Christopher Brookmyre - A Snowball In Hell

Do you hate reality TV and Z-list celebrities so much that you would commit mass murder - and in public?  Simon Darcourt would, albeit that he was presumed dead years before after a failed mission as "terrorist for hire".  Angelique De Xavia is called upon to trap this sadistic killer, but it becomes a lot more personal, as her parents are kidnapped, and more dangerous as she knows to get this solved she must call on her former boyfriend, who is the only suspect in a multi-million pound heist, but happens to be a bit of a magician too.


My rating: 8/10

My first encounter with Brookmyre was his latest, Pandaemonium, which I reviewed for SHOTS (clicking the link takes you to the review).  I was mighty confused by it, but where I say at the end, I may have missed the point - uh - I think I get it now.

Snowball really is an excellent story; I deliberately put it second on the reading order, as I wanted to get the nightmares out of the way first, as Pandaemonium is violent and gory.  However, Snowball is not especially - yes, most of the victims die horribly but it is up to your own imagination to visualise their deaths (that might give you nightmares.)

Brookmyre is very obviously highly intelligent, and there were times when he describes human nature in his prose (usually in the voice of Darcourt), and no matter how despicable you believe the villain to be....you think, my goodness, he is dead right.  I don't know what could disgust you more; the deaths and the motives, or the current vogue that is called in this day and age "light entertainment".

A good ending too, much better than Pandaemonium's, with everyone finding their place, even the walking wounded, and the bad guy gets his comeuppance.  There are more twists in this tale than your average large white bloomer, and just when you think you can see how it concludes, a further twist keeps you entertained and in no way frustrated.

One criticism I have of Brookmyre: my gosh, the man can waffle, with stuff that is not plot related, and at times, dare I say it...boring?  But you can skip a few lines and find something to make you think again, or send you spiraling back into the plot.  Terrific stuff.

Next:  Sarah Bower's The Needle In The Blood.