First of the Jack Parlabane novels. Brookmyre is still finding his feet with this one: the opening scene is one of the funniest I have ever read, but later parts of the book drag a bit, and the computer hacking sequence didn’t work for me at all. Still, a good satirical comedy thriller, and a great introduction to the characters of the series.

(This quick review is part of my September 2005 “clearing the decks” exercise.)