Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Soft
Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Rubert Thomson
Class/Genre: Mystery Humorous
Knopf, Sep 1998, $24.00, 307 pp.
In Plymouth, England a drunk Steve Scully throws a wild haymaker at Barker but misses and falls down a set of stairs to his death. After nine hours of intense police questioning and the influential Scully clan believing he killed their beloved Steve, Barker decides it is time to go to London.
Glade Spencer has gone to a sleep clinic to help her with her insomnia. However, unbeknownst to the pretty art student, she and other patients are to serve as unwitting salespersons for a new soft drink, called SOFT, which appears to be the next major international seller if it can crack the already glutted market. However, when Glade starts to act a bit eccentric and loony, the soft drink company realizes they must eliminate the evidence. They hire Barker to kill Glade before the media learns the side effects of SOFT, but he came to London to get away from his violent lifestyle, not get deeper involved in it.
Rupert Thomson, in his fifth novel, continues to scribe wonderfully, wacky, and witty tales of misdeeds. His latest book, SOFT, is a hard edged satire that simply turns upside down the corruption typically seen by large corporations. Thus, this pleasurable story line leaves readers with a droll irony of modern day life. This reviewer strongly recommends all of Mr. Thomson's novels because they are some of the best social satires of the decade.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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