Stuart MacBride: Blind Eye Review

I will say at the outset that Blind Eye isn't one for the squeamish. If you prefer people's eyeballs to stay in their sockets, look away now.

On the other hand, if you like a fast romp through the underbelly of society - and the underbelly of the Aberdeen police - this is another goodie from Stuart MacBride. It's the fifth of the Logan McCrae series. Still a DS, still battling idiots, villains and colleagues, Logan is on the trail of, well, he's not sure at first what he's on the trail of.

Aberdeen, being still fairly awash with oil money and developers, has attracted a large number of Polish workers. Someone is objecting to them in a very nasty way - eyeball removal. There are subplots with a slimy paedophile, traficked sex workers and a load of stolen guns. Despite DI Steel's best efforts, DS McRae feels that he's the only competent copper around, much to the annoyance of everyone from Professional Standards onwards.

It's not all doom and gloom for Logan - the luscious but very odd Samantha falls for his charms and his scarred stomach. There's actually another rival for his sperm - DI Steel and her wife are turned down for adoption and think that he might be able to spare a bit, seeing as they can't afford IVF. That's the least of his worries though, as he's thumped, shot at, nearly blown up and finally ends up facing a very tasty Russian.

Stuart MacBride juggles all these strands as ably as ever and the book rattles along at a fine pace. He doesn't neglect the bacon butties and the homegrown villain either - several kneecaps fall foul of Simon McLeod and his brother Creepy Colin as they respect the old ways with a claw hammer. We also make the acquaintance of Wee Hamish - more of him in later tales.

Definitely not one for my mother; the vicar might have problems with it, especially as it isn't divine justice meted out at the end. If you like black humour though, you'll like this.

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