One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night

Rating:
Summary: So very Brookmyre - and it succeeds
Review: 'One Fine Day in the Middle of The Night' is an all-action satire from Scotland's leading satirist - Christopher Brookmyre, a resolute left-winger with a great command of the English language and a publishing deal he's not afraid to use! Liberally sprinkled with popcorn culture references, Brookmyres writing is a strange mixture of the slightly more intelligent Hollywood escapism (?) and liberal left-wing conscience that guarantees a thick veneer of 'smart' social commentary. Nevertheless, Brookmyre's unashamed homage to his action hero heritage ensures an attention-grabbing plot where, in true Die-Hard tradition, trigger-happy but fallible mercenaries take hostages at the gala preview of a ludicrous hotel built on a disused oil drilling rig. Not only does Brookmyre make some intelligent social commentaries about the police, the oil industry, the travel industry, and a few other sacred cows (like religion and politics), he does it in a way that entertains and amuses.

What sets Brookmyre apart from the pack is that he is obviously a skilled author (his sentence structures are not the short, declarative ones you would expect from an action writer) and yet he can drop in references to popular music, television and cinema without looking out of date. Unlike authors like Ben Elton, he has enough intelligence to control his social commentary, keeping it in equal proportion to the absurd plot of the book. It's not high literature, but it doesn't want to be. This makes the whole thing easier to stomach and while you may think, being an action novel, it will be an easy read, this is not always the case. Nonetheless, it's a very worthwhile read.

If you have difficulties getting hold of any Brookmyre titles, they're ALL available on amazon.co.uk (Including Brookmyre's latest offering 'A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away')

Rating:
Summary: A double take on both the yuppie and terrorist cultures
Review: Another hit from Brookmyre. In this book he satiirizes the yuppies, gunworshippers, terrorists, and the package tourist industry. A big undertaking, but he gets away with it. It is fast, funny, and gross. Everything you have come to expect from this Tartan-Noir writer.

Rating:
Summary: Quite Possibly the Best Book ever written
Review: If you can amagine a book that takes you back to your childhood, and then transports you to your present day, with all your experiences under your belt, and then lets you be that child again, then this is the book.
You will not be able to put this down, and I challenge anybody to read this book and not laugh out load once.
I hope that anybody that reads this book gets as much enjoyment from it as me.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious read!
Review: This is a very funny book. A bunch of Scottish 30-somethings are invited to a school reunion on an oil rig that has been converted into an offshore resort by one of their school colleagues. A terrorist assault takes place and the rest you'll have to read the book for. There are some great one-liners and some 'highly unlikely but all the funnier for it' situations that some of the characters get into. The author also hits the nail on the head with some of his insights into the affect that school has on the rest of your life, and the many reasons why people are drawn to school reunions. There's a fair amount of straight action in the book so there's not a laugh on every page, so I gave it 4 stars. Definitely recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent as ever
Review: `One Fine Day in the Middle of The Night' is an all-action satire from Scotland's leading satirist - Christopher Brookmyre, a resolute left-winger with a great command of the English language and a publishing deal he's not afraid to use! Liberally sprinkled with popcorn culture references, Brookmyres writing is a strange mixture of the slightly more intelligent Hollywood escapism (?) and liberal left-wing conscience that guarantees a thick veneer of `smart' social commentary. Nevertheless, Brookmyre's unashamed homage to his action hero heritage ensures an attention-grabbing plot where, in true Die-Hard tradition, trigger-happy but fallible mercenaries take hostages at the gala preview of a ludicrous hotel built on a disused oil drilling rig. Not only does Brookmyre make some intelligent social commentaries about the police, the oil industry, the travel industry, and a few other sacred cows (like religion and politics), he does it in a way that entertains and amuses.

What sets Brookmyre apart from the pack is that he is obviously a skilled author (his sentence structures are not the short, declarative ones you would expect from an action writer) and yet he can drop in references to popular music, television and cinema without looking out of date. Unlike authors like Ben Elton, he has enough intelligence to control his social commentary, keeping it in equal proportion to the absurd plot of the book. It's not high literature, but it doesn't want to be. This makes the whole thing easier to stomach and while you may think, being an action novel, it will be an easy read, this is not always the case. Nonetheless, it's a very worthwhile read.

If you have difficulties getting hold of any Brookmyre titles, they're ALL available on amazon.co.uk (Including Brookmyre's latest offering `A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away')