I’d not read any Christopher Brookmyre before, although he seems to be getting something of a push from his publisher at the moment, with reissued covers for his novels, and a new hardback also out. I’ve read comparisons of him with Carl Hiaasen, but on this reading, I wouldn’t place him quite on that level yet.
This book features a very normal Glaswegian housewife in her forties joining a strange undercover bunch of “security experts” as they search for her missing son. He’s developed some kind of weapon that a lot of people are after.
The book jumps around James Bond-style, with helicopters and gadgets. Much of the action takes place in France, and it’s all great fun.
The only problem is that it’s so grounded away from reality that you just go along for the ride rather than look for parallels in society. The books of Hiaasen, for example, will always feature greedy property developers or insurance scam artists – people you can easily identify with.
I may well give another title a go at some point.