Synopses & Reviews
A rollicking, witty novel by the author
The Guardian has called "the next star of the genre...[who writes in] the sassy, nasty, fast style of the Americans Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen."
Christopher Brookmyre's critically acclaimed, award-winning comic thrillers are a sensation in his native Britain. The Times (London) has praised his writing for being "perpetually in-your-face: sassy, irreverent, and stylish" with "a high-octane sense of the absurd," and the Literary Review has raved that his books are "very violent, very funny...comedy with a political edge, which you take gleefully in one gulp." Now he has his much-anticipated American debut with Not the End of the World, a fast and furious novel set in Los Angeles at the near side of the millennium, at a point when the world is about to spin out of control and maybe out of existence.
When an oceanic research vessel is discovered with all of its crew vanished, it sets off a chain of events that pulls Sergeant Larry Freeman of the L.A.P.D. out of the ho-hum assignment of overseeing the security for a B-movie film festival and headlong into a frenzied race to stop a terrorist plot. Along the way he must contend with aging porn stars, rabid evangelical Christians, and a mysterious Glaswegian photographer with an unknown agenda, all in a full-throttled and ultimately hysterical race against time.
Review
"[Brookmyre delivers] fast, just this side of out-of-control action, characters at once bizarre and sympathetic, and a cynical take on both sides of the law....Excruciating suspense." Booklist
Review
"What makes...Not the End of the World so enjoyable is how the author artfully force-feeds some disbelief suspension to his reader before taking them on a wild, no-punches-pulled ride....[C]ements Brookmyre as a budding literary talent." Philadelphia Weekly
Review
"[I]magine Day of the Locust updated and rewritten by Carl Hiaasen....A credible American debut. Let's hope it inspires someone Over Here to publish Brookmyre's earlier fiction." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Brookmyre's previous book may have achieved some success across the Atlantic, but this jumbled effort feels like it's been cobbled together from whatever trashy American TV shows are currently in British syndication." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A crazy off-the-wall roller coaster of a book that throws in not only the kitchen sink but the dresser, the best china, and the cook herself." The Irish Times
Review
"Perpetually in-your-face: sassy, irreverent, and stylish...[with] a high-octane sense of the absurd." The Times (London)
Review
"Very violent, very funny...comedy with a political edge, which you take gleefully in one gulp." Literary Review
Review
"Tremendous fun. Partly it's the black humor and snappy, streetwise style...partly the author's ability to make us empathize with almost anyone." The Guardian (London)
Synopsis
The Guardian (London) has called comic-thriller writer Christopher Brookmyre "the next star of the genre". His American debut, Not the End of the World, is a fast and furious novel set in Los Angeles at the near side of the millennium, at a point when the world is about to spin out of control -- and maybe out of existence. When an oceanic research vessel is discovered with all of its crew vanished, it sets off a chain of events that pulls Lt. Larry Freeman of the LAPD out of the ho-hum assignment of overseeing the security for a B-movie film festival and headlong into a frenzied race to stop a terrorist plot. Along the way he must contend with aging porn stars, rabid evangelical Christians, a mysterious Glaswegian photographer, and an unknown agenda, all in a frenzied -- and ultimately hysterical-race against time. "Imagine Day of the Locust updated and rewritten by Carl Hiaasen. ... Good solid fun." -- Kirkus Reviews "Perpetually in-your-face: sassy, irreverent, and stylish ... with] a high-octane sense of the absurd." -- The Times (London) "Very violent, very funny ... comedy with a political edge, which you take gleefully in one gulp." -- Literary Review
Synopsis
Crazed right-wing Christian terrorists are holding a boatload of Hollywood stars hostage. They're threatening to blow up the boat unless Maddy Witherson a notorious porn star and daughter of a U.S. senator commits suicide on national TV. A Scottish photographer who has a crush on Maddy races to stop the terrorists.