This is another murder-mystery story based in Scotland. While this book started off in a similar vein to The Crow Road, it turned out to be darker and more graphically violent. Part of the story was written from the viewpoint of a serial killer, in a very convincing manner. Part was written from the “normal” world of people reacting to the police investigation about the murders while going about their lives, and I found that equally convincing.
Overall, I found the book a lot more disturbing. At the same time, I also found it impossible to put down the book, and I *had* to finish it. Still not sure how to rate it, but obviously Iain Banks is able to spin a very compelling story.
If you haven’t read it, you should read one of Banks’ first works, The Wasp Factory.
Banks is my all time favorite author – I started on his SF and moved onto his contemporary works. Complicity was one of his best, and yes, most disturbing. Not one I recommend to first time Banks readers 🙂
Recently finished “Transition” which was amusingly classed among his SF works in America (and therefore published as Iain M Banks), and Contemporary works in Britain – the brits can obviously deal with a little thing like multiverse theory without needing to class it as Science Fiction 🙂