Product Description

Jack Parlabane, the investigative journalist who is not averse to breaking the law for the sake of a good story, has finally been caught on the petard of his own self-confidence and is experiencing accommodation courtesy of Her Majesty. The fledgling Scottish parliament is in catatonic shock after experiencing its first dose of Westminster sleaze. The Catholic Church of Scotland is taking full advantage of the politicians' discomfort and is riding high in the polls as the voice of morality. Behind the scenes the truth is obscured by the machinations of the spin doctors and in prison, aware he's missing out on a great story, Parlabane discovers that contacts and a pretty way with words are no defence against people he has helped to put away. Part political satire, part cliff-hanging thriller this is high calibre entertainment. And for the author's own view on his books visit his website at www.brookmyre.co.uk And for the author's own view on his books visit his website at www.brookmyre.clara.net

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79003 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
In Christopher Brookmyre's first two thrillers, Quite Ugly One Morning andCountry of the Blind, his investigative reporter hero Jack Parlabane was a partisan crusader against the sleaze and cronyism of the latter days of Conservative government. In the excellent new Boiling a Frog, Jack finds himself far more confused in an era of spin, so confused, indeed, that he finds himself in jail for burgling the offices of the Catholic Church in Scotland. For once, we know far more than he does--that the outbreak of public morality that has followed a child-porn scandal is as spurious as the photographs which turned up on the hard discs of various senior Labour figures; the excitement here is in watching Parlabane follow his nose through a web of deceit and murder to the truth. By turns passionately analytical and uproariously bawdy, Boiling a Frog works equally well as thriller and satire, a scathingly truthful caricature of the New Scotland. It also has a heart--Brookmyre is as good on the well-characterised plotters' consciences as he is on Parlabane's jail encounters with comically menacing thugs. --Roz Kaveney

Review
'Surreal, satirical, irreverent, violent and immensely funny.' THE TIMES 'Hiaasen is one of America's finest satirists. Brookmyre is Britain's' OBSERVER 'This merciless satire is so painfully accurate that the political establishment will read it and weep . . . Boiling a Frog hits a tender spot that for MSPs, their acolytes and, more worryingly, their spin doctors will be uncomfortably close to home' SCOTSMAN 'New Labour, the Scottish Parliament, the Catholic Church, the tabloid press, spin doctors - all of them are given a thorough knifing by Brookmyre's razor-sharp pen' MAXIM 'In Christopher Brookmyre's first two thrillers, Quite Ugly One Morning andCountry of the Blind, his investigative reporter hero Jack Parlabane was a partisan crusader against the sleaze and cronyism of the latter days of Conservative government. In the excellent new Boiling a Frog, Jack finds himself far more confused in an era of spin, so confused, indeed, that he finds himself in jail for burgling the offices of the Catholic Church in Scotland. For once, we know far more than he does--that the outbreak of public morality that has followed a child-porn scandal is as spurious as the photographs which turned up on the hard discs of various senior Labour figures; the excitement here is in watching Parlabane follow his nose through a web of deceit and murder to the truth. By turns passionately analytical and uproariously bawdy, Boiling a Frog works equally well as thriller and satire, a scathingly truthful caricature of the New Scotland. It also has a heart--Brookmyre is as good on the well-characterised plotters' consciences as he is on Parlabane's jail encounters with comically menacing thugs.' - Roz Kaveney, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW

Scotsman
'Die Hard wi' a kilt oan ... a tale of extreme violence, bitter revenge and belly laughs'

Customer Reviews

Scary... But the best I've read in months!
I started with 'Quite ugly...' because Prachett recommended it as a good reading in an interview. A few weeks later I was through all his published works and eagerly waiting for the 'Boiling...' to arrive.

As a not-native speaker of English languague it was quite a chore reading his slang-filled books, but it was worth it, oh yes, by far! Reading one of Brookmyres books I have encountered three feelings - laughter that makes passers-by turn their heads and tsk-tsk disapprovingly; recognition ('Wow, he writes about how the things really are!') and panic ('God, what if the things really are the way he describes them?')

'Boiling a Frog' is not the best first book of Brookmyre to read, but it's an eagerly awaited sequel for those who have enjoyed Parlabane's past 'adventuers'. My favourite is still 'Not the end of the world', though.

slow to start with but worth sticking with it
I'm a big fan of Brookmyre and yet again, he pulls it off with an inspired read.

A dark satirical look at modern day Scotland and, although the plot may seem far-fetched at first, in actual fact its worryingly believable!

I did find it quite slow to start with but it was well worth persevering with it as the pace soon picked up and the story had me on the edge of my seat! In fact, by the end, I simply couldn't put it down!

Although this is admittedly not Brookymyre's best novel, it is a cracking read all the same and wholeheartedly recommended!

Good, but not Brookmyre's best
I have now read each of Christopher Brookmyre's 5 books, and have bought the last 3 as soon as they have been published. It really pains me to say this, but Boiling a Frog is not the best of the five by any means. It is without doubt a really good book, but does not keep your attention in the same way as most of the others have. What really irritated me was the way the book has a kind of 300 page introduction, most of which is setting the scene and jumping between time frames. I got so bored waiting for the action to begin that the book was nearly over by the time I had reached that point. Thankfully, Boiling a Frog has everyone's favourite journalistic hack in it, but Parlabane is relegated to a minor role in the first three-quarters of the book. Again, by the time the story centres on him and his antics, there is really nothing left to do but swing in and save the day. I'm a huge Christopher Brookmyre fan and have absolutely loved the last four books, but this one left me quite bored by the end. The character definition and devious plot are as well-crafted as ever, but the book never really gets going. A shame really. Still, go read all the others as they are excellent and should all be made into movies.....