Oh boy, Niven has done it again. The progress of time certainly has not withered his acutely sharp tongue nor has his demonic main man Stelfox started to chill as he hits middle age.

If you have read 'Kill Your Friends' you roughly know what to expect, endless backstabbing, chicanery and thinking three moves ahead in the endless bid to get rich(er). Stelfox is the great white in the shark tank and everyone else is just rubes.

Updated for the digital generation, post this, that and the other, the story's premise is based on Stelfox being flown in to help cover up a blackmail scandal concerning a popstar of stellar fame (surely loosely based on MJ?).

As the plot unfolds the blackmailers, lawyers, doctors, hangers-on and assorted freaks, dropouts, deadbeats and cokeheads swirl around Stelfox, mere playthings as he sees the bigger picture and plays the long game.

With some genuinely dark moments, plenty of laugh out loud passages (followed by a guilty look around to make sure nobody hear you giggling at the infantile madness) this book is a proper rush.

A brilliant read, worth diving into.