One of Us (Hardcover)

Here, for instance, is a story with an exciting sci-fi premise that in the future people can get paid to temporarily "download" nightmares (or if they want to break the law, they can also download memories). It's a concept just open to abuse, and sure enough our anti-hero has been stung with a memory that he has to return to its owner - memory of a murder. It's a concept good enough to be played straight but Marshall Smith refuses the easy way out. He peppers this book with strange, surreal humour (for instance household appliances that were a little too independent for their own good, like the alarm clock with whom he seems to have a running feud). He fills it out with many refreshingly original details, quirky and strange. It's hard to adequately describe what genre you're really reading. Sci-fi? Suspense? Humour? All of the above?

It's important too not to miss out on Marshall Smith's engaging moments of genuine emotional honesty. It's rare (especially in some science fiction which can be quite dry and stollid) to find someone who can make you stop, hold your breath and take stock of a passage that has just revealled something engagingly truthful about what it is to be a real flesh-and-blood human being. Remarkable and heady stuff.

My only trouble with Marshall Smith is that sometimes the action and suspense are underplayed (the ending seems particularly rushed) but this work is worth every penny of the asking price and more for the sum of its parts and for Marshall Smith's skill in weaving them together. This was my first taste of Michael Marshall Smith's writing and it has led me to buy all the work he has released so far. You won't find many writers like this, and it's well worth coming along for the ride. Trust me. You won't regret it.

MMS is a talent, but try Spares or Only Forward instead.

I like this author. Alot. I read a paragraph from Spares (his second novel) once in a magazine, and eventually hunted the book down. It was a fantastic litterary experience. Read its reviews and you'll see that other people agree with me.

So then I read his first book, Only Forward. Which was nice. And then I decided to read this.

Now, I really thought I had a handle on Michael Marshall Smith - his books are so surreal it's almost unnerving. Yet again, he got the better of me...

How often have you been speeding away from something at breakneck speed, and have nearly killed yourself because you needed to swerve to avoid a group of toasters who were crossing the road? And how often have you been in the middle of a hopeless gun battle, when the fridge, washing machine and dishwasher come to your aid? Well, they're all normal occurrances in the Los Angeles of Michael Marshall Smith's future. Just don't drink the coffee (read it and you'll know why).

MMS is a master of the first-person storytelling style - so much so you'll think the events are happening to you. If you're like me, and you just love to immerse yourself in a book, get to know your characters, the places, the appliances, you'll love this book.

It'll probably leave you thinking the same as me. I just wish I lived in one of his worlds - though I would just like to sit down occasionally and have a rest. Something you don't often get to do with MMS.

Buy it. Read it. Love it. Then read it again.