On holiday I read
Pandaemonium by Christopher Brookmyre (Thanks DG for pointing me towards him!) and World War Z by Max Brooks (read it a few years back and loved it).
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:15, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

I love Brookmyre's stuff
not read that one though
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:16, Reply)

School trip versus demons
A good read, he nails the school pupil dynamics rather well i feel.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:19, Reply)

I really enjoyed that one. I love his stuff - the Darcourt sequel (forgotten the title) was particularly good.

(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:21, Reply)

I've got Snowball In Hell
That's got Darcourt in it, and was bloody good.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:27, Reply)

It's a trilogy.
A big boy did it and ran away
The sacred art of stealing
A snowball in hell.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:47, Reply)

You are quite right. I read the first one so long ago I had forgotten it existed.

(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:50, Reply)

It's a close thing
but I think those three are his best.

It's easy to see it as not entirely a trilogy, being fair, as Ray Ashe is in the first and not really the others and Zal Innes only appears in the second. And as a character, Innes is fucking suberb. Although Darcourt is something else.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:53, Reply)

Zal's in the 3rd.
It's the first one of his I read (didn't realise it was a trilogy, DG just showed me the book when I was at his, and I drunkenly ordered it from Amazon a minute later).
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 12:01, Reply)

Sorry, I meant "only appears for the first time in the second"
terrible, not making meanings clear on the internet. I shall spank myself .. ;)
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 12:10, Reply)

The Jack Parlabane ones were good.

(lkjshaglkasjdhglkhjz lkcvl; g;aodh;owih, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 12:03, Reply)

sounds good
I'll seek it out
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:22, Reply)

If you like Brookmyre
you'll be disappointed by pandaemonium. it's got the odd good character and some classic lines but it's tired and he seems to be writing by his own numbers at times. Plus the plot is disappointing, to say the least.

i mean, I enjoyed it, but it's not even in the same league as the Darcourt/Innes/Di Xavia trilogy or the Parlabane stuff.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:46, Reply)

I've read the Parlabane stuff
and some stand alone ones. I need to check out the others you mention.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:47, Reply)

Start with "A big boy did it.."
Then the other two in the trilogy. Also "all fun and games until somebody loses an eye" is excellent.

have you read all the Parlabane ones?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:49, Reply)

I've read the oil rig one, the house one with the cannibalism and the one with the medium
I struggle with the names because I read a load of his books close together and they are random.

I will do as you suggest, thanks
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:54, Reply)

Oil rig is "one fine day in the middle of the night" I think
canniablism on is "be my enemy" and the medium one is "attack of the unsinkable rubber ducks"

Those are the later ones. "boiling a frog" is the first one I think (and possibly his first novel) and "quite ugly one morning" ... the other parlabane one is "country of the blind" which is brilliant.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 11:59, Reply)

I've also read A tale etched in blood and hard black pencil
maybe one other as well...
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 12:02, Reply)

"not the end of the world" is also excellent.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 14 Sep 2010, 12:12, Reply)