in and really tear into the cult of celebrity, especially those who are famous for being famous. I found this aspect of the book very amusing but also scarily very true. Apart from Simon's sick ways of dealing with the so-called celebs, obviously.

Angelique is part of the police task force hunting Darcourt as she has previously had dealings with him. (In "A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away"). She has recently been assessing her life and knows that there is something missing - most notably Zal, her one-time lover but also a bank robber.

Zal is followed throughout the book as he escapes from the law and criminals alike who want to catch him after his big bank job. ("The Sacred Art of Stealing"). He finds sanctuary on a cruise ship performing a magician's act.

I found this quite an enjoyable read as Brookmyre was so scathing through the device of Simon. Even the egomaniac terrorist is appalled by the modern cult of celebrity. Of course, he was also funny with it.

As ever Brookmyre is clever with the plot twists and turns and although some you can see coming, others are quite a surprise.

I enjoyed the character of Angelique as she is generally quite tough and good at her job. However she has some weaknesses, especially her mum and the obligatory "man on the horizon" questions. The exchanges with her mum are usually quite funny and there aren't too many of them.

Zal is quite an interesting character as it is intriguing to see how he will escape from his various predicaments. The magic tricks are quite entertaining as well, especially when he explains how he has done something.

The mooning about/ romance between Angelique and Zal is a bit irritating but Brookmyre never lets it overtake the main plot. I must admit even my cynical and cold heart went "aww" at some parts of the Angelique and Zal sub-plot.

I enjoyed this book and feel that Brookmyre is back to doing what he does best - pure and total satire, with a good pinch of Scottish humour thrown in. Read it - I defy you not to laugh.

This review is also posted on Dooyoo.co.uk 

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