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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Edinburgh's Future? No thanks.,
This review is from: Body Politic (Hardcover)
It's Scotland, but not as we know it. In the year 2021 the UK has broken up, and Edinburgh is now a city-state run on the lines of Plato's Republic, with a good measure of corruption thrown in. Unfortunately, that's about as interesting as this book ever gets. The plot is very standard 'grizzly murder' fare and the tone is so cynical that I found it impossible to care about any of the characters, especially the protagonist, Quintillian Dalrymple. I suspect Paul Johnson's reputation has benefitted from the current high level of interest in Edinburgh crime writing. However, for better characters and plots try Ian Rankin; for better writing, try Iain Banks and for grizzlier murders try Christopher Brookmyre. Maybe Johnson's writing will improve. I hope so. In the meantime, I'd certainly recommend this book to someone who is intrigued by a crime novel set in the Edinburgh of the imaginary future. Sound like you?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gritty, intriguing, provocative,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Body Politic (Hardcover)
I was astonished to see lukewarm reader reviews for Body Politic. I read more than a dozen new mysteries a month, and most are yawns with derivative plots, forgettable characters and stereotypical settings. Paul Johnston has catapulted a character similar to Ian Rankin's John Rebus into a dark but believable Edinborough of the future. He's got the police procedural down, and is certainly given it a fresh twist, relying very little on futuristic technology and quite a bit on futuristic sociology. An evening spent with this book will not be wasted. I'm on Amazon tonight to buy more of Johnston's books!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It is good but not everybody's cuppa,
By A Customer
This review is from: Body Politic (Hardcover)
After decades of death and destruction, the citizens of the city-state of Edinburgh finally feel safe at the cost of their identities and individualism. Still, most residents feel the price is worth it as crime has finally come to a virtual end. Everyone works towards the common good by making sure the tourists stay long attending the perpetual Festival. It is top rate, an incentive they will return.By 2020, murder remains at zero for the past few years. However, that changes when ENT (the Ear, Nose, and Throat man) returns to kill a guardswoman. The desperate ruling body, the Council of the City Guardians, turns to private investigator Quintilan Dalyrmple, an outcast who has experience with the long thought dead ENT. Quint quickly learns he has more to deal with than just capturing a serial killer. He must contend with the bloated bureaucracy and the corrupt Council. BODY POLITIC is a fabulous science fiction who-done-it that brings freshness to several sub-genres. The superb story line fascinatingly repaints Edinburgh, turning the background into a critical character. Quint is the quintessential hard boiled detective trapped by a society that has no room for him when things are "normal." When trouble occurs, they send him to the firing line. If successful (meaning survives), he receives his gold-plated watch and sent back to live among the dregs. Futuristic mysteries have rarely been as good as Paul Johnston's superbly unique novel. Harriet Klausner
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