Complicity - Iain Banks

Cameron Colley is a journalist working for the Caledonian, a local Edinburgh newspaper. He has a fairly normal life by Banks' estimation, balancing caffeine, nicotine, cannabis and speed in his system whilst trying to put subtle leftist bias into his articles. He also has a thing for computer strategy games, especially a fictitious one called Despot that is explained in quite some depth. His life, whilst somewhat risqué, is not particularly unusual until he gets involved with an anonymous source, going by the name of Mr. Archer. Archer guides Colley through a series of unexplained deaths that supposedly have some link which Colley has to discover. It is ...  Read the complete review

Complicity is the second Iain Banks book that I have read – the first, the Business was a little dull and disappointing me, and almost put me off an author I had heard many good things about. However, a lack of things to read saw me giving this one a go, as it was the only thing I saw that I fancied in the second hand book shop, and at £2, it was hardly going to be a tragedy if it wasn’t any good. But I’m glad I took the chance, as it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable books that I’ve read this year. As a thriller, it works it’s part superbly – the plot twists and turns, and you genuinely don’t know what is going ...  Read the complete review

Iain Banks, since his debut book 'The wasp factory' has consistently turned out exceptional and imaginative stories and 'Complicity' is no exception. In fact, I think it is his best book to date. The reader is given a sleazy, testy main character, Cameron, who reflects a lot of what is dark about modern living. With constant substance abuse, an ongoing sado-masochistic affair with his best friend's wife, and an obsession with a computer game, there is a lot of dark humour in the story. The story revolves around a spate of murders and attacks which happen to rich, powerful members of the establishment. The writing is so intense and ...  Read the complete review

This is a book for anyone who, like me, was delighted by the warped imagination of Banks's "The Wasp Factory", and was eagerly waiting for Banks to write another novel to match its wickedly black humour and devilish gruesomeness. "Complicity" matches "Wasp Factory" in all these respects, and then some! Someone is killing prominent people, and doing it in bizarre (some might say sick, and they could be right!) and ironically appropriate ways. An Edinburgh journalist becomes involved in the case; his drug abuse and taste for weird sex, plus his obsession with a computer "god" game ensure that the chapters which focus on ...  Read the complete review

It's not one of his sci-fi books, and surprisingly I found it a fairly quick read. It tells of a journalist following a serial murderer. So, Banks-style we get descriptions of the horrors of the murders, and, as always, there is an element of the surreal. Putting all thoughts of how bad the film of this book was, I first read the book on a flight to America and still find it one of the most accessible of Banks' novels. The story is told well, and in a more linear manner than many. I would recommend it to almost everyone, and, in fact, I do. ...  Read the complete review