Genre:
Crime/Satire
Description:
“Machin’s garden explodes, igniting a power struggle over lucrative
North Sea oil and gas contracts. The Sparrow takes flight amidst chaos and
violence that are the least of the strange goings-on.”
Author:
A former university lecturer, Bill Kirton was born in England and has
lived most of his life in Scotland. He has written everything you could
imagine, from academic essays and dissertations to songs and plays. He has
several more short stories and novels available for your favorite eReader. You
could find Kirton books on his Amazon author page.
Appraisal:
I saw this described as a “crime spoof,” which is a perfect
description. It is full of humor, often dry and subtle, as the stereotype of
English humor would indicate. I learned the names of obscure (to me) birds and
fish, which are used as codenames amongst the criminals; thankfully, my Kindle
dictionary knew them all. Many of the criminals, especially the protagonist
Chris Machin, are likeable and sympathetic (with the exception of those crimes
they’re supposed to be committing). In contrast, the police are anything but,
not to mention much better at crime than the criminals.
Beyond the story, I enjoyed the way Kirton strings words together. For
example, I love this line, for how it twists the cliché into something clever,
rather than overused:
“Hawk would undoubtedly have been more suspicious, but he was
desperate for a gift horse and its mouth was invisible at the other end of a
telephone line.”
Kirton won the 2011 Forward National Literature Award in the humor
category for this book, and the reason is apparent.
FYI:
Uses UK spelling conventions and slang (possibly Scottish too, but I’m
no expert).
Some adult language. While there is very little that is explicit,
sexual themes and innuendo are constant. If the thought of anything sexual
makes you blush, especially if it involves obscure kinks and fetishes (anything
beyond a man, a woman, and a bed), this isn’t the book for you.
Added for
Reprise Review: The
Sparrow Conundrum by Bill Kirton was the WINNER in the Humor and Satire
category for B&P 2013 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran April 3,
2012.
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 65-70,000 words
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