THE MAX by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr

This is the third book by the authors to feature Max Fisher and Angela Petrakos - the previous two books were Bust and Slide and even although I hadn't read these two books it in no way spoiled my enjoyment of The MAX - indeed reading this book prompted me to take a trip up the Amazon and order the two books.

The MAX opens with Max Fisher facing his first night in Attica, terrified that he is going to be buggered by his cell mate, Rufus and then gangbanged by the rest of his gang. However Max is not buggered that first night, nor even on subsequent nights after rumours get around that he is one mad, penis cutting, bad muther. He soon stars running the joint and the overweight, balding and aging white man reinvents himself as the hip-hopping, The MAX.

Angela meanwhile is over in Greece, mixed up with a sleazy Lee Child lookalike (at one point he uses his likeness to the famous author in order to join the Mile High Club) who is proving next to useless. However after killing her Greek landlord she finds herself in a Lesbos prison and discovers that the place lives up to its name.


The book is a delight to read - grim, nasty and absolutely hilarious. Several scenes had me laughing out loud. Some of the funniest sections contain extremely graphic violence which is delivered with tongue in the cheek, razor sharp prose. Lots of writers are name checked which adds to the fun for fans of the hard boiled genre - Megan Abbot, Richard Aleas are just two of the names mentioned, but the most fun is had with the sleazy Englishman who happens to be the dead ringer for author Lee Child. The scenes towards the end of the book between the lesbian crime writer and the Child's lookalike are a particular delight.

A great book -absurd, audacious and in true MAX'ian style, AWESOME.