Christopher Brookmyre

Well, no one I know from uni has kids, so I doubt they're hanging around these parts. Aitch, I sometimes see him on Scotsport (or whatever the hell they call it these days) when I'm home. I always think, he's just the same...

let's never, ever find out, eh, pruneface?

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i went to uni with him and DID keep in touch, har har har... a lovely bloke imo.

I'm another fan although I only discovered him a couple of years ago.

There was one I really couldn't get into, think it was the one mainly set in the school. I have just read A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away (if that's the one about the guy whose old uni friend becomes an international terrorist -sorry, nappy brain means I can't remember very much!).

Will hunt down The Sacred Art of Stealing" next time I'm in town.

I have read a couple of Carl Hiassen books, found them good, quite funny but a bit samey.

I went to university with Chris Brookmyre. Sadly, I haven't stayed in touch with him. All my uni firends and I are now, of course, furious at his success!

But I do love the books esp Sacred Art of Stealing.

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I, too, am a huge fan of Christopher Brookmyre - and I also really like Carl Hiaasen. I've often suggested him to others who like Brookmyre because it seems to me that I like them both for similar reasons.

"The Sacred Art of Stealing" is the bank robber one. My dh loves it because of the references to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (the robbers are all dressed in the sort of Pierrot style of the band's guitarist Zal Cleminson). Another real favourite of mine was "All fun and games until somebody loses an eye". It also has a bit of romance in it as well as a kick-ass housewife-turned-international vigilante.

Brilliant titles.

The Boris Akunin thing is new to me too, I'm afraid, so I'm not sure which book the first one is.

The Guardian absolutely raved about them though.....www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/sep/19/russia.books

Here's teh link.

I was trying to think of Hiassen's name as I heard him mentioned in the same breath as Brookmyre. I bought two of his and can't get into either one of them.

The only problem I have with Brookmyre books now is that I always see the heroe as James Nesbitt and hear him speaking with a soft Irish burr! Completely the wrong nationality, but hey ho!

And I always laugh out loud at Brookmyre books. They're so darned clever!

"One fine day" is set in the area I grew up in and it also came out just before our school reunion (which I was dreading)...
The chapter where the policeman arrives on the rig in his pyjamas and slippers had me in hysterical laughter - the can't- breathe- any -more type.
Has anyone read "Boiling a Frog"? or "A big boy did it and ran away' ?
"Quite ugly one morning" is excellent.

Squilly,
The oil rig one is "one fine day in the middle of the night" - where the school reunion is infiltrated by terrorists and it all goes a bit Rambo meets Friends Reunited!!
Honestly, "A tale etched in Blood" made me laugh so much - the going to B&Q for acid to disssolve the bodies.....
Haven't read any Boris Akunin; sounds intriguing though. What one would you start with?
Carl Hiassen is often mentioned in the same lists as Brookmyre but I tried one and just couldn't get into it.

I love them all. They're hard, fast paced and totally gripping. I think my fave was the one on the oil rig (I'm not great with book titles!) though I loved the one with the computer game guy too...

I can't think of who else I'd recommend as I haven't found anyone like him and I read like a drain.

I'm currently reading Boris Akunin, which is detective based and quite interesting. His books are set in Tsarist Russia, so they're a bit oldy-worldy, but they're clever little books that hook you in and paint beautiful pictures of people and circumstances that you can really relate to.

I'll be keeping an eye on the thread, though, just in case anyone has any alternatives!

I loved "One Fine day in the Middle of the Night" and ooh, the one about the Dada bank robbers; it has a slight romance that I liked. The new one, "attack of the Unsinkable Rubber ducks" is good and "A tale etched in blood and HB pencil" was laugh out loud funny.
I agree that some are better paced and grip you more than others but I generally like his stuff and have read most of it.
Have you tried any Denise Mina? She's not madcap at all but her books are also very well plotted and keep you gripped.