Christopher Brookmyre, A Snowball in Hell

I'm a fan of Christopher Brookmyre. I've read most of his books and some are better than others, but I've enjoyed them all. Until this one.

Brookmyre writes satirical Scottish crime fiction which is funnier and more engaging that it sounds. Not for the squeamish, but the genre isn't for the squeamish, of course. He's had some fantastic protagonists, Jack Parlabane being my favourite and I would love another book with Jane Fleming from All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye. Previous bad guys have been the Scottish government, Catholic church and NHS trust managers as well as a terrorist or two. In short, his books are generally a satisfying romp with a bit of social commentary thrown in.

In A Snowball in Hell he loses it, the touch, what have you. It's a story about a terrorist who is kidnapping, torturing and killing b-list celebs to make the world a better place. The story is one of his weaker, the characters are somewhat pathetic although I liked them when I first met them a couple of books ago, the plot doesn't make a lot of sense and the ending is obvious. That all can be forgiven; authors have better and worse books and these things happen.

However, Brookmyre tries to elicit a laugh with the torture but it's not funny. Torture, at this moment, isn't funny. I'm not sure it ever is or was. The book isn't big and isn't clever. If you haven't read Brookmyre before, start with a different book and if you are a huge fan, do yourself a favor and skip this one.