Christopher Brookmyre’s writing is fresh, sharp and funny in Boiling a Frog, the third entry in his Jack Parlabane series. As the book opens we find Jack has just been sentenced to six months in jail for breaking and entering at the headquarters of the Catholic Church in Scotland. This is what Jack does, being an a freelance journalist always on the lookout for a good conspiracy story, but this time he was a little off his game partly due to his marriage going through a rough patch. Some of Jack’s experiences in jail are both frightening and funny as he tries to deal with the low life, crazy residents that he is dwelling side by side with. What Jack doesn’t realize at first is that he has been set up by the villain of the piece.

This book keeps the reader guessing while it twists and turns through politics and the art of spin, especially in the hands of a bitter public relations guy who’s not above blackmail. Jack Parlabane is an excellent lead character with his cynical outlook and his drive for always following the story. In this outing Brookmyre’s trademark dark humor is aimed at Scottish politics, especially the spin doctors. Unfortunately, at times I found the story a little hard to follow because of my lack of knowledge in this area.

However, I am a huge fan of Brookmyre’s style and I enjoyed this complex and original story. With it’s excellent dialogue, sharp observations and his odd rant or two, Boiling A Frog held my interest and gave me a few shocks and many laugh out loud moments along the way. ( )

A very clever plot together with Brookmyre's trademark colourful use of language makes this book a great read. I did find some of the political background stuff quite hard going at times however it was well worth persevering to get to the core of the story. ( )

Plot:
Jack Parlabane’s live has taken a turn for the worse as his illegal investigation methods have finally caught up with him and he’s now in prison. At the same time, a scandal rocks the Scottish parliament, eliciting a turn to more conservative ways – something the Catholic church takes full advantage of. But things aren’t quite as clear-cut as it seems.

This book tackles the (quite up-to-date) topic of the Catholic Church and its media representation, which is interesting by itself. But it also has a great plot, with the trademark sly humour Brookmyre is so very capable of and I just love Jack Parlabane as a character.

Read more at my blog: http://kalafudra.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/boiling-a-frog-christopher-brookmyre/ ( )

Boring. I'm a fan of Christopher Brookmyre but this one just didn't keep me entertained enough to keep reading. If I want a rant about masters of spin and the various sex scandals I'll read the papers. It got it's second star for the prison scenes, much more Brookmyre-like. ( )

If you are already a Brookmyre fan then this will tick the boxes for you. Investigative journalist Jack Parlabane is in prison for breaking and entering into the headquarters of the Scottish Catholic Church. Why has the church hired PR man Ian Beadie? A Member of the Scottish Parliament (a new body at the time the book was published) with a reputation as a lothario proves not to be what he appears, and is then implicated in a sex scandal. Fellow MSP and strict Catholic Elspeth Doyle is called in to clean up. Brookmyre skilfully brings these threads together in this funny, entertaining thriller.

However, it is almost buried by Brookmyre's ranting, which slows the pace of the book, but not fatally. Entertaining, and recommended to those who need a Scottish variation on Carl Hiaasen in their reading lives. This would be a decent place to start with Brookmyre, although "Quite Ugly One Morning", the first Parlabane novel, would probably be better. ( )