Product Description

An auctioneer by profession, Rilke is an acknowledged expert in antiques but also considers himself something of an expert in many other fields.

When he comes upon a hidden collection of violent, and highly disturbing, erotic photographs, Rilke feels compelled to unearth more about the deceased owner who coveted them. What follows is a compulsive journey of discovery, decadence and deviousness.

With echoes of the great novels of Hammett and Chandler, and yet in a voice very much her own, Louise Welsh has produced a glittering debut with the widest appeal; and in her hero, Rilke, one of the most interesting characters in contemporary fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137905 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 294 pages

The Sunday Times
One of the most intriguing assured and unputdownable debuts to come out of Scotland in recent years.

The Times
Astonishingly this is a first novel, catapulting Welsh straight into the superstar league, while establishing Rilke as a classic original.

The Independent
The Cutting Room is a hugely commendable debut, assured and memorable. Crime fiction may have its prize-winner at last.

Customer Reviews

A Good Read!
An auctioneer is called to a house clearing to be told by the old lady that there are items in the attic which are 'sensitive' and need to be handled by him alone. Upon finding some seedy material he becomes engrossed in its contents which leads him into the world of pornography, snuff films etc. Being a homosexual himself, we cross paths with his dalliances with youger men met in the park, seen at a window which are a little unbelievable. I flew through this book and found it totally engrossing, however I did find that I could skip past several pages as they were meaningless to the story and she did drone on a little about the descriptions of things, being over descriptive which lost its appeal. I was a little disappointed at the ending and when he rushed to ann maries house and the person was named, I didnt know who it was? and had to spend a minute thinking as he took up all the book in one way and a line in another way!

disappointing!
I normally love books set in contemporary Scotland, big fan of Irvine Welsh, James Kelman etc. So was expecting good things after several people recommended this book to me. While it was an easy and quick read, I couldn't help but feeling cheated at the end. I felt the majority of the carachterisation was flat, one-dimensional and stereotypical. The ending was slightly unsatisfactory after the build-up before hand. Most of all, however, is that as a Glaswegian, I couldn't help but cringe every couple of pages at Welsh's waxing lyrical about the city ,obviously almost all her knowledge of the city is centred around the "bohemian" west-end with so many patronising, smug and quite frankly irritating little in-references and nods to places she obviously knows, whereas the rest of the city ie the so-called seedy underbelly of Glasgow is only touched upon in the vaguest sense. Either she has made it up completely or has no idea what she is talking about! Like some of her other work, it seems laboured at points in an attempt to shock or catch the reader off guard, with many scenes unnessecary or innapropriate to the plot. Whereas Irvine Welsh has a natural flair for the vernacular and frame of mind of the subjects of his novels (and an obvious understanding of where they're from! Research is always good, Louise!), the contrast between the 'straight' style of the narrative and the laboured attempts at Scottish slang when some carachters interact seems laboured and sits uneasily,as if she is obviously thinking more of a market outside of Scotland than the emotive heart of the story and its players. Like i said, not a bad book by any means, very readable but equally disappointing. Her latest, the Bullet Trick is better by far, but I would suggest it still suffers from many of the same failings aforementioned here, although not to the same extent.

Awful Awful Awful
I like most books, but I hated this one. The writing is so awkward in places, I was cringing. The sex scenes are written by someone desperate to show they know what they are talking about. First book and hopefully no more to come from Lousie Welsh.