I look through Iain Banks's non-Culture novels because I enjoy his prose. For me, this psychological thriller was somewhat of a disappointment because of its stark torture, rape, and murder scenes. Cameron Colley, hard-boiled, flawed journalist narrator, is extremely well-portrayed. Flashbacks and plot twists in the story probe societal rot: corruption festers in the UK media, politics, and greed of the 1980s. Second-person killer sequences blur guilt lines. Banks indicts the reader's complicity in systemic sins, forcing confrontation with vigilante justice ethics. Banks' prose is very good, but the violence is overwhelming. This one is not recommended. 2/5 stars.
