Stonemouth: The Sunday Times Bestseller

Iain Banks

Apr 2012 · Hachette UK

About this eBook

Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth. After five years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of patriarch Joe Murston, and even though the last time Stu saw the Murstons he was running for his life, staying away might be even more dangerous than turning up.

An estuary town north of Aberdeen, Stonemouth, with it's five mile beach, can be beautiful on a sunny day. On a bleak one it can seem to offer little more than seafog, gangsters, cheap drugs and a suspension bridge irresistible to suicides. And although there's supposed to be a temporary truce between Stewart and the town's biggest crime family, it's soon clear that only Stewart is taking this promise of peace seriously. Before long Stu steps back into the minefield of his past to confront his guilt and all that it has lost him, uncovering ever darker stories. Soon his homecoming takes a more lethal turn than even he had anticipated.

Tough, funny, fast-paced and touching, Stonemouth cracks open adolescence, love, brotherhood and vengeance in a rite of passage novel like no other.

Ratings and reviews

Having read and enjoyed most of Iain Banks' books over more than 20 years, I must admit I was left a little disappointed by this one. It was easy to read and admittedly I couldn't put it down, but I think I was waiting for some bizarre and interesting twist that just didn't happen - unlike much earlier books that almost changed my life. However, I was also younger then and a similar age to the central characters; as was the author himself and is now still writing as if he was in his twenties.

From the previous reviews I was already pre warned that there was no twist to finish the story. Iain's writing style is a as strong as ever with the plot building throughout, very real characters (certainly for my age group) and culminating in a strong climax. The lack of the final twist was not missed as I don't think his later novels ever captured the shock of his early ones.

As usual Banks leaves the big heaven and hell questions for the M books, but this is a good rumination on the world we live in.

About the author

Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, in 1984. He gained enormous popular and critical acclaim for both his mainstream and his science fiction novels. Iain Banks died in June 2013.