2008-08-25 Another cracker from Scotland's best not-so-well-kept secret

So let's consider the facts, familiar characters (from at least 3 different previous books), familiar unapologetic in-your-face style, typical west of Scotland sense of humour...so, you have to ask, is it all going to start getting a bit boring?...answer, not a snowball's chance in hell (sorry about that!).

After waiting patiently over the last few months for my next Brookmyre fix, I polished off 'Snowball in Hell' in two mesmeric sittings. As always, I found myself laughing out loud throughout the novel at Brookmyre's depiction of Scottish humour and attitudes. If there is another writer out there doing what he does better, I have yet to come across him/her. While this ability to make people laugh is undoubtedly a key to Brookmyre's success, his ability to tell a story and seduce the reader into suspending their disbelief and losing themselve in the plot is what keeps me and i'm sure many others coming back for more.

Snowball sees the return of Simon Dacourt, Brookmyre's resident ego-maniacal mercenary terrorist. Again, the fate of Dacourt is tied to the success of the book's heroine, Angelique de Xavier, Glesga Polis' posterchild for equal opportunities given her ugandan/glasweigan heritage. Xavier has aged both physically and emotionally since thwarting Dacourt's last terrorist outing, years which have added even more venom and cynicism to her professional posterier. Brookmyre does a much better job though of revealing a softer side to the character, making her a much more multi-dimensional and, for it, likeable heroine. Her relationship with Zal, he of The Sacred Art of Stealing fame, flits seasmlessy from centre stage to background issue as Dacourt's latest venture, turning the world of celebrity on its head by executing z-list celebs on tv, leaves her with excruciating life or death decisions and contemplating the road her life has taken.

The story pops and fizzes as usual with the now trademark twists and turns that keep the reader guessing, although never to the point where it becomes anything less than engrossing.

After two sittings, I once again find myself despondent that I am going to have to wait so long for my next Brookmyre fix. I urge you, if you have never had the pleasure of losing yourself in one of his novels, to take the plunge! I can almost guarantee you won't regret it.