The Cut

Chris Brookmyre likes to mix it up – while he excels at crime, from his brilliant early novels to his recent thrillers, all with different, meticulously researched themes, he also writes historical novels with his wife and does a side turn in space for some SF books with our fellow imprint Orbit. The Cut has echoes of his earlier work, with the assured style of where he is now. He pulls no punches, but don’t be put off by the horror-movie theme in this; I am firmly against the entire genre (sorry) but loved the way it plays into the story here: Millicent, the main protagonist, has had an amazing past of being a horror make-up artist, which leads to her being on set of a notorious film and ending up twenty-five years later just getting out of prison. Jerry, a film student and Millicent’s lodger, is thrown rather violently into her world and helps to turn her self-destructive streak into a quest for justice as they are forced to go on the run in international manner.

It’s a detailed, brilliant read, and it takes a while to warm up to Millicent but by the end of this whirlwind ride, you’re cheering for her and Jerry and amazed by how the plot unfolds.

Thalia Proctor