Reviews

Crime by Irvine Welsh

srdaine's review against another edition

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3.0

2'5 estrellas, en realidad. Me ha costado la misma vida engancharme a una historia que cuando quiere da en el clavo pero que en general se pierde bastante.

jwmcoaching's review

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4.0

Incredibly atypical for an Irvine Welsh novel, this is the only stab he's ever made at genre fiction and it really succeeds in many ways. The story is very much a thriller/suspense novel, but Welsh is able to incorporate his typical brilliance at lyrical prose and devastating human insight into the mix as well. The denouement is, unsurprisingly, not nearly as good as the build up, which is the novel's central weakness. Regardless, this is still a helluvalot of fun to read and I enjoyed it immensely!

monty_reads's review

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3.0

It's always fun to watch a subversive, rabble-rousing author try something conventional. Here, Welsh gives us a sequel to his 1998 novel Filth. Where that one was a grungy, pitch-black tale about Scots policeman Ray Lennox (partially narrated by the tapeworm living in Lennox's intestine), Crime is a stripped-down thriller that finds Lennox on holiday in Miami, Florida. Haunted by pasts both recent and distant, Lennox's friendship with a young girl becomes a vehicle for revenge and redemption. Welsh's books have always been shot through with subtle lessons on morality; this time around it's more obvious but no less satisfying in its complexity.

dumbmaddie's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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john_opalenik's review

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4.0

This story makes you laugh. It absolutely crushes you. It makes you feel like you aren't alone in how you're feeling. And ultimately, it reminds you that no matter how bad things can be, redemption can be found in places you never expected.

heatherbee's review

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3.0

Crime is a hard book to get into. At first Lennox's depression and anger tints everything, and the thought of reading almost 350 pages about what seem to be truly despicable (and, at first, uninteresting) people seems daunting and frankly, not worth the trouble. I never read Filth, so I have no previous attachment to Ray Lennox, and he seemed to be nothing more than a depressing stereotype: Hardened cop who's seen too much. With the introduction of Tianna, the first person Welsh allows Ray to sympathize for and the true heart of the novel, the other characters begin to soften as well. But, I still found myself almost halfway through the book before I began to really root for Lennox.

Read more at http://itsheatherbrown.blogspot.com !

gritpit's review against another edition

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lovely

chramies's review against another edition

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4.0

Irvine Welsh does Chris Brookmyre, or possibly Ian Rankin. Because of the 'shock value' of some of his books I'd forgotten what a good writer he actually is.

thecatsmum's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5ish. This book is Welsh writes straight crime thriller with very little dialect. Fairly decent but dragged on a bit in parts. Not bad but not brilliant either.

pap3rcut__'s review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0