Lunch anyone????

I have to warn you before I start telling you about the latest one I read. It is a bit gory and gruesome!! Funny, humane and yet ever so slightly freaky... you would think all of the above would not mix but they do in this one.


### SPOILER ALERT ###


The Flesh House - Stuart MacBride
The best thing about this one was that I had no idea where it was going or who was going to be the Bad Guy in the end. there were quite a few red herrings along the way but they are so obviously set up as being a red herring that I did not fall for any of them (hurrah for me!). Yet for all my feeling all good about myself I still had no idea until the very end about who actually was the killer. That, in my book is a good thing!!
The story is basically about someone killing people and the people trying to catch him. The killer is as important to the storyline as the other characters, maybe even more important. You get to know the characters and they all have their own issues to resolve and live through. All these lives get thrown at you and they all work together to bring the story to its gruesome conclusion. There are several "familiar faces" character wise: the grumpy bully of a boss, the out of town big boss, the Buddy, the obligatory Ex-Girlfriend, The Reporter friend, the Ballbreaker Officer and the Red Herring Criminal. Last but not least there is our hero, the plodding cop with an edge of cleverness about him: Logan MacRae. All the characters work together on the investigation and you get to know each of them as the investigation develops. Yet you never really feel that they take over the story, most of what you find out about them goes towards building their character or justifying their actions. The murders are always centre stage and not just because they are soooooo gruesome and brutal but they serve to develop the plot. I am not going to give away too much about the plot but basically it is just story about someone killing people. You have no idea why he has selected these people or why the killer does what he does. It is not until the very last chapters that you actually find out who it is and why all of it is going on. The book does not really end with catching the killer putting him behind bars and all the policemen living happily ever after and that is a good thing. With all the graft and grit in the story a "happy" nicely wrapped up ending would not feel right. You are sort of left as the end is nigh so to day. They have just figured it all out and are working at getting the bad guy and then it stops. The main guy is there, the killer is there, there's a good helping of blood and drama and then it stops. You then get a gap of six months and the last bit of the tale is told. I can honestly say that the end is one of the best "reveals" I have ever had the joy to experience in a crime book. The best thing is that even when you think all is revealed and the loose ends are tied up there is one more sucker punch the book throws at you (I dare you to read the last 3 pages and not go: "OH MY GOD!!!").
Yet for all its gruesomeness it is a story with lots of laughs. The characters have a great dose of cynicism and black humour about them and it manages to get them through life and the investigation. They joke about, get drunk, punch each other's lights out, let off steam and live their lives basically whilst doing this difficult job of catching the bad guys. The book has got a great pace and makes you want to read on and on. I read a third of the book in one evening so that tells you a little bit about how well it flows. It is really well structured and set up and the balance between the Evil of the killer and the humour and humanity of the other characters works really well.


Title: The Flesh House
Author: Stuart MacBride
Harper
595 pages
ISBN 978-0-00-724455-3


Books bought: 0
Books to be read: 67

Next up... a ghost story one.