For a book that claims to be a "political thriller", this isn't a terribly cerebral read. It's more like one of those cheesy 1980s action movies where you just turn your brain off and watch the explosions. That's not a criticism, though; I like those movies.

What I liked:
* Good pacing in the back half of the book.
* Most of the jokes were funny.
* More surprising and better paced than some of Mr. Brookmyre's later work; I think this is because the book is somewhat shorter and has less foreshadowing.

What I didn't like:
* Deus ex machina: there are a couple of spots where it looks like the characters are in trouble, but then one of the characters pulls a hitherto-unrevealed ability out of his butt and saves the day. That's cheating, Mr. Brookmyre.
* Like most of Mr. Brookmyre's work, the first half of the book feels slow. This is because there are too many flashbacks; also, some of the jokes run on a little longer than they should. Since this book is shorter than most of Mr. Brookmyre's other work, though, this isn't as bad here as it is in some of his other books.
* Mr. Brookmyre reveals the bad guys' identities near the beginning of the book by showing some scenes from their perspective. It would have been better to skip those scenes and let the reader find out who the bad guys were when the characters figured it out. That way, I would have been impressed by how smart the characters were for figuring it out, instead of impatient for them to get on with it.

This book's cover doesn't mention that it's a sequel to "Quite Ugly One Morning". You can read this book without reading "Quite Ugly One Morning", as I did, without getting lost. But, the ending of "Quite Ugly One Morning" is alluded to in this book, which is a bummer because I'll probably read "Quite Ugly One Morning" sometime in the future and I'd rather not have known how it ends. ( )

Yet another fantastic caper from Christopher Brookmyre which I am sure I will read again in the future. Laugh out loud, thrilling and well-paced. Fantastic! ( )

Jack Parlabane once more takes on and triumphs over corrupt muderous Tory bastards. The writing was not as sharp as his first. and it had too much plot leading to large chunks of exposition and some gapeing holes. But it all moves along at an enjoyably cracking pace. ( )