Ben Elton, one of the planet's greatest comedy writers, is normally a safe bet for an amusing read whilst pushing the boundaries. These boundaries change with each novel, but something didn't work for me this time.
Ben, what changed? Is it you, is it me, or is this just part of your evolution?
With previous titles like Stark, Gridlock + Dead Famous, I enjoyed your stories. I suffered through this one, but I'm not sure if that's because I am a conservative, white, hetrosexual male (by the end of the book, I felt like a minority) And I don't do Twitter. Safe to say this novel only makes more more determined NOT to join the Twittersphere!
Set in the lead-up to the Brexit vote, our stoic Scotland Yard detective Michael Matlock is rapidly discovering the blowback for making comments considered Politically Uncorrect. What IS actually PC is a moving feast, and Matlock is not the only one scrambling to avoid becoming victim of a Twitter war.
I normally find Elton to be on the cutting edge of the present, or taking a fantastic view of a possible future. This one seems somewhere inbetween, and for that reason, I wasn't sure what to 'feel' as I read it. One night I would chuckle away, the next night I'd put the book down in utter confusion.
It's a coherent mystery, there is resolution, but it was not a satisfying tale for me...
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