Spicy Haggis Supper
By Scott Imrie on 1 February 2016
I absolutely horsed through this…. I wasn’t paying attention to my Kindle telling me how much I had left to go, I knew I was getting near the finish but denied it – I didn’t want this book to end.
Is this Ian’s ‘Trainspotting’ ? Why not ? Irvine Welsh’s characters that centre around Trainspotting, Porno, Filth etc were in my mind the first real bad boys of Scottish modern fiction – well this Manky lot and the associated hard men, corrupt police and councillors and all the other characters that come and go all the way through this series of books has got to ignite a debate on which end of the M8 do the hardest, baddest, funniest characters come from. But you know what, it doesn’t really matter if it’s salt ‘n’ sauce or salt ‘n’ vinegar you would have on your spicy haggis supper, whatever end of the M8 you think the winner of a Todd v Welsh square go would come from, these characters are giants of Scottish fiction that both authors weave their own experiences (and memories ?) into. Anyway, enough of the amateur literary lesson, what about the book ?
So, avoiding spoilers again, the book races on from the cliff-hanger at the end of Dumfries. The plot is probably the most complex out of the whole series, and you get the sense that Ian has literally put everything into this, and enjoyed doing it. There’s tragedy, deviousness, corruption, craziness and laughs in bucketloads all the way through this book.
I really don’t want to give away any of the plot, if you’ve read the earlier books you’re in for a treat, if you are thinking about buying this but haven’t read the earlier books then stop yourself, get the whole series queued up on your Kindle and drop out of society for a couple of weeks and binge read the lot !
Mr. Todd, I take my hat off to you !
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