his best work in years!
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I loved this book. Having read all of Welsh's books he seems to scatter some truly exceptional works (Trainspotting, Marabou Stork Nightmares, Porno & Glue) amongst some fairly-good-but-not-quite-as-good works. Welsh to me sounds the most credible when he's speaking to us through the voice of the Scottish retrobate, I enjoyed every word and thought that came out of Ray's head because of the colourful and honest narratives that Welsh has always impressed us with. I think if he abandoned that premise and Ray Lennox ended up being an American instead of a Scot then we'd be comparing him left-right-and-centre to every thriller writer living and dead. With his Scottish 'voice' Welsh finds his muse, and this is what propels his work forward and gets us hooked. 'Crime' a clever and insightful work which handles the rather dark subject of a pedophile ring without dragging us too far below our comfort zones. The tension doesn't quite build to the point where I was biting my nails, but the story is structured very well and we are slowly given Lennox's story in small pieces so by the end of the book we know what situation has brought him to where he is. We shouldn't keep judging Welsh on Trainspotting or looking for his 'return to form', as to tell the truth a lot of you don't seem to want to believe it, even if he does give you something exceptional like 'Glue'. He can't keep on speaking to us in the voice of Renton his whole career, yes that was him at his most honest but to keep harking back to that will mean that you are missing the point and the probably not appreciating what you've got right here - a extremely enjoyable book that gives us a deeper understanding of human nature and how incidents shape our future actions not just by themselves but by our attitudes and reactions to them.
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Writing a thriller is harder than you think..
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Scottish cop recovering from paedophilia case and coke addiction goes on holiday to Florida only to find himself embroiled in yet more coke and paedophilia.
I guess this is Welsh's attempt at a mass market novel, and as such it does its best to bring together his own obsessions - the dark heart of Scotland and all that - and the conventions of the US thriller, i.e the lone outsider taking on a corrupt system.
That's all well and good, but the problem is that whatever it is that Elmore Leonard, Andrew Vachs and George Pelecanos can do, Welsh cannot: It's very difficult to write a good thriller, and whilst Welsh has all the classic elements in place - a revenge-based plot, tension, violence, light relief etc, it all seems laboured and dull: For instance, whereas the authors I've mentioned set their novels on their home turf as a way of authenticising their narratives, Welsh describes Florida as if he's trying to convince you he's been there on holiday.
An attempt by a 'serious' writer trying to take on the pulp fiction big boys and failing, then.
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who'd have thunk it
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irvine welsh writing a sensitive book with a redeptive ending! Now theres a thing. Of course there still plenty of much violence and body horror in there for all the old welsh fans, but this time around theres compassion sitting side by side with the rage. the ending of this book was such a revelation it had me in tear - as in weeping, and not with laughter.
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Disappointing, shoddy and out of his depth
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I was very disappointed with 'Crime.' Welsh has been off the boil for a while now, and I was hoping 'Crime' might be a return to form. The novel starts promisingly enough, but one soon senses Welsh is out of his depth in attempting both the Florida setting and the serious theme of child abuse. The real failure is the character of Tianna - the abused child screwed up copper Ray Lennox tries to save - she was wholly unbelievable and I was never convinced by her friendship with Lennox. Most of the dialogue between this couple was totally unconvincing - one sensed Welsh was really struggling with his subject. Likewise, the writing became increasingly sloppy, with a tendency to tell rather than show and an overall preferance for crude observations and generalisations. There were some promising moments, but 'Crime' has none of the black humour or gritty authenticity of Welsh's wonderful early work.
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Very Good
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Welsh has never let me down with a novel or short story, and he kept up the great work here. Any other author right now that seems to be putting out a lot of work has chucked out glorified novellas and called them novels. I really can't say a single bad thing about this book. It is a true mature novel. The character development was great. The writing itself was brilliant. Welsh created scenes that made you feel exactly how he wanted you to. If you want Trainspotting part 47 or Filth part 2 don't bother with this because it is completely different. I am not a guy who gives you the entire synopsis in a review, all I can say is that if you want a great, great book to spend some uncomfortable time with, this is one to get.
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