Reviews

What a finisher! This was so gripping and did a good job of pulling together threads from previous books. Really enjoyed this series and defo recommend.

rachelini's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I liked this a lot, compelling story and good caper moments, but I do miss the humour and bit of absurdity of Brookmyre's earlier books.

tyrshand's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

This was my first entry into the Jack Parlabane series and maybe that's why I found it hard to really care about Jack at all. He wasn't a terrible character or anything, but I just found myself uninvested in him. Sam was a bit better, but her point of view kept tossing me out of the story as she would overexplain things. Perhaps if her narrative had been billed as a deposition or journal or some such thing it would have made more sense to me. However, as her internal thoughts, it's a bit odd that she would, for example, explain every online acronym she uses, no matter how common.

The mystery itself wasn't especially strong, I think. I knew the gist of what was going on as soon as the mystery was fully introduced, though I didn't necessarily know which person of that group would be the culprit, nor did the specific person really matter for plot.

reading_on_the_road's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

This is one of the few series which not only maintains quality but actually gets better as it goes along.

danielpatrick's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

Maybe this guy's run out of enthusiasm for his alter-ego, Parlabane? Shame. To be fair, the other main character was great, but the plot was a bit dodgy, Parlabane was... gullable, and at times the writing was quite amateurish (show, don't tell!) for someone who has written books as good as All Fun And Games, for example.

tartancrusader's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I can't say for sure that Brookmyre is the sharpest, slickest, cleverest writer currently active in the UK today. But what I can say, on the strength of this, is that while some (unbeknownst to me) are his equal, none surpass him. This was just great.

riverwise's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I always enjoy a new Parlabane novel, and this is one of the best in recent years. As this one starts, Jack is still struggling post-Leveson, and about to flunk an interview with a hip online news site, while an ordinary young girl struggles with her grim domestic circumstances. The two come together in a murky tale of hacking and corporate espionage, with the usual mix of excitement, humour and whatever it is that makes you turn the pages faster and faster. The descriptions of hacking and social engineering are highly engaging, and should make you think about exactly what information you give out day to day. An interesting character from previous books is elevated to a bigger role this time round, and there's even a wee bit of Spammy in there as well. Good one.

More...