Christopher Brookmyre - Pandaemonium

• Kelly Apter
• 18 August 2009

It had to happen sometime. Over the course of 12 books, Christopher Brookmyre has maintained his ability to engage, amuse, appal (in a good way) and keep us guessing to the last line. But, unless great swathes of expositional prose about the laws of physics float your boat, then Pandaemonium heralds the first Brookmyre disappointment. Or at least half of it does. When he sheds the science geek coat, and enters the world of a group of teenagers dealing with the death of two classmates, he’s cooking with propane gas.

Perfectly capturing the internal politics of high school, the rampaging hormones and musical obsessions, Brookmyre has clearly forgotten none of the nuances of adolescent life. Also on the upside, he gives religion another good kicking, sorry, rational analysis. The rest, although based on strong conjecture, comes across as shoot ‘em up science fiction, which has a far more niche market than Brookmyre’s other highly accessible work.

(Little, Brown)