kchisholm's review against another edition
5.0
The 3rd in the Jack Parlabane series, the audio of this book kept mildly freaking me out. Originally published in 2000, the political satire, the social commentary, and the sheer breathtaking bloody awfulness of the "powers that be" could be right now. So right now, that it was freaky, distracting, unbelievably disappointing, hilariously funny, scarily on topic, and scathing in it's portrayal of the Catholic Church in all it's pestilence, politician's in all their connivance, and political minders in all their brutality of purpose (and the utter lack of ethics, morals, decency and I don't know... everything else about the lot of them).
This audio journey through a favourite series is going incredibly well - in a sweary, pissed off, crazy, manic, bloody good fun kind of way. The narrators thus far have been David Tennant and Angus King - both have been a pleasure to listen to.
This audio journey through a favourite series is going incredibly well - in a sweary, pissed off, crazy, manic, bloody good fun kind of way. The narrators thus far have been David Tennant and Angus King - both have been a pleasure to listen to.
vivelelivre's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
journeymouse's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
narbeleth's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
guiltyfeat's review
3.0
Put off reading this for a while as the last one was denser than it needed to be. This was also a massively overwritten shaggy dog story that took way too long to get going. For most of the book our hero is a fool who’s walked into a trap, ended up in pokey with no real idea of what is happening. In the last 50 pages, he finally works it out and with the help of a ridiculous number of other people he holds the baddie at gunpoint and gets him to confess.
It’s not terribly slick, it’s around 150 pages too long, there’s an unpleasant whiff of homophobia about the whole thing and Parlabane’s a bit of a prat. Not sure I’ll bother with another.
It’s not terribly slick, it’s around 150 pages too long, there’s an unpleasant whiff of homophobia about the whole thing and Parlabane’s a bit of a prat. Not sure I’ll bother with another.
wendleness's review
5.0
Boiling a Frog = Parlabane + (((Politics + Catholicism) x the media) ^ scandal)
More Parlabane! Yay!
This book… This book. There is a lot going on in this book. Parlabane's in trouble, Parlabane's in trouble and Parlabane's in trouble. Basically.
Most of the book feels like a lot is going on, without anything yet really happening. Most of the book feels like a set up before something happens. And it doesn't really work out like that. I read it with a constant feeling of 'what next?' and 'where does this lead?' and although other Brookmyre books have had a huge payout at the end of those kinds of build ups, this one didn't seem to have that as such. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I rather loved the constant tension, the constant gradual progression of the plot.
And really, regardless of everything else in the book, you should read it just for that one chapter. That one, gloriously hilarious chapter, that I refuse to spoil for anyone, even if they want to be spoiled.
More Parlabane! Yay!
This book… This book. There is a lot going on in this book. Parlabane's in trouble, Parlabane's in trouble and Parlabane's in trouble. Basically.
Most of the book feels like a lot is going on, without anything yet really happening. Most of the book feels like a set up before something happens. And it doesn't really work out like that. I read it with a constant feeling of 'what next?' and 'where does this lead?' and although other Brookmyre books have had a huge payout at the end of those kinds of build ups, this one didn't seem to have that as such. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I rather loved the constant tension, the constant gradual progression of the plot.
And really, regardless of everything else in the book, you should read it just for that one chapter. That one, gloriously hilarious chapter, that I refuse to spoil for anyone, even if they want to be spoiled.
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