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
A BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick
'Strikingly original and definitively Brookmyre - there's nothing he can't do'
Mick Herron
'I recommend The Cut SO HIGHLY! A fast-paced thriller, lovely characters, [and] it kept me guessing'
Marian Keyes
The supremely entertaining, moving, and unpredictable new thriller from multi-award-winning bestseller Chris Brookmyre is a wholly original masterpiece and the best crime novel of 2021.
Millie Spark can kill anyone.
A special effects make-up artist, her talent is to create realistic scenes of bloody violence.
Then, one day, she wakes to find her lover dead in her bed.
Twenty-five years later, her sentence for murder served, Millicent is ready to give up on her broken life - until she meets troubled film student and reluctant petty thief Jerry.
Together, they begin to discover that all was not what it seemed on that fateful night . . . and someone doesn't want them to find out why.
'A twisty spiralling rabbit hole of a book that draws you deeper with every chapter. Brilliantly original, compulsively readable, right to the final page'
Ruth Ware
'Dark, heartfelt, stylish and thrilling, The Cut is the kind of wonderfully original tale I just adore. Chris Brookmyre is a storytelling mastermind'
Chris Whitaker
'This is a special novel. A brilliant, original, up-to-the-minute tale with all of the dark, edgy, humorous brilliance we've come to expect from one of the finest crime fiction writers in the world. The Cut is simply superb'
Abir Mukherjee
