Complicity

This is a book I really loved. Imagine a newsman, a chain smoking Scottish newspaper reporter, who prays to Hunter Thompson as he zips along on speed. A guy addicted to computer games and the story. He has to get the story. In fact, his motto is, "Cover the Story" and he does it the way St. Hunter would have. I have just described Cameron Colley, a guy you're going to want to read about. When this story opens Cameron is getting a lot of disturbing calls from an anonymous source, who refuses to stay on the phone long enough to give him very much information, but the info Cameron is getting is pretty spooky as it's all about mysterious deaths and conspiracies, real late night radio talk show stuff, but Cameron is buying it. He needs more and he gets it. There is a lot going on in this book that I've read at least a dozen times over the years. In parts the tale is violent and squeamish, but it's always good, good enough for me to read again and again and that certainly ought to be good enough for you to read a least once. When it comes to suspense, Iain Banks is a master.

Cameron Colley is an Edinburgh-based journalist with a habit for speed (both drug and motion), an obsession for computer games, and a highly developed sense of moral outrage. As a journalist, he worships the patron of all gonzos, St. Hunter S. Thompson, and his righteous indignation is expressed in print as exposes on cheap liquor, defense boondoggles, and inept judges. Of course Cameron is not without sin--no self respecting protagonist could be--and his is an adulterous affair and an abuse of substances. But he is a likable enough rogue that it would be hard to suspect him of a string of grisly revenge murders against a host of wealthy capitalists and political powermongers. We, however, get to see the story from his point-of-view, and the police don't.Iain Banks is one of my favorite authors, someone I truly admire for his ability to switch between genres like a chameleon changes colors. Under Iain M. Banks, he writes adventure-based science fiction that not only entertains, but usually has a moral underpinning. Without the middle initial, his books are variously mystery, thriller, or mainstream, always good, always interesting. If Banks was not so popular with other readers, I would likely have created a biopage for him similar to the one I did for Jonathan Carroll. But Carroll is a cult writer while Banks has been recognized in England as one of their best and brightest by almost every body politic. The result is that he has quite a presence of fans available to keep his name on the net and his books out of the mid-list...To return to Complicity, it is a novel that is not without faults, although what one person might see as problematic another might have no difficulty with. For example, the beginning of each early chapter has a crime described in second person. Some people might be a little squeamish about phrases like "you hit him on the head with the tyre iron, and it sounds like egsshells cracking" (my words--this phrase doesn't actually appear). The sexual references are not for prudes, and, while not truly glorified, drug use is not condemned, and that does not sit well with some people either. For those with strong stomachs ant open minds, Complicity is a fine novel that is well worth your time.

This is a modern masterpiece and not just because Banks talks about the "highly controversial" topic of masturbation and graphic sex, but because it's so blinkin' good; approaches issues and points in a manner so as they're not in there for the sake of it. He actually wants them in there. His pen leaks them, rather than scrawls them dispassionately. Or his keyboard, as the case may well be.Which brings to another point: never before has the geekdom of video-games (i.e. Despot) been so brilliantly juxtaposed with a hip personality (Colley is undoubtedly hip, oh yes). It's mindblowing how he managed to pull it off and those flashbacks of his childhood: incredible.It should be in every bedside table in every hotel across the globe. Forget the Bible. It's old hat. Enter ... dum dum dum ..... COMPLICITY.

The fact that Iain Banks isn't more widely read in this country is almost criminal and this book just emphasizes how wrong that is. Easily one of the best books of its' year, of any year, for that matter, at first glance it seems to be a standard thriller/mystery, with the unlikable (somewhat) journalist at its core, and some weird murders. But Banks spins a plot that's so knotty you miss the obvious, like the best mysteries the solution makes you go "Why didn't I see that?" Plus his command of the language is heads and shoulders above anyone else around, the characters seem to have more than three dimensions, the flashbacks literally tingle with realism, you don't read this story as much as you're drawn into it. Fortunately it's fairly short, or you'll find yourself neglecting family and friends trying to finish it in one sitting. It's quite possible. And yes, there are some brutal moments but the scary part of it is that it's nothing worse than you'll have read in your local newspaper. And the ending is nigh perfect, as good as they come. Having read Banks' science-fiction books I wasn't sure what to expect from his "regular" fiction but except that one genre has spaceships and ray guns, there's little difference, it's the same top quality. Read anything with this guy's name on it and harass the publishers until we get more of this guy's book in this country. You'll be glad for it.

The first non SF Banks book I read, it contains all the ingredients of a classic thriller; Corruption, several brutal murders, and a flawed central character with a sense of alienation. In common with his other work, of both genres, it illuminates the dark side of peoples's consciousness whilst exploring their emmotional frailties. Unique humour, blended with tragic and macabre circumstances, has become a hallmark of Banks' work. Comic highlights include the apparent house break-in, resembling the previous murders, that transpires to be Cameron Collie's on-going sado-masochistic relationship with his friend's wife, and throughout the novel his attitudes to just about everyone he meets. The eventual unmasking of the killer is both shocking and thought provoking and leads to a gripping conclusion that leaves the reader feeling both entertained and satisfied.