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The Demolition of the Century by Duncan Sarkies

By Pamelascott

Tom Spotswood (aka William McGinty) is an insurance investigator who has lost his socks, his suitcase, his career, his ex-wife and, most importantly, his son Frank.

He is being followed by Robert Valentine, the mysterious owner of the horse with no sperm; Alastair Shook and his van of teenage guards; and Spud, a demolition man who is using his wrecking ball to bring down the most beautiful movie theatre in town, the Century.

To find his son, Tom will have to come to terms with his past - a past he ran away from. But first will have to find those socks.

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I wake up to this buzz. RESTOCKING THE MINIATURE REFRIDERATOR

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(@PenguinBooks, 24 July 2013, 408 pages, paperback, copy from @AmazonUK #AmazonVine)

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This is a mixed bag of a book. I like some of it but quite a lot of it left me cold. I almost gave up reading but I struggled on. The plot has a lot of twists and turns and I was left with so many questions as I tried to work out what was going on. The book is quite fun at times and has a lot of satire. I like satire. My main issue is that both characters are unlikable. I've read books narrated by murders and felt more sympathy and connection to them. I don't think Tom or Spud had many redeeming qualities and I couldn't get behind them. This is a big issue for me. I like the fact the book bounced between Tom and Spud's POV. They have similar voices and it took ages for me to realise I was reading two narrator's. More could have been done to differentiate them. I had high hopes for this book and it never quite reached it.

Demolition Century Duncan Sarkies

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