On the HahaFiction shelf
One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night
by Christopher Brookmyre
Gavin uses his converted oil-rig resort to host a school reunion and show his old classmates how well he’s done. Few remember him. His wife has a public announcement planned, and a band of mercenaries arrives with an agenda that has nothing to do with reminiscing.
From the publisher’s blurb
“a wicked farce of a thriller”Read the full description at Grove Atlantic, publisher description
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What makes it funny?
On the coach to the reunion, a discussion of exclusive holiday islands gets the Maldives confused with endives. Elsewhere on the same journey, an action-film obsessive finds a willing audience in his former English teacher, who is rather more enthusiastic about guns and explosions than he expected.
The comedy at work
The reunion already carries enough old grievances and status anxiety for an awkward evening. Brookmyre adds action-movie danger to that social gathering, while the passengers themselves argue over the conventions of violent films. The List singles out the combination of snappy dialogue and extravagant black comedy.
Try this if…
Broad jokes and exaggerated action share the space in this crowded crime thriller. The Scots dialogue gives the reunion its voice, and the deliberately excessive violence suits a taste for black comedy.
Good to know
Expect frequent strong language and graphic, sometimes comic violence. The sample writes much of the dialogue in Scots and includes crude insults and references to addiction, suicide and former classmates’ deaths.
A few distinguishing details
- A school reunion on a converted oil rig is gatecrashed by mercenaries.
More funny crime & thriller
Sources & further reading
- Publisher
Publisher
- The List review
Review
- University of Glasgow excerpt
Reading sample
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