Not the End of the World is Christopher Brookmyre‘s third novel and the first one without Jack Parlabane. [My reviews of the Jack Parlabane books are here.]

Plot:
1999. LAPD cop Larry Freeman (who we’ve met in Quite Ugly One Morning) is easing back into work after the death of his son. He is given what should be a simple task: overseeing a B-movie festival. Unfortunately, right across the street of the festival, there’s a right-wing Christian counter-movement, the Festival of Light. When they start attacking porn-star-turned-actress Madeleine Witherson who is attending the film festival, millenium angst and a bomb threat soon turn the whole situation to shit.

This book didn’t work that well for me, unfortunately. Though it has all the right ingredients, something’s missing. It just took me too long to really get invested in the story. Maybe it’s that it wasn’t set in Scotland (though there is a Scottish main character, so be not afraid!).

I liked the characters, especially Maddy, but also Steff (the Scottish guy) and Larry. And I very much like the way Brookmyre throws in his political rants – otherwise I wouldn’t read his books.

Brookmyre also has a very creepy way to say what I’m thinking. It is… astonishing, really. And a little freaky. I don’t think that there’s another person in the world I agree so much with. It gets especially apparent in this book when he talks about porn. And when he gets into the head of the religious guys, it’s pretty much exactly like I always imagine it.

The flipside of this is that I practically have all the clever ideas Brookmyre has before he reveals them, so he can never really surprise me.

Despite all the good things, the book is slow to start and if I wasn’t such a Brookmyre fan, I’d probably would have lost interest before the action actually started.

So, not his best book and probably not an ideal start for Brookmyre in general, but it’s nevertheless enjoyable, once it gets moving.