Review : Irvine Welsh – Crime

I read this during my recent trip to Seattle, an impulse buy as I was waiting in Terminal 4.  As always, a tough book to read, with hardcore subject matter.

Welsh creates some good characters as he develops the story of a Scottish cop, holidaying in Florida with his fiancée as he tries to recover from a particularly unpleasant child murder case.

Our ‘hero’ Ray ends up embroiled in a protection case of his own, escorting a young vulnerable girl to safety after she finds herself in danger from paedophiles.

Whilst Welsh creates a good story, it isn’t a taut thriller that keeps the pages turning. You care about the characters, and so you keep going – but I did find it a little bit dry, no great twist, no great revelation.

I’ll keep hoping for Welsh, I like his style – but I think he needs to get back to his roots a little bit.