I just couldn't get behind this book. The narrator is severely unlikeable and I can't stand the narration. I just couldn't do this one. Maybe another Banks book is bette suited for me. I got to about 40 pages in before giving up on this.

So violent. So good. ( )

Decent. Resolution was a little shaky, but I liked the variation between persons in narration. ( )

Incredibly raw and kind of breathtaking as you start to realize what's going on, this is put together in a way that initially seems kind of slapdash but Banks has a genius for returning to what seemed like trivial incidents and just building and building on them. I think the ending is a bit of an eye-roller, but this is still remarkable. ( )

Really good thriller, after Canal Dreams it rekindled my faith in the author. I guess it all comes across more believable when it's set in Scotland and not fictional future Panama. Even if the plot itself isn't all that much, the characters are meaty and memorable (even if most of them are stereotype caricatures).

...and I want to play Despot. ( )