After finishing Devil May Care, I decided that I needed to read more of Sebastian Faulks work, so I plumped for ‘Engleby’ first. After finishing it late last night, I’m glad I did – it is an absolute corker of a book.

Engleby is the story of a man who wins scholarships to first a public school, and then a top university but never really ‘fits in’ at either place. Eventually taking a career in journalism, he finally seems to settle down – until his only, distant relationship at university, comes back to haunt him.

The main character is the narrator of the story, and Faulks skillfully blends his unreliable story (maybe influenced by drugs, drink and psychosis) with the diary entries from the object of his obsession.

Faulks writes with a great style, Mike Engleby is a dark, obsessive man with a great sense of humour and razor sharp intellect. By the end of the story, you wonder who really is the damaged character in the story – and until the last page, you are never quite sure of what really happened.

Excellent book – from an brilliant writer, I’m going to buy Birdsong next and I’ll update when I’ve given that a read.