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Water of Death
 
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Water of Death (Paperback)

by Paul Johnston (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: New English Library; New Ed edition (18 Nov 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340717041
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340717042
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 11 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 382,396 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
The classic noir private eye is someone whose life orbits around the violent and macabre--normality defies their raison d'être. Such is life or Quintilian Dalrymple, the blues-haunted hero of Paul Johnston's dystopian future, Water of Death.

By 2025, Britain has split into independent city-states, with Edinburgh as the "perfect city." Everything from electricity to sex is rationed and a zero-crime level has been achieved at the cost of individualism. "Quint" is a quintessential PI, whose existence is justified by sudden violence and relegated to the dregs when the effects of global warming hit Edinburgh. With water rationed, citizens are mindlessly devoted to two things: the year-round tourist festival and the weekly lottery (Grand Prize: a five-minute shower per week for a month). The mundane peace is shattered with the death of a demoted "auxiliary", or policeman, found in the Water of Leith. The only clue is a bottle of lethal contraband whisky and, as the body count rises, Quint must deal with duplicity, corruption and a ruthless conspiracy.

Johnston beautifully mixes Noir and Orwellian politics with the bonus of sly social satire: "... the Council set up a compulsory lottery last year, turning greed in to a virtue and most citizens into deluded fortune hunters." Stylish and imaginative, it's a captivating mystery with a dash of science fiction. --Danny Graydon

The Times on BODY POLITIC
‘A hugely entertaining fantasy ... engagingly imagined'

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars A good thriller, that keeps you gripped., 16 Dec 1999
A brought this book by chance and was impressed by the attempt to transform, plato's republic into the future state. The story centres around a private detective, who used to hold the same ideals as the state machinery, but has since fallen from grace. The intertwining of the clasic crime/thriller with the serious political comment does not quite work. I was left with the feeling that certain sentences were rather forced into the prose. However, the book is not boring or poor, just a good idea that has not quite been executed. Would make ideal easy beach reading.
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An intelligent and interesting read., 21 April 2001
By A Customer
I don't usually post reviews on Amazon or anywhere else for that matter, but this is such a good book, I had to say so. An intelligent and interesting read. I genuinely couldn't put it down, and I will now go out and buy the author's other books.
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3 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars I only finished it because there was nothing else to read, 19 Mar 2000
Another reviewer has given the story idea already - so I'll just concentrate on comments. This is the usual implausible, poorly constructed nonsense you find in airport bookshops. The plot is childish, the characters about as interesting as watching paint dry, and the story telling could be improved by studying any Tintin book. The author goes to some lengths to describe a future city state of Edinburgh, based on the principles of Plato's republic - but then writes a normal crime fiction story that is in no way related to this environment - it could have been set in the wild west. So the obvious question is 'what is the point of the Plato bit' It might have beeninteresting to explore the implications of living in Platos republic and putting a crime within the context of the perfect society, but this is not such a book - it is certainly no '1984'. The characters as individuals do not appear to come from this environment (that is if they can be described as characters at all - stereotypes would be a better word) And just as the plot is superimposed on the environment, without any sense of obvious linkage or connection, so the characters attributes are grafted on to them without reference to who they are and what they are about. The hero we are told is a jazz/R&B fan, so he peppers his account of the events with the names of various jazz tracks. But in no way does he come across as someone who has a bluesy approach to life or has any fellow feeling with an R&B orientation - so what is the point of all this endless parading of knowledge? He could equally be a fan of 1970s disco for all the impact it has on the plot or insights it gives into his personality. And then there is the plot. Well - it is so riduculous it is just annoying. Everything leads in a certain direction, nothing happens that is not related to the story, there are no collateral events to be dismissed as either context or red herrings. It all leads tediously to the obvious denoumont and conclusion with the excitement of reading a bus map.

Why do people bother writing books like this?

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars A Futuristic Edinburgh Crime Thriller
I liked the idea of this - set in a future Edinburgh and a crime thriller. My cup of tea. Having lived in Edinburgh for over 10 years I enjoyed the constant tour of the city and... Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2006 by Scottish Dave

3.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, no page-turner
It is not that bad a work of (social?) crime fiction but unfortunately many pages are of medium writing quality. Read more
Published on 25 Sep 2003 by LeonidasSoloYdue

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