Really enjoyed this. But keep mixing it up with another Iain Banks I read roughly at the same time.

iain banks' sci-fi is fabulously complex and his thrillers can feel almost ostentatiously stripped-down. this is one of the latter. rather good, although rather junior league joyce carol oates as well. specifically j.c. oates under her thriller pseudonym, rosamund smith... he shares the same interest in doubles and obsessions and two characters who reflect each other's passions and weaknesses. there are also some unsurprisingly sharp critiques of materialism and various other classic and modern

Complicity is my second Banks novel, after The Wasp Factory. Both are 5 star reads, the main reason being that Banks is a captivating storyteller capable of evoking sympathy when the reader may not necessarily feel comfortable with the feeling. If life had not regularly intruded, then I would have happily and easily read this book in one sitting. The book was unpredicatble. I was meerly guessing until approximately two-thirds through, rather far into the book when compared to what I am used to.

Sex and violence says Manny. An inferior anti-Thatcherite fantasy says Paul.And I say….It is about hopes and disappointments, unrequited love, bravery and cowardice. Technically, it’s a quintessentially modern English novel. There are two stories travelling at once. Neither of them is told chronologically – heaven forbid we should start at the beginning and end at the end, too passe. We do indeed have exposed sex, unexpurgated violence and a Thatcherite setting. But as well as this:‘…because I h...

Isn't it nice to read a novel where you're familiar with the landscape? Iain Banks makes me feel like I've come home with his descriptions of Edinburgh, the A9, Inchmickery and the Grassmarket and he even chucks in throw-away comments about places like Carnoustie (carousing on a computer spell check). This will mean nowt to those of you who've not been to Scotland but all of the places and many of the landscape props described by Banks are real, accurately described and correct in their geograph...

Novels. Doncha just love them! This one was Vincent-Price-in-Theatre-of-Blood (ha ha - you worm!) crossed with the collected Marxism Today editorials of the 1980s crossed with Carry On Camping. Just, in fact, like Jonathan Coe's What a Carve Up! which came out around the same time, like when Hollywood comes out with two suspiciously similar movies at once (A Bug's Life & Antz, Capote and Infamous). I didn’t care for it and I can't think it would stand up these days. But there should be more p...

I spent the first two thirds of this book hating it. It was a mystery thriller and I had already worked out who had done it and why they had done it, and was just painfully keeping going because I couldn’t believe something could be so obvious. Suddenly near to the end , I realized it wasn’t a mystery thriller, but was a moral tale, a political statement, and a criticism of modern society, and the whole thing had a significance I hadn’t expected. It wasn’t the best book I have read, and I wouldn...

"Complicity": the clue's in the title. To what extent are we complicit in what happens to us? This is an atmospheric, compelling, intelligent Scottish crime thriller that - like the best genre fiction - also has plenty to say on our messed up world and the human condition. I raced through this satisfying story of how dysfunctional local journalist Cameron Colley may have triggered a series of horrific revenge incidents (murder, torture etc.). The two narrative voices kept this tale tense and int...

An entertaining, well written crime thriller that is critical of modern society, it’s politics, greed and overall morality. Journalist, Cameron Colley gets a lead into what promises to be a big story, only to find himself under suspicion by the police for being a serial killer. Cameron, via his tip off leads, happens to be near the site of a number of murders. What further implicates him is that the murders are of the type of people Cameron openly criticises in his articles.Here is an example of...

"Oh God help me here on the island of the dead with the cries of the tormented, here with the angel of death and the acrid stench of excrement and carrion taking me back in the darkness and the pale fawn light to the place I never wanted to go back to, the man-made earthly black hell and the human scrap yard kilometres long. Here down amongst the dead men, midst-ways with the torn-souled and their wild, inhuman screams; here with the ferryman, the boatman, my eyes covered and my brains scramb

The first book I read by Banks - chosen foremostly due to its paperback exterior, and also by randomly picking it from the lending library shelf. And I must admit retrospectively that the book chose me!Set in a real place in Scotland - also the author's homeland - I could easily picture the surroundings thanks to Banks' descriptive imagery. He skillfully entwines interesting plots such as crime, politics and sex with sub-plots such as drug use and computer games to create a rich read that leaves...

This is just the sort of thing I expect from Banks - a weird little story focused on a small group of people, many of whom aren't even that likeable, but you get sucked in and it's hard to stop reading as you just need to find out what the hell is going on!We follow Cameron Colley, a journalist with a mild drug, drink and gaming habit. He doesn't actually seem to do much work, but runs around after an anonymous source called Archer, who is hinting at links between the deaths of Nuclear scientist...

Banks's simple yet descriptive imagery made this book increasingly addictive as I read through the chapters. A wee confusing at first because Banks alternates chapters and subject of narration to switch between the two main characters: the murderer and the journalist. At one point he merges the style in order to confuse the reader and make you think the journalist is a highly probable suspect. Especially intriguing was the contrast between the explicit sexual scenes and the detailed torturing an...

This is the Iain Banks I like best. A clever plot, well executed with a likeable protagonist. The second-person narrative to describe the murders is a clever device that makes the reader complicit in the crimes and helps Banks to defer identifying the murderer until it was absolutely necessary.Masterful storytelling.

Too much violence, sex and profanity but otherwise a great job of writing. Very violent, thriller. Gonzo journalist, pathological killer are intertwined in this story. The author is a good writer but way to much profanity and the details of the violence and sex was over the top.

The most masterful quality of Iain Banks' novel titled Complicity is its use of first and second person narration. Cameron Colley is a drug abusing journalist who is barely making it and is betting his reputation on a mysterious source giving information on a series of murders from five years ago. We read his story through his eyes, in first person. Alternately we are vicariously led by second person narration through a series of murders and humiliation assaults in present day London. These two

An extremely superior piece of sex and violence. You know, like Hamlet or the Duchess of Malfi or something, but more explicit. Totally unputdownable.

Iain Banks writes how I wish I were able. I never find myself forgetting them or whatat happened in them because I'm truly within them while reading.

4 stars to this smart, well-written novel by Iain Banks. Hell, it hurts me not to give it even a 4.5 besides not listing it among my favourites, but I have my reasons for that.To start with, 'Complicity' is a psychological thriller set in Scotland & its protagonist Cameron Colley is an Edinburgh-based journalist. When he writes a pro-leftist piece criticising a few right-wing politicians in it & the same politicians start turning up dead in mysterious circumstances, Colley is unable to provide a...

****Over the last 30 years, Scotland has produced several eclectic bands who have left some influential traces in the general evolution of rock music: The Jesus and Mary Chain; Primal Scream; Cocteau Twins; Belle and Sebastien; even Franz Ferdinand. When I first approached Banks with this novel, I wondered whether the same eclecticism existed in contemporary Scottish literature. I started to feel my ears (and eyes) pricking up when his main protagonist, Gonzo journalist Cameron Colley, used a Pi...

Cameron Colley is a 30-ish Scottish journalist with liberal leanings, a tendency to binge on alcohol and other (illicit) stimulants, and an ongoing clandestine relationship with his childhood sweetheart Yvonne. Unfortunately for Cameron, Yvonne is married to their mutual friend William. A more serious problem is presented by the exploits of a Dexter-like serial killer, who is engaged in a spree of execution-style killings of prominent business leaders and corrupt politicians for which he is syst...

This is the first book in ages I've felt a real compulsion to read and finish, which is not to say it's necessarily better than the last few books I've read, just that it's the kind of book that's utterly compelling.I loved particularly the use of first and second person perspectives and the switching between them, used particularly deftly right at the end of the book. I also loved how well balanced the book was, as a reader you really have no idea what's going on, you know you have no idea what...

Currently reading a succession of Iain Banks novels (not his sci fi yet). Great writer. Why did I not discover him before? So far I've read Stonemouth, good not great. Whit and Complicity great, ingenious. Solid plots, narrative I feel like reading aloud. Just started The Crow Road. So far so interesting.

The point is, there is no feasible excuse for what are, for what we have made of ourselves. We have chosen to put profits before people, money before morality, dividends before decency, fanaticism before fairness, and our own trivial comforts before the unspeakable agonies of othersThis book revolves around Cameron Colley an Edinburgh journalist. Colley is not a particularly nice bloke, he smokes too much, drinks too much, takes hard drugs, is addicted to computer games and is cuckolding one of

I really wanted to like this. I really did. It had interesting characters, good plot, gratuitous sex and violence. But I couldn't get into it. The characters were developed but not likable. I didn't care what happened to them. The writing style just didn't vibe with me. It was a difficult book to get through and I couldn't find much depth or anything of real interest to me. Unfortunate, because the premise sounded good.

This is only the second Banks novel I've read - I'm late to the party here. A friend of mine recently sent me "The Crow Road" as a gift, and I really enjoyed it, so when I spotted this in a charity shop, I thought I'd give it a go.I won't make this lengthier than it needs to be. It's blindingly obvious that Banks was extraordinarily talented. Here, he portrays a journalist with a complex and messy life, who inadvertently gets embroiled in some grisly murders of high-profile people. He gets stitc...

Iain Banks is one of my favourite authors and this book did not disappoint - definitely worth a read!!

A decent enough mystery, but it has pacing issues. Things don't really start to happen until halfway through, and the setup isn't enough to keep you interested until that point. Pretty good once it gets going, though.

You can definitely tell that this is one of Banks' early(ish) works - the dark thread which runs through it - the drugs, sex and general disgust with the human condition - is so prevalent that at times you could be reading Irvine Welsh. Solid plot - a good thriller with a lot to say about the state of the world (depressingly applicable to today's society despite it being written in 1993). Engaging characters - couldn't help but like the protagonist though I think he's actually kind of a dick, cl...

‘I’ve been out-machoing men and bedding women with that story for twenty years.’This novel was certainly brought to us by the success of Wasp Factory. There is its celebrated violence, crude sex, and lots of illegal substances. There is a conspiracy of bad avaricious men. There is a murderer who's got very elaborate ways of eliminating those bad men (nope, not AS elaborate as those of Nesbo's characters, but getting close). There is a sloppy and reckless journalist who is supposed to give a fuck...