Boiling a Frog - Christopher Brookmyre

Devolution has opened up a new political culture in Scotland, gone are the days when the tabloids could ruin a career with a carefully timed smear campaign about their personal life, now the public take the view that what a politician does behind closed doors is their own personal business and no reflection on their ability to do their job, gone are the days when getting caught with your pants around your ankles and a vibrator up your bum would cost ...
...paedophile internet ring at the heart of politics which involves MP's from all the major parties (obviously not the Tories as in Scotland they are no a major party) and suddenly a new morality takes a grip where the voice of the church is once again dominant and spin doctors who have evidence of sleaze are back in control.

The fact that all of the accused profess their innocence and that there are a few unanswered questions seems to ... more

Devolution has opened up a new political culture in Scotland, gone are the days when the tabloids could ruin a career with a carefully timed smear campaign about their personal life, now the public take the view that what a politician does behind closed doors is their own personal business and no reflection on their ability to do their job, gone are the days when getting caught with your pants around your ankles and a vibrator up your bum would cost you your job. Then Scottish politics is rocked by a paedophile internet ring at the heart of politics which involves MP's from all the major parties (obviously not the Tories as in Scotland they are no a major party) and suddenly a new morality takes a grip where the voice of the church is once again dominant and spin doctors who have evidence of sleaze are back in control.

The fact that all of the accused profess their innocence and that there are a few unanswered questions seems to bother no one an under normal circumstances Jack Parlabane, investigative journalist, would be the first to start asking questions and delve a little deeper however Jack is in jail and rather occupied with avoiding those whose he helped put inside who are intent on killing him before he can get to the end of the first month of his sentence.

This is the fourth Jack Parlabane novel I have read and about the sixth book by Brookmyre in total that I have read and I'm currently part way through my seventh so it is safe to say I'm a bit of a fan of his writing.

I would definitely recommend this book however one note of caution is that it does give away some of the endings of previous books in the series so if you are new to Brookmyre then you are better off starting with his earlier work like "Quite Ugly One Morning"

This book has a number of strengths which makes it an excellent read. Firstly it is very funny in parts with some very dark humour and biting satire, the Catholic Church, New Labour and the art of spin (and not that perfected my Monty) all come in for some stick and while the book is not packed out with humour you will find yourself having the odd wry smile and the occasional chuckle with the highlight for me the line about the anaesthetist farting during an operation which sounds puerile but in the context in which it is used is a great bit of comedy.

A second quality is the strength of the storyline, the whole complex plot is well developed and has enough twists in it to keep you on the edge of your seat, many of these twists are well delivered and I certainly did not see them coming. It is great to read a book which has this ability as I do find that having read a lot of work in this comedy - action thriller genre some of this work can become a bit predictable however that is not the case here.

Thirdly it is the depth of the characters in the book that is a major strength. On the face of it an investigative journalist is not the sort of character that I would normally identify with, especially one with a penchant for breaking and entering however the strength of Brookmyre writing is that he creates characters that you actually care about. Even those on the wrong side are depicted in such a way that you do find yourself empathising slightly with their plight even though it is of their own making. Parlabane as a lead character is a professional cynic with a smart arse mouth which he knows he should rein in but cannot and is a well developed character in Brookmyre books however it is the range of characters around him that helps make this book worth reading especially the manipulative spin doctor Beadie who the inspiration for can almost certainly be found in the Labour Party and also the larger than life characters that Parlabane encounters during his time in prison.

The constant themes that run through the book, the art of spin, how power corrupts and the role of the church whilst not in any way original do provide a ready source of material and being a non Scot found it interesting viewing this whole arena from a Scottish prospective which made the subject matter all the more interesting. It was certainly quite thought provoking to consider some of the explanations given for the churches loss of influence over society and their role in providing sound bites for the press on the usual issues of abortion, contraception and to a lesser degree morality.

I would definitely recommend this book and whilst it does give away the ending of previous books in the series it can stand on its own two feet without the need to have read the previous books by Brookmyre. It is very well written with a tight plot line, great characters and some very funny one line jokes and observations.

I got my copy through readitswapit in exchange for a Harry Potter book however for those who want to buy it the rrp is £6.99 on my copy and Amazon have it available for £6.39 new or from a penny in the new and used section.

Published by Warner Books it is 402 pages long and the ISBN is 0-7515-3182-0.

Thanks for reading and rating my review.
 

...less