One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Christopher Brookmyre's One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night is a lethal farce in which nothing goes quite according to plan. The mercenaries and terrorists who seize an oil rig converted into an international resort are almost too busy wanting to kill each other to get on with the job, for one thing, and, for another, the group they take hostage are a high-school reunion rather than the conference of the internationally famous they are expecting. One of the high-school year went on to be a famous gangland hardman before reforming, and another is a darkly brilliant comic whose career is on the skids--and a couple more have spent far too much time in the cinema not to know what Bruce Willis would do... This is a splendidly constructed darkly funny novel in which the oddest things prove suddenly lethal and in which the imagined geography of a closed environment is at once a trap, and a playground for heroism, double cross and the sudden discovery of true love. The running gags and knowingness about movies ought to be less amusing than they are, but Brookmyre's underlying affection for ordinary people and contempt for bullies stops them being self-indulgent.
--This text refers to the
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THE TIMES
'A high octane sense of the absurd'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
William Connor was standing outside a disused cattleshed on a bright Highland summer's morning, ankle-deep in cowshit, liquidised mercenary raining splashily down about his head from the crisp blue sky above. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
William Connor was standing outside a disused cattleshed on a bright Highland summer's morning, ankle-deep in cowshit, liquidised mercenary raining splashily down about his head from the crisp blue sky above. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read this book so many times that some of the pages are beginning to fall out!
Brookmyre's writing style is witty and clever, wonderfully bringing to life his characters and the situation they find themselves in. A school reunion on a converted oil rig goes disastrously wrong as a group of not-so-professional mercenaries try to take control of the rig. Despite the differences they once had on the playground, the now mature ex-students and their English teacher must band together to save themselves.
Featuring guns, bombs, rocket launchers and a laundry chute, this is one of the best books I have ever read.
Brookmyre's writing style is witty and clever, wonderfully bringing to life his characters and the situation they find themselves in. A school reunion on a converted oil rig goes disastrously wrong as a group of not-so-professional mercenaries try to take control of the rig. Despite the differences they once had on the playground, the now mature ex-students and their English teacher must band together to save themselves.
Featuring guns, bombs, rocket launchers and a laundry chute, this is one of the best books I have ever read.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the midst of a shoot-out on an oil rig, Ally McQuade and his old English teacher Mrs Laurence commiserate about the awfulness of the school reading list and the tedious hours spent ploughing through Grassic Gibbon's "A Scots Quair". Readers educated in Scotland will sympathise. It's definitely time One Fine Day, a beautifully crafted novel from one of Scotland's best writers of modern fiction, made it onto the Higher lists instead.
Like Christopher Brookmyre's earlier books, this is a page-turner, with a satisfyingly tight plot. Brookmyre is accomplished enough in the thriller-fiction genre to play around with its cliches, and the reader's expectations, to hilarious effect. He does a lovely line in dry humour - though very occasionally, an overdose of authorial irony threatens to slip the tone into Terry Pratchett territory. Brookmyre's sharp wit comes over best through his glorious cast of Paisley-bred characters. All are recognisable, deftly drawn, and their dialogue begs to be read out loud. Has anybody bought the film rights yet?
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I can't recommend this book highly enough - A mixture of small town Scottish high school nostalgia and over-the-top hollywood gunplay (yes, really!), which turned out to be the funniest book I've read in ages. Many a laugh out loud moment was to be had with this.
My only criticism is that after slowly building the characters and setting the scene, the author seemed to want to get the action over as quickly as possible. Only a minor detraction from what is an action packed pageturner and a half.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
funniest comic writer today
I only discovered Christopher Brookmyre's books in 2011 and I've been hunting them out ever since I read the first, Quite Ugly One Morning. I'm so glad he is as prolific as he is. Read more
Published 17 hours ago by aussiebird
Fantastic
I have read all of Brookmyres books and this is possibly the best. Humour, action and a great story means you won't want to put this down. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Big Franko
Early work his best
Great book tends to be a bit boys own but well worth the read. Some good lines and quick witted unlike his later books which lack the quality shown here.
Published 21 months ago by dubie
Funny and with beautiful timing
The fourth comedy thriller from Christopher Brookmyre tells the story of an ill-fated school-reunion, where old friends reacquaint themselves until some unexpected guests show up -... Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
North Sea Hijack
School reunions sound about as much fun as watching the entire run of `Heartbeat' back to back, but throw in some free booze and people will turn up. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Sam
I actually laughed out loud
I'm very late to the Brookmyre party but I'm glad I made the effort. I started off with The "Big Boy" story but then went and did them in chronological order. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Si King
completely bonkers
The blurb on the back for once gets it spot on. This is a crazy book with fabulous characters - I loved Hector McGregor - and a breathtaking pace and bonkers sense of violence. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2010 by Dillon the Villain
One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night, Christopher Brookmyre - The...
Christopher Brookmyre brings his trademark sense of humour and graphic writing style to bear on what must be the most horrible experience any of us will go through in our adult... Read more
Published on 19 Oct 2009 by Victor
Simone has an announcement to make
One of the most enjoyable traits of Christopher Brookmyre's excellent thrillers is their grounding in the everyday world of working-class Glasgow. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Rib-tickling
Nobody outside Carl Hiassen can write satire as black as Brookmyre. But the Scot's vicious humour surpasses anything the American has ever written.
Published on 1 Dec 2008 by Danny Boy
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