J.G. Ballard, Cocaine Nights

From an impulse purchase at an airport (partly triggered by its silver, shiny cover!) Cocaine Nights succeeded in propelling me deep into the entertaining and intriguing surreal worlds created by J.G.Ballard.

In Cocaine Nights Ballard explores his usual themes of a Western community that's bored with modern life and which seeks excitement adn entertainment in unconventional ways. The novel is set in an ex-pat community in Spain where wealthy Brits go to retire. The central character arrives in this seemingly clean cut, ex-pat paradise to investigate the suspicious death of his brother. As he fights to get closer to the truth he discovers the local community has developed its own hidden underbelly of violence and crime.

A fantastic read that really gets under your skin.