Not the End of the World

by Christopher Brookmyre

Overview

The Guardian (London) has called comic-thriller writer Christopher Brookmyre "the next star of the genre". His American debut, Not the End of the World, is a fast and furious novel set in Los Angeles at the near side of the millennium, at a point when the world is about to spin out of control — and maybe out of existence. When an oceanic research vessel is discovered with all of its crew vanished, it sets off a chain of events that pulls Lt. Larry Freeman of the LAPD out of the ho-hum assignment of overseeing the security for a B-movie film festival and headlong into a frenzied race to stop a terrorist plot. Along the way he must contend with aging porn stars, rabid evangelical Christians, a mysterious Glaswegian photographer, and an unknown agenda, all in a frenzied — and ultimately hysterical-race against time. "Imagine Day of the Locust updated and rewritten by Carl Hiaasen. ... Good solid fun." — Kirkus Reviews "Perpetually in-your-face: sassy, irreverent, and stylish ... [with] a high-octane sense of the absurd." — The Times (London) "Very violent, very funny ... comedy with a political edge, which you take gleefully in one gulp." — Literary Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802139153
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	07/08/2002
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

Editorial Reviews

British author Brookmyre (One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night; Quite Ugly One Morning; etc.) makes his American debut with this thriller, but seems to have left most of his punch on the far side of the ocean. Scottish photographer Steff Kennedy is attending a B-list movie festival, held at an L.A. hotel, where he intends to snap some pics and joke about the self-importance of Hollywood. There he meets and makes eyes with Maddy Witherson, a sweet, misunderstood porn star famous for her leading role in Whore of Babylon; it is later revealed she was sexually abused as a girl by her Bible-waving father, a U.S. senator. Meanwhile, LAPD officer Larry Freeman is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a group of scientists from an ocean research vessel. Everyone's paths cross when a conservative Christian group decides to augment its anti-Hollywood rhetoric with a well-placed bomb, which literally dumps Maddy into Steff's arms. The bombers, however, demand an even more extreme remedy Maddy's suicide on national television as an act of public repentance or they'll blow up a boat full of Hollywood executives. While it's obvious that everyone will scramble to stop the bombers, less plausible elements like a bunch of long-lost religious scrolls and lots of chatter about the impending end of the world, are distracting. Brookmyre's previous book may have achieved some success across the Atlantic, but this jumbled effort feels like it's been cobbled together from whatever trashy American TV shows are currently in British syndication. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Scottish writer Brookmyre's fifth comic thriller is his first to be published here, no doubt thanks to its ultra-American setting and storylines. An oceanographic vessel is discovered floating somewhere in the Pacific, its crew vanished. A carnival of far-right Christians has parked itself outside the hotel hosting a convention of exploitation filmmakers whom LAPD Sergeant Larry Freeman, back from leave after the death of a child, is supposed to protect. Add to this mix an ex-porn star (child of a prominent conservative US senator) and a 6-foot 7-inch Glasgow photographer on his first visit to the City of Angels, stir well with bombs and an apocalyptic plot that threatens the entire city as the clock ticks toward the fateful date of December 31, 1999. Or, to be more succinct, imagine Day of the Locust updated and rewritten by Carl Hiaasen. Well regarded in the UK for his previous work, Brookmyre here attempts something truly ambitious: an amusing suspenser with a serious message about religious intolerance. To some extent, he succeeds. The initial interweaving of more than a half-dozen plot threads is occasionally exasperating (you're repeatedly wrenched away in the middle of interesting developments), but the payoff in the middle section, where the major elements finally come together with a literal bang, is considerable and quite satisfying. The final third, with its race-against-time finale, is also good solid fun. Brookmyre, though, takes too many lengthy digressions into the screwed-up pasts of his characters (all except Freeman victims of some sex-related trauma) and long diatribes about the multiple sins of religious fundamentalism. Also, despite some valiant efforts todelaythe multiple payoffs, the actual working-out of the narrative is fairly predictable. Still, the good guys are eminently likable and the bad guys surprisingly sincere. A credible American debut. Let's hope it inspires someone Over Here to publish Brookmyre's earlier fiction.

Kirkus Reviews