Ben Elton, Past Mortem Review

Overall Rating

Good discussion of the various forms and causes of bullying, fairly well defined characters and very, very readable, I couldn't put it down (seriously I stayed reading until way past my bedtime)

I found it fairly predictable as a thriller though it was the knowledge of the characters that develops more than the crime investigation. If your looking for a straight thriller this isn't it, it is a polemic on bullying wraped in the thriller genre.

I have read a number of Elton's books and they vary a lot, the one thing you can guarantee is that he'll raise an important social issue and make you think about it. Past Mortem does this very well on the subject of bullying, in school, at work, in relationships and covers the effects on the victim's life and self esteem. A well written,(don't make any plans for the evening once you pick it up, and well researched book. I enjoyed it a lot and would recomend this along with "Popcorn" (his best), "Gridlock" and "This other Eden".