Author:Michael Palmer
In Chicago, a pregnant cafeteria worker suffering nothing more malevolent than flu like symptoms begins haemorrhaging from every part of her body. In Boston, a brilliant musician, her face disfigured by an unknown disease, rapidly descends into lethal paranoia. In West Virginia, a miner suddenly goes berserk, causing a cave-in that kills two of his co-workers. Finding the link between these events could prove Fatal-Five years ago, internist and emergency specialist Matt Rutledge returned to his West Virginia home to marry his high-school sweetheart and open a practice. He also had a score to settle. His father died whilst working for the local mining company, and Matt swore to expose their health and safety violations. When his beloved wife succumbed to an unusual cancer, his campaign became even more bitterly personal. Now he has identified bizarre new incidents of illness - caused, he is certain, by the mine's careless disposal of toxic chemicals. All he needs is proof.
The funniest writer now working in the English language . . . His humour has bite and an angry underside that puts him in the great tradition of English satirists
—— Stephen KingRiotous Assembly is a masterpiece of black farce, and makes me suppose that there is a true comic genius here
—— Auberon Waugh , SpectatorSavagely hilarious
—— Sunday MirrorRiotous Assembly has done to the South African police what Catch-22 did to the American Air Force
—— Piers Brendon , Books & BookmenRendell is unrivalled at depicting psychologically warped people and at creating unease through the simplest things. This is another triumph
—— ObserverRuth Rendell is not only the finest crime novelist there is, but one of the finest novelists writing in the English language
—— Gerald Kaufman, ScotsmanBrilliantly empathetic. Believe the hype: a brilliant, heart-warming book
—— ScotsmanIn telling a painful story in the voice of a 15-year-old boy with Asperger's, Haddon broadens ordinary minds and helps to understand how they work, too.
—— Daily TelegraphMark Haddon's portrayal of an emotionally dissociated mind is a superb achievement. He is a wise and bleakly funny writer with rare gifts of empathy
—— Ian McEwanI have never read anything quite like Mark Haddon's funny and agonizingly honest book, or encountered a narrator more vivid and memorable. I advise you to buy two copies; you won't want to lend yours out
—— Arthur Golden, author of 'Memoirs of a Geisha'Original, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children
—— Julia Donaldson , Daily ExpressA deservedly acclaimed read.
—— Time Out London