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A Snowball in Hell cover art

A Snowball in Hell

By: Christopher Brookmyre
Narrated by: Kenny Blyth
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Summary

Simon Darcourt, an inventive killer with a sense of humour, is creating his own celebrity talent show, one that is generating more publicity than its contestants have ever had in their lives. The catch is that those lives won't be very long.

The police turn to Angelique de Xavia, a cop who has crossed his path before. However, the police are not the only people who want Darcourt. Now she's faced not only with tracking him down, but also with the task of ensuring she doesn't end up dead once she's served her purpose.

Scared and alone, Angelique knows she's got a snowball's chance of pulling this off, which is why she's going to need a little magic...

©2008 Christopher Brookmyre (P)2009 Isis Publishing Ltd

Critic reviews

"Brilliant and hilarious." ( Guardian)

What listeners say about A Snowball in Hell

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant!

This is Brookmyer at his iconoclastic best. An impossible plot is laid down and with the many twist and turns eventually comes to a satisfactory outcome, not without a few laughs, feeling of revulsion and nail-biting tension and a few sacred cows exploded on the way.

Well told and worth the sometimes excessive blood, gore and bad language - part and parcel of Brookmyer's well-crafted stories.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than the printed version...

I had bought this when it was first published and enjoyed it at the time so I did wonder if i was just wasting my money getting the audio as I knew the plot but the narrator in this reading is excellent and gave life to the characters in a much better way than I did in my head when first reading.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but too long

I like unabridged books, but as commented by another reviewer an abridged version of this novel would have probably been better, as so many of the themes concerning celebrity culture were repeated time and again. But on a more positive note an execellent story with numerous twists and turns, very well read with good characterisation. On my download there appeared to be two minor faults, what seemed a very out of place chapter early in the book, and later on a chapter that stops mid sentance, but neither really detract from what was on the whole an enjoyable listen.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic Brookmyre and more!!

What can I say - he gets even better. Black humour and satire, at its best. Thank you Mr Brookmyre ? once again. More please!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow again!

I thought the first book in this series would make a great film, and the same can be said for all 3. I like Christopher’s style of writing so much that I have put all his other titles in my wish list.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Devine

As full of twists as a plateful of spaghetti! The third in the series was well worth the wait. Great, complex storyline, fabulous characters, brilliant touches of humour and a narrator from heaven. Loved it loved it loved it. M

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Hero, Heroine and the Devil battle again

What made the experience of listening to A Snowball in Hell the most enjoyable?

Superb narration by Kenny Blyth. He brought such depth to each character, especially so for Simon Darcourt.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Snowball in Hell?

The gameshow, loosely based on the X Factor accept the prize for the winner and the means to attain it were gruesome but darkly funny.

Which character – as performed by Kenny Blyth – was your favourite?

Simon Darcourt

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Silly question, especially for a Christopher Brookmyre novel.

Any additional comments?

Brookmyre never disappoints.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Disappointing.

My expectations were high for this book, as I have long been a fan of Christopher Brookmyer, but it was a huge disappointment. The plot is extremely clever, and the story contains surprising twists, hence the two stars, but I actually found myself wishing I had bought an abridged version of the book. I felt that Brookmyer was so keen to let the reader know his views on the shallow nature of today's Celebrity culture which, I totally agree, blights our society, that he kept thumping the reader over the head with them. The smug 'yes, isn't everybody stupid?' prose eventually began to grate to such an extent that I wanted to reach for the TV remote and switch on 'X Factor'.
The excessive padding to the story line detracted from, what should have, been an entertaining read.
Perhaps Brookmyer was being paid by the word for this one?

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Needs to get off his Soapbox! Spoiled story!

Almost 5 hours in before you even get told what the story is about. As others have said too much rumination, internal conversations. I have read over 20 of Chris’s books this is probably his worst in my opinion. Disappointed!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Least enjoyable of the trilogy

Not a patch on the other two books in the trilogy although the narration is excellent. The standout novel of the series is The Sacred Art Of Stealing. The author should have stopped there.

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