Excellent use of the Paralabane - more high calibre output from Mr. B

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an arc. This is the 8th book in the Jack Parlabane series, the only one I read previously was Black Widow and I loved it. This book features Jack who teams up with Sam, a teenage girl who has had to leave her full time education in order to care for her younger sister due to their mother being in prison. I loved her story and found it really heartbreaking and realistic. Computer hacking and cyber stalking feature heavily in this book and for that reason, I found it a little hard going at times. I did enjoy the book, it was brilliantly written with a great storyline, it is just purely my personal opinion. I would like to go back and read some of the earlier Parlabane stories as Chris Brookmyre certainly knows how to write a good story.

JACKS BACK PACKING PARLABANE PUNCH

In a sensational twist of events Jack Parlabane roving reporter extraordinaire returns in a hacking, cracking crime caper.

Very scary! Do I dare send this review.... you must read it as soon as you can.

I found the opening of this book intriguing. We quickly have three apparently disparate threads. A teenage carer appears to be having problems with social services. Jack Parlabane is looking for work as a journalist in London. A hacker group is attempting to hack into a bank website. The writing is crisp and easy to read and I'm happy reading it.

As always with Chris Brookmyre things are not always as they seem and I was increasingly drawn into some shady dealing. The question is just who are the goodies and who are the baddies. In fairness Jack has always had a law breaking side to his character but generally makes it to the last page with some degree of glory ot at least alive! As to the other characters - in the main Buzzkill, a hacker and Sam, a carer - things are less clear. Buzzkill did appear in a previous story as a hacker who effectively exploited Jack.

I've always liked Jack as a character and he is very well written. Sam rapidly became another female character written well and, for me, convincingly by this author. Their paths and fates become increasingly interwoven in this tale. There is hacking, corporate misdoings and crime. The story is twisty and tense and makes for a satisfying read.

While this is a tense thriller at times the narrative about some of the personal interactions goes to a deeper and more thoughtful level. For me this is a well written book and stands comparison with many of the thriller genre around today. The first half is good, the second half is very hard to put down. I think I enjoyed the previous book more - "Black Widow". However this is an enjoyable and essential read for fans of Chris Brookmyre. I'd say 4.5/5 but happily rounded up to 5.

Let me start by admitting I am a huge fan of Brookmyres writing. It’s political, informative, and share his obvious fan status when it comes to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
This is the eighth instalment in the Parlabane series – in which we follow a journalist who will do almost anything to get is story, whilst uncovering the truth. His accomplice is someone we have met before, but know little about, Buzzkill. The story is about Parlabanes return to journalism, but the main theme is hacking, and I’ll admit some parts really did make me question my own online security along with some OMG moments of realisation.
For me this book was perfect, even though there was a techy acronym or two that I had to refer to google for. It flowed well, and I couldn’t stop turning the pages. The real identity of Buzzkill should have been obvious early on, a little like the ending but I think because you get so involved in the story from the first chapter there isn’t the opportunity to think ahead and try and work it out which is good. I think whether you’re a fan of crime fiction, Brookmyre or just wanting a book to read this should be on your 2017 must read list.

This book is outstanding. I absolutely loved every second of reading it. The characters were brilliant and the plot so ingenious, so intricate, yet so real-life and believable, that I was totally immersed, totally entertained.

I just cannot rave about this book enough - it truly was the most exciting story I’ve read in a long, long time – better than the best Liam Neeson film; I was in bed reading and had just finished one particularly tense passage when I realised my back wasn’t touching the pillows anymore - the suspense was so intense it had actually made me sit bolt upright without knowing.

The writing is superb and the examples of social engineering employed are so incredibly clever that if this author ever tires of writing he’ll have a great career as a hacker.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group for an advance copy of Want You Gone, the 8th novel to feature renegade reporter Jack Parlabane.

After all his trials and tribulations Jack feels his career is on the mend when he is invited to an interview by Broadwave, an Internet news company. It would have been a "thanks, but no thanks" until he manages an exclusive interview with one of the hackers, Buzzkill, behind the cyber attack on a high profile bank re-launch. Buzzkill is, in reality, 19 year old Samantha Morpeth struggling to support her special needs sister, Lilly, while their mother is in jail. It is the last straw when she is blackmailed into stealing a hi-tech company's sample of a new product so she, in turn blackmails, Parlabane into helping her. After that there is the typical Parlabane mayhem and tricky solutions.

Looking for something different to read in the 90s I picked up a copy of Quite Ugly One Morning and have been hooked ever since. I can honestly say that Mr Brookmyre is my favourite author and his novels are "must reads" for me which I frequently recommend to anyone looking for a good book so I was delighted to be offered an advance copy of Want You Gone. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it as much as its predecessors.

As Mr Brookmyre matures in both age and writing and his novels become read more widely he has gradually abandoned the Scottish humour and unlikely plotlines which made his first novels such fun in favour of more plausibility and a bit of a message. In this case it is to do with the perils of the Internet and how the bad guys can gather more information about you that you would ever think possible - no site is impregnable. Scary but very plausible.

Want You Gone is an ingeniously plotted novel with plenty of twists and turns, almost none of which I saw coming. It is fast paced and quite tense in parts but the overall effect was spoiled for me by all the technical detail on hacking and computerised systems. I have no interest in the subject so it all went over my head although I'm sure the more computer savvy readers will find it interesting and informative.

I like the dynamic between Jack and Sam as they gradually come to an understanding that works for them. Jack is a more mature figure as he forgoes his former recklessness for a more measured approach, OK, initially anyway. Sam is beset on all sides. With her mother in jail she is trying to keep up her studies and care for Lilly but money is tight and something will have to give. I can't say much more without spoilers but the characters work and Sam's first person narrative (Jack's is third) really draws you in.

Want You Gone is a mature, subtle read and I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

What if all your secrets were put online?

Sam Morpeth is growing up way too fast, left to fend for a younger sister with learning difficulties when their mother goes to prison and watching her dreams of university evaporate. But Sam learns what it is to be truly powerless when a stranger begins to blackmail her online, drawing her into a trap she may not escape alive.

Who would you turn to?

Meanwhile, reporter Jack Parlabane has finally got his career back on track, but his success has left him indebted to a volatile source on the wrong side of the law. Now that debt is being called in, and it could cost him everything.

What would you be capable of?

Thrown together by a common enemy, Sam and Jack are about to discover they have more in common than they realise - and might be each other's only hope.

This is the 8th in the series but OMG what a breathtaking page turner - why have I never read your books before. Gonna start at the beginning and work my way up - if they are all as good as this one I am in for a treat!!!!!