Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

This has echoes of Martin Amis's "Money" in it's presentation of a truly vile lead character: Bruce Robertson, is a scheming,racist, sexist and bigoted Detective Sergeant, investigating the murder of a black man outside a nightclub. Not that he has much time for solving crime; the constant bouts of: heavy drinking, porn, cocaine abuse, skiving work and his serial philandering occupy most of this. But, this is Welsh and you wouldn't expect deities and social heirs and graces.

There's plenty of twists in this to keep the reader entertained, and Welsh includes some typically humourous bits. However, the real let down for me was, the cliched and one dimensional characters. This combined with the predictably contrived conclusion and a book that outstays it's welcome by a good 50 pages or so.

Nevertheless, if you can stomach some of the more gruesome parts, and are a fan of Welsh's gritty, inner city, drug addled realism, you're in for a sleazy, but thrilling insight into a truly disturbed mind.