This is the one with a TV evangelist attempting to engineer a tidal wave in order to bring about a return to faith in the US.

Felt a bit like a Tom Sharpe novel, with over the top characters and farcical situations. But it didn't really make me laugh that much, and the targets of Brookmyre's satire (Hollywood, religion) felt a bit like straw-men rather than the real thing.

The thing that sticks in my mind is a scene (perhaps not very original) where a boat that's being used for scientific research into sea-bed fissures is boarded and the crew is forced at gunpoint on to the deck. The crew-members initially take comfort from the fact that they've not been shot in their cabins, but then find that the deck which they've been shepherded to is covered with thick plastic sheeting. As they look up, they see the guns being raised to point at them...

I thought from reading this that it might be Brookmyre's first book as it seems a bit immature and has rather too many ideas in it that aren't fully fleshed out. It was OK but not one I'd rush to read again.

Completed : 04-Dec-2011