Review of Architects of Emortality by Brian Stableford

This is the first time I’ve come across Stableford, though having seen his looong bibliography, I do wonder how I’ve managed to avoid his output thus far.

This particular book is set in his Emortality series, which envisages an earth where global warming has caused our current civilisation to collapse and gives rise to a human race where biological reproduction is no longer necessary – or even regarded as desirable.

Set hundreds of years in the future and peopled with characters who can hope and expect to live for at least two hundred years – and a fortunate few whose lifespans will stretch into thousands of years. So this is a society on the edge of dramatic change and into this mix there are a series of gruesomely imaginative murders. These killings are sufficiently shocking that MegaMall, who controls most official events, puts a temporary embargo on the publicity machine. This means police officers Charlotte Holmes and Hal Watson are under a serious time constraint to solve them and need help, which they get from the plant designer and historian Oscar Wilde.

However, this is far from being a straightforward science fiction whodunit. Stableford uses the classic crime scenario as background to some lengthy expositions about the nature of posthumanity – mostly when in the viewpoint of Oscar Wilde, who is by far the most entertaining and intriguing character in this cast of eccentrics. This is, I feel, the true engine that runs this novel and although I’m not a huge fan of this harder type of science fiction, Stableford is sufficiently skilful to pull it off. He manages to get the correct balance between his musings on the impact of increased longevity and keeping the pace up necessary to keep the reader turning the pages. In fact with was a refreshing change to read something a little more leisurely than the mandatory breakneck speed that science fiction crime novels seem to require, these days.

The flashes of tongue-in-cheek humour also helped to keep me entertained – again, something that isn’t generally a feature of the genre. Stableford has some interesting points to make, while his long-suffering police officer, Charlotte Holmes, struggles to keep some kind of order in this sprawling investigation. The world is well constructed, with some nice touches in there.

All in all, a polished, well crafted book by a very able writer. And if proof were needed that Stableford is all that is the fact that this book comes in the middle of the Emortality series. Yet I wasn’t aware that it was a series. It didn’t matter that I hadn’t read any of the other books, I was still able to immediately access the situation and the characters without needing any prior knowledge. Neither did Stableford assume I was a former fan. Yipee! As it happens, I was so impressed with this enjoyable read, I shall certainly be looking out for more of Stableford’s prolific output.
8/10

Review of The Complaints by Ian Rankin

Those of you who were dismayed when Rankin’s Inspector Rebus series came to an end in Exit Music will have cause to rejoice when you pick up this offering. The Complaints sees Rankin at his very best.

Nobody likes The Complaints – they’re the cops who investigate other cops. Complaints and Conduct Department, to give them their full title, but known colloquially as ‘The Dark Side’, or simply ‘The Complaints’. It’s where Malcolm Fox works. He’s just had a result, and should be feeling good about himself. But he’s a man with problems of his own. He has an increasingly frail father in a care home and a sister who persists in an abusive relationship – something which Malcolm cannot seem to do anything about.

But, in the midst of an aggressive Edinburgh winter, the reluctant Fox is given a new task. There’s a cop called Jamie Breck, and he’s dirty. The problem is, no one can prove it. But as Fox takes on the job, he learns that there’s more to Breck than anyone thinks. This knowledge will prove dangerous, especially when a vicious murder intervenes far too close to home for Fox’s liking.

And so starts an adventure that takes Fox way beyond his comfort zone – where he finds himself being constantly tested as the storyline continues to ramp up the tension. It is important that the reader cares about Fox, as he is right at the heart of this novel – and for my money, Fox is a lot more likeable than Rebus. Divorced and a recovering alcoholic, Fox struggles to stay on the side of the good guys – which is why he works hard to weed out dirty cops who become far too friendly with the criminals they are chasing – or bend too many rules to get a conviction. However, he also manages not to come across as a prig – largely helped by his troubled relationships with his father and sister and the laconic banter that threads through the book, providing a few smiles and light relief from the grim backdrop of the unfolding banking crisis and a Scottish winter.

Rankin’s unfussy style manages to weave a story packed with plot twists corkscrewing off in all directions, set in the seedier side of Edinburgh, which is described in cinematically sharp detail without holding up the pace or defusing the tension. Rankin is the master of Scottish noir and while there are others who come close – like Christopher Brookmyre for instance – no one does it better. Certainly when Rankin is at his storming best, as in The Complaints. Roll over Rebus – here comes Foxy…
9/10

Review of The Secret Hangman by Peter Lovesey

Maybe you are already aware of Peter Diamond’s police career in the beautiful city of Bath – but The Secret Hangman is my introduction to Peter Lovesey’s work.

Peter Diamond is managing as well as can be expected after the shocking murder of his wife, three years earlier. He certainly doesn’t need his boss, Georgina, fussing about him. Neither does he need the attentions of the woman who writes, asking for a date. Not that he’s got much time on his hands to brood – not after a woman is found hanged in a children’s playground, to be followed by her husband a few days later whose hanging from a viaduct in a busy part of Bath during the rush hour throws the city into chaos. Despite urging from Georgina to close the case and concentrate on the ram raids the high-ups are concerned about, Peter has a bad feeling about the hangings. The facts his team uncover don’t add up.

But only when another hanged woman is found, the nasty possibility that they are dealing with a serial killer surfaces – and subsequent events leave Diamond and his team at the sharp end of an investigation where only their efforts stand between the next victim and a horrible death…

This excellent whodunit is the ninth book in the Peter Diamond series. The character is a grumpy widower, who has thrown himself into his career to compensate for his bereavement. I very much enjoyed the parallel storyline relating to Diamond’s personal life, which merged in a satisfying twist at the end of the book. And no – I’m not saying more than that.
Bath is an effective backdrop to the murders, although it features less than Booth’s gritty Derbyshire landscape as mood music to the grisly events. Not that there is much blood and gore in The Secret Hangman – a refreshing change to the current trend both in books and on TV to make murder corpses as bloodily graphic as possible. Lovesey doesn’t need to rely on blood and guts to keep the pages turning – he is a master at keeping the tension coming, while at the same time attending to the small details that give this tale a hard-edged reality. The denouement is thoroughly satisfying – especially with the extra twist in it regarding Diamond’s personal life. I was happy to see that in addition to the ten Peter Diamond books, there are also eight Inspector Cribb tales; three Bertie books and three Inspector Hen Mallin stories.

More books to add to the stack teetering dangerously by my fireside…
8/10

Review of Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre

The select few of you who regularly visit my blog will realise that in addition to my passion for speculative fiction, one of my other weaknesses is crime. I came across this gem in the library one rainy day last week and it has brightened my life ever since.

Do you believe in ghosts? Do we really live on in some conscious form after we die, capable of communicating with the world of the living?

Aye, right. That was Jack Parlabane’s stance on the matter, anyway. But this was before he found himself in the more compromising position of being not only dead himself, but dead with an exclusive still to file. From his position on high, Parlabane relates the events leading up to his demise, concerning the efforts of charismatic psychic Gabriel Lafayette to reconcile the scientific with the spiritual by submitting to controlled laboratory tests.

Parlabane is brought in as an observer, due to his capacities as both a sceptic and an expert on deception, but his certainties crumble and his assumptions turn upside down as he encounters phenomena for which he can deduce no rational explanation. One thing he knows for certain, however: death is not the end – it’s the ultimate undercover assignment.

The investigative journalist, Jack Parlabane, who sort of solves this crime, has appeared in four previous Brookmyre novels. He leaps off the page with all the force of Robbie Coltrayne’s Cracker – and with as many opinions, which he doesn’t shy away from sharing with the rest of us. So, in addition to enjoying a really well-crafted thriller with a number of BIG surprises that I didn’t see coming, I was also treated to a series of intelligent discussions on the nature of belief, its impact on society and how it can be used to exploit victims when they are extremely vulnerable.

While I am not sure that Parlabane voices all of Brookmyre’s beliefs, it is an intriguing change to come across a fictional crime-fighter with an instinctive dislike and distrust of the Establishment. Also refreshing to have said argumentative, awkward customer in a strong marriage… Brookmyre has cited Ford Prefect from Douglas Adam’s Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as his inspiration for Parlabane, commenting, ‘I always adored the idea of a character who cheerfully wanders into enormously dangerous situations and effortlessly makes them much worse.’

As I’ve mentioned, the plot is exceptionally well crafted. The setting – contemporary Scotland – works very well, and so it should, seeing as its Brookmyre’s own stamping ground. His cast of characters are strongly depicted with convincing backgrounds, so when he shifts into the alternative viewpoints, they are as equally compelling as Parlabane. Despite the fact that this is a reasonably substantial read with plenty of musing about the state of the world, at no point did it drag. This is a skilful, intelligent writer, who manages to deliver the whole package with energy, verve and absolute confidence. The book won the 2007 Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for Writing. I’m not surprised – by any benchmark, it is an outstanding read.
10/10