To have the ability to convey feelings the way he did either suggests maybe his own past trauma or an incredibly special talent to relate to that level of loss on that deep of a level. A lot of his descriptive writing is highly original but there are also some familiar references too, such as the difficulty in locating the toilets in a Wetherspoon's pub, which is a conundrum I'm sure we've all faced at some point. The reason the book is a three star is because it just tried to do too much, the plot itself became a little lost and there seemed almost too much to it. I’m very happy that my wife is also a fan of Boyle’s because I certainly said “Hey, can I read you this one part? When Valium addict Felix McAveety’s best friend Marina is found murdered in the local park, he goes looking for answers to questions that he quickly forgets.

I loved Felix’s interactions with the suspects as well as those close to him that he would come to find he couldn’t trust completely either. star review, a Chortle critic found that the author created a realistic environment, with "expressive, almost poetic, descriptions of Glasgow life in all its forms" and "sympathy towards his characters" that the reader will share. Although the central character of Felix acts as the narrator it is nigh on impossible to read his stream of consciousness and interior monologue without hearing the voice of Frankie Boyle in your head. In this light his tanned, bloated head looked not unlike a haunted paper bag, his glazed eyes fixed on some bleak internal horizon.I found this an entertaining eclectic romp, although the crime story is just the a vague excuse for an outline. Thanks for the advanced copy I was really looking forward to reading this as I am a big Frankie Boyle fan.

The Scotsman 's Stuart Kelly said that the name Felix, meaning "happy" or "lucky", is chosen because Felix is neither, though he is good-hearted; as Felix is a Catholic, it could be a reference to felix culpa—the positive outcomes of the fall of man. I have a suspicion that there will be a strong correlation between people's attitude towards Frankie Boyle in general and their opinion of this book.Although the book is marketed as a crime novel, I’d say it’s more philosophical in nature with the occasional plot point - normally this would irritate me, but his writing is so sharp and interesting that I actually enjoyed the meandering pace. Baskerville, its crime fiction and thriller imprint, announced that Meantime would be one of its first major titles at its 2022 launch.

I like as well that he's not gone with a straight detective/crime type story, I don't know how well that would work with the comedy, but this book is extremely weird in how it flows, how it's structured, the events and characters.

There is a large cast of characters, each one having their own idiosyncrasies and each one of them is memorable for some reason or other. Occasionally they succeed in translating their skills into the new medium, but far too often I find myself disappointed and wishing they had stuck to their day job. Starts off the funniest noir - like a Glaswegian Big Lebowski - then takes you somewhere suddenly heartbreaking . The next day, Mount tells Felix that while running a campaigning magazine he was sent a large amount of classified information.

Nevertheless, I felt that they were throwing plot twists quite fast and accelerating the story to a pace we'd not met before, almost as if there was a challenge to finish the book soon and squeeze it all in! It's a crime thriller but it very much reflects Boyle's previous tv and stand up work, in that it's not your conventional crime thriller. Comparisons of this book to Trainspotting is lazy and disingenuous and disregard all reviews and opinions who make this lazy comparison. I gave up about page 150 when the plot had started to devolve past my ability to follow, even allowing for the narrator’s drug- addled brain.It is probably filled with some of the most colourful and unique descriptions of people and places that I have ever read – a kind of acid trip playing out on the page – and yet it’s surprisingly effective. When his friend, Marina, is found murdered in a local park, drug addict Felix McAveety finds himself becoming an amateur private detective as he seeks not only to clear himself of suspicion, but also to track down who was really responsible.