Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

intelligent, clever, witty, dark....blummin' good read

Customer Rating:

what amazes me about Mr Welsh is that his writing skills are so diverse, he can adapt to such a variety of writing styles and he does them to perfection. This book did have its slow moments, but its only because Irvine wants you to understand the Characters, i love the way he uses people from his other books over and over, so you almost build a bond with them - i just wish I'd now read them in order...! Crime is powerful, full of dark pasts and magical moments. I would recomend this to anyone.

Has Irvine been reading Will Self?

Customer Rating:

I was quite enjoying this latest offering from Welsh, although it is by no means as well-written, or as "clever" as his previous novels. However, I soon began to have this feeling of deja vu...bloke on holiday with significant other and "his" children (in this case not in the physical sense, although the children, including the main character's own childhood self, are very much present and with us throughout)...bloke inadvertently gets into bother because of a bad habit...plot thickens..main character leaves other half and goes on long journey and discovers dodgy paedo network. Of course! This is the plot of Will Self's latest novel, The Butt. I cannot believe the audacity! this aside, "Crime" is in any case a disappointing departure from Welsh's usual style; it is also, in places, really shabbily written, with syntax errors, and out and out grammatical mistakes all the way through. It's almost as if he has thought "Baws tae this, I hae tae dae anither book cause o me contract, but it disnae hae tae be any good because folks'll buy this yin anyway". In fact this is what I, and it seems many other Welsh fans have done, buying it simply because it is the eagerly-awaited new novel by the famous Irvine Welsh (and our memories jogged perhaps by the showing of TRainspotting on Film4..oh the joys of the Capitalist Machine!) It's my own fault; I normally take the time to read the first couple of pages at least, and also passages throughout a book before deciding whether it is worth buying, but in this case, the reputation of the author has ensured that the sale is made, even if you don't so much as read the back cover or the opening page. In Welsh's defence, the subject of "nonces" cannot be avoided in this current climate, with certain cases in our faces all summer, however, the similarities in actual storyline are far too many to be coincidence. SHAME ON YOU.

Dull and overwritten.	Customer Rating:
I've always believed the thriller/crime novel was beyond the British. This one by Welsh confirms my belief. Dull! Overwritten! I got up to about page 90 or 100 and tossed it. Why can't the Brits leave it to the Americans and concentrate on TV Soaps and reality shows?

Surprised at the negativity, to be honest.....

Customer Rating:

I have to say that I was rather surprised to see the less than complementary reviews about this book. Yes, perhaps it is a departure from his normal writings, but this novel retains enough of Mr Welsh's innovative style and dark humour to leave fans satisfied. I thought it was an excellent novel that shows maturity and hope for more, and quickly. Actually, what I would really like to read is a prequel to "Filth", so if you don't mind....

Straight Up and Down

Customer Rating:

I doubt this review will give away much more than you can infer from the others, least I hope it won't. As a review above says, it's a book I found difficult to put down - at first for the promising start: picking up the story of a previous Welsh acquaintance, and one whose previous description was from a mouth tainted by madness. The setting held much intrigue, also. But by the end I couldn't put it down for another, far worse reason. Where were the twists? Even mild ones? Get to the end quick to reveal what's been building up then: a Massive twist... Nope. Nothing. It's pretty well put - I enjoy Welsh's way of telling a story - unfortunately there really wasn't one. He's Good. They're Bad. He Wins. The characters he meets are as they first appear, the situation escalates but doesn't deviate. The three (or so) chapters of subplot were the most intricate, believable part of the book - certainly compared to Ray's 'emotional journey'. I hope, as mentioned above, Welsh was aiming for pulp-fiction. Cos this is it.