Meantime: The gripping debut crime novel from Frankie Boyle

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For me, the central character seemed to be very much Frankie Boyle himself, he certainly used his jokes. I thoroughly enjoyed this slightly surreal and complicated thriller, where everything is viewed through the prism of which ever drugs our protagonist Felix happens to have ingested at any particular time. The main twist was learning about Felix's history, and I wish we'd heard a bit more about this story, perhaps in conversation with Jane?

Although the author is a famous comedian, this is their debut, and I feel it will divide the room between those who like the book and those who found it “out there. The threshold for fame in Scotland is quite low, so she could have been anything from an MSP to someone who’d streaked at a football match.It’s VERY political, extremely satirical and I’m not sure if it’s all just Frankie Boyle writing a massive Parody of life today. Reading with my brain adopting Frankie's familiar voice telling stories about the people, times, and places that I recognised really enhanced my enjoyment of this book. This certainly put me in mind of a lot of Christopher Brookmyre’s better stuff, but whilst still retaining a distinctive Boyle signature, which gives it its own offbeat and delightful spark. Boyle worked on the book while in hotel rooms after stand-up routines, unable to sleep due to adrenaline. Frankie Boyle did a brilliant job of making it feel relevant and of its time, whilst still tapping into many of the arguments that still prevail.

With rare exceptions such as bank holidays, the book group meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 7. The mystery that underpins this crime novel is solid enough, but I can't help thinking that its role is secondary and it is essentially only a vehicle for the author to air his thoughts - both comedic and socio-political. Thankfully, although not an unbridled success, Frankie Boyle has made a better stab at it than many. Though he had written non-fiction before, Meantime was Boyle's first novel; he wrote parts of the novel in hotels after stand-up performances and while wandering his hometown Glasgow. I like as well that he's not gone with a straight detective/crime type story, I don't know how well that would work with the comedy, but this book is extremely weird in how it flows, how it's structured, the events and characters.

This is fun to read and the plot does engage with you from the get go, but as you expect the characters just jump out from the pages.