British politics is used as a beacon across the globe of a system of purity and genuine democracy. Every person over 18 is given the vote and is allowed to choose whatever party they like. However, is it really all fair play? British politics is more about who knows who and insider deals. Do you think you rise to the top on your own merits? You need to promise many favours if you are going to get any power. British politics is as inefficient and dodgy as many other countries it's just that we choose to not worry. The amount of power we give the ruling party is the envy of many a country, including the United States. How can someone highlight the hypocrisy that is  Read the complete review

Jack Parlabane, a Glaswegian investigative journalist with a bit of a reputation of skirting the law in pursuit of a story has just returned home to Scotland from America. Kipping over at a mate's place in Edinburgh, he awakens in the morning with the smell of vomit (not his own) filling his nostrils and a general feeling of being unwell that can only be attained through binge drinking. Tracing the rather obnoxious odour, Parlabane finds himself locked out of his own flat, dressed only in his boxer shorts with various members of the law enforcement community milling around a flat on the floor below. Parlabane's, perhaps unwise, decision to tiptoe ...  Read the complete review

Written by Christopher Brookmyre this book features one of his best known characters Jack Parlablane an Edinburgh journalist and a man who has a habit of getting into trouble. Jack has recently returned from Los Angeles after things got a little too hot for his liking and I do not mean the weather, and after waking up hungover he leaves his flat to investigate a strange smell only to get himself locked out. He also notices a police prescence and it turns out that the smell is due to a mutilated corpse in the flat below and a rather disgusting crime scene. For reasons of his own he wants to avoid the police but only succeeds in becomming the prime suspect in ...  Read the complete review

Christopher Brookmyre's debut book, 'Quite Ugly, One Morning' is a disturbingly truthful thriller, set North of the Border against a scene of blood, horror and bodily excretions. If you have a weak stomach (or a weak sense of humour) then this is not the read for you. From the very start we are thrown into the world of our hero, Jack Parlabane as he tries to uncover how he finds himself embroiled in one of the most repulsive murder that Scotland has ever seen. A famous doctor is discovered in his flat, brutally murdered, with digits missing and a massive human turd on his mantlepiece. The search begins for the killer, but as the truth ...  Read the complete review

For New Years 1999, I went to visit a friend in Edinburgh. Since I was already coming down with a cold, we decided the best way to see in the new year would be form the top of Arthur's Seat, in a biting gale. Now with a full blown cold, I spent the next day huddled on a sofa reading "Quite Ugly One Morning", by Christopher Brookmyre. This was a quite excellent decision. Quite Ugly One Morning is the debut thriller featuring Jack Parlabane, an investigative journalist working in Glasgow. After being found breaking into a murder scene, the inimitable Jack solves the murder, catches the thief and gets the girl. Sharp, stylish and ...  Read the complete review