I've read many of Ben Elton's books and although there have been a couple I didn't like, I think overall he manages to capture interesting situations and to bring insights into them through the characters he creates. This book is no exception. It was lent to me by a friend of my mum's and I read it by the pool on holiday. It was an ideal relaxing pool read as it had a good balance of reality and humour. The title 'Meltdown' and the picture of the dynamite strapped to a piggybank on the cover gives away the subject of the book. Yes, it's about that global financial crisis that hit us a few years back (that we are still trying to recover from). The book ...  Read the complete review

Having previously enjoyed Ben Elton's Dead Famous (also reviewed), I decided to see which of his other books were available in the library when I last visited. I spotted his latest offering, Meltdown, on the shelf and decided to give it a go. The Plot Meltdown focuses on the life of Jimmy Corby, an investment banker and his university friends. Many of his friends are identifiable as groups of people who have been focussed on in the news. There's Henry (a Labour MP, who got caught fiddling his expenses), Rupert (a fake toff who buys a peerage and runs his bank to the ground before being paid off with an obscene pension - Fred Goodwin anyone?), Lizzie, a ...  Read the complete review

Meltdown is a novel about 6 friends and how their lives were affected by the economic downturn of recent years. Written by one of Britain's most provocative and entertaining writers, Ben Elton, I knew I couldn't leave this one on the shelf. **The Characters and Plot** The main character is Jimmy Corby, a city trader who earned a huge salary (plus even huger bonuses) from moving money that didn't really exist between different companies and people. With this money he bought himself a six storey house in Notting Hill, complete with basement garage and a gym. He shares this house with his kind-hearted wife Monica and their three young kids. Jimmy is a ...  Read the complete review

Having read everything that Ben Elton has written I was keen to read his latest offering, particularly when I read the synopsis on the back. The book could hardly be more topical featuring a group of friends, one of a victim of a ponzi scheme, one who is a victim of the financial crisis, a third who in another life could be Sir Fred Goodwin and finally an MP embroiled in scandal. A group of friends who seem to be blessed with luck, suddenly find that everything in the garden is no longer rosy. In typical Ben Elton style, the book is witty and acts as a wry commentary on the current issues of the day. However, in parts, the book almost seems so close to life that it ..  Read the complete review