Crime: A Novel

Mr Welsh at his best. His narrative of Florida and America was very insightful from the Scottish point of view he penned this novel from. I later found out he resides there. No wonder it was so good.The plot moves back and forth between the past and it's ghosts to the present day and the pressing matter of saving a child from a gang of molesters. The characters were so vivid and the plot was paced such that I found I could not put the book down.It comes across as a more mature read than the likes of train spotting. One of his best works I feel.

Ah, I love Irivine Welsh and have enjoyed all of his books, however this one exceeds in the one aspect of his writing I don't enjoy which is his ability to meander about with pulpy writing.While there is still some of his magic sprinkled about, Filth and Crime both fail to impress on anything else than shock value.

How could CRIME go wrong? Ok, I had never read Irvine Welsh, but he certainly has the rep for being gritty. Set in South Florida, former stomping grounds of mine that would allow me to appreciate the book more by projecting myself into the settings. And the criminals? Despicable! Child rapists and a nest of pedophiles! It really lets you seethe with hate.Yet here I am. Finished, and completely unsatisfied. Here is what went wrong.The detective Ray Lennox, on vacation from Scotland, finds himself in the midst of the aforementioned kiddie rapists. Escaping with ten-year old Tianna, the perverts' latest target, he takes her to what he believes to be a safe space across the Everglades, on the Gulf Coast. I expect that the girl would be hesitant to open up at first. Sure, it takes time for the two to bond. But this trip across I-75 just goes on and on and on. At some point the reader wants to scream at Welsh to use a literary device to skip forward several days, for the bonding to take an exponential leap forward in the book, and get back to some action. But it does not happen. Instead, we read about the shopping sprees, the stops for gas, the music they listen to, while the danger just fades more and more into the background. CRIME is amazingly dull for a good 100 plus pages given the vipers supposedly circling the prey.In addition, Lennox, needing rest after a horrifying case in Scotland involving a murdered girl, ruminates about the case throughout the book. I have no problem with continuing characters referring back to past events. But an author has to strike the right balance, drawing the past meaningfully into the present without losing sight of what the present book is about. In CRIME, Welsh failed to strike that balance, with the error going the direction of spending far too much time on the details of a crime gone by rather than the immediate one that actually was of sufficient interest to the reader to actually buy this book.The characters are also rather two-dimensional. But this should have been an interesting crime novel. A lack of character development would have been acceptable if CRIME lived up to its name. In the absence of better action and storyline, however, the characters' deficiencies become a tad harder to take.Well, they cannot all be good.

If you've ever used cocaine your stomach will flip and twist up in knots when you read Irvine Welsh's discription of gearing up with a couple of deflated bar flys. Welsh wrote people you know into this book and describes thoughts you've had about them that you've tried to forget. Every body is sick, some more then others.

This book has the normal (for Irvine Welsh) themes of drugs, violence, and sexual wrongness - but in a more accessible and readable form than usual. It's severely Americanized, and not in a bad way.

Irvine Welsh is my favorite writer. This book is fantastic.

I've read about half of Irvine Welsh's stuff...this one, for me, is his best. It is not only interesting...it is meaningful and important. Welsh writes with power and conviction, leaving you feeling like all his characters are seated alongside you on the couch. I recommend Crime to all who have been sexually abused, or know someone that has been.

Irvine Welsh is one of my favourite authors. I expect nothing less than a graphic tale that shocks me in places and makes me feel slightly uncomfortable in others. This book, while the subject matter is disturbing (pedophilia), is brilliantly written.

"Crime" is somehow very different from Irvine Welsh's other books. It has his feel and style, but it is very touching and ultimately more heartfelt than other Welsh novels I have read.The main character Ray is a Scottish policeman who is painfully flawed, but you grow to like him and when you learn why he is like he is you grow to love him, very rarely does a character in a book hit me like Ray managed to, he is a very broken hero who has an uncomfortable path to follow to gain some redemption in his life. This book deals with a very difficult subject matter and is hard reading at times, its a subject that not many authors would have the courage to tackle, but its real and it happens. Welsh has an uncanny way of making you feel part of the story and I for one, really routed for Ray in the end. I was touched and amazed by how "powerful" this story became as I turned the pages. The ending brought a tear to my eye and this surprised me no end as I am a grown man and not usually susceptible to this kind of thing...Beautifully written and I "truly" hope people read this brief review and buy this book... Irvine Welsh can often be amazing and this novel is up there with the best I have ever read - a very special story for me at least.Thank you Mr Welsh.

I'm glad I read this but I can't say that I enjoyed it. Maybe you are not supposed to enjoy it. This was my first Irvine Welsh read and I don't think I will be following up on it. I read it because I was taking part in the filming of it, although I don't think the tv series will be anything like the book, being based in Edinburgh. I found everything to be over described with umpteen words being used where only a few were needed. I presume this is the IW way.

This one took me ages to get into. Put it to one side and forgot about it until lockdown promoted me to revisit. Finished reading over one year later during lockdown Never riveted by the plot even though it does raise disturbing issues.

before reading this book I thought it would be similar to Filth. but after, I feel that this is a stronger book with more of a message behind it rather than the disgust triggered in filth. Unlike a lot of Welsh, is set mostly in Florida so those looking for Edinburgh name drops May be disappointed.

Love Welsh, and whilst is a really good story it doesn't quite have the hook of most of the other books in his series, but would still definitely recommend.