Ron's rages are sincere and — according to his wife — healthily cathartic. But can these splenetic outbursts loosen the grip of capitalism at its most monstrous?
Crime fiction
Reviews of the Cut by Chris Brookmyre, The Measure of Time by Gianrico Carofiglio, The Art of the Assassin by Kevin Sullivan and The Moment Before Impact by Alison Bruce
ANGUS REID considers the power of the podcast as a vehicle for consensus building in opposition to mainstream media narratives
GLENN FOSBRAEY recommends a biography worth reading for both existing George Michael fans and those yet to be converted
FRANCIS DEVINE introduces a new collection of essays that draws on Pease McKenna’s example to indicate future paths for the movement
KEVIN DONNELLY and MARIA DUARTE review Shoot the People, The Last One For The Road, Rosebush Pruning, and Moana
JAMES WALSH recommends an exceptional documentary about the experience of Western doctors in Gaza
THE CUT (Little Brown, £18.99), possibly Chris Brookmyre’s most exciting and funniest thriller yet, features Millicent, who has spent 25 years in prison for murdering her lover, a charge which she still denies.
Released to live with friends of friends in Glasgow, she finds the world a strange place and her existence pointless. But a chance discovery gives just the hint of a possibility of figuring out why her boyfriend was killed.
Pre-jail, Millicent was a special effects expert working in horror films and was the best in the business. When her path crosses that of a horror-obsessed film student and reluctant part-time burglar, the result is a dangerous chase across Europe and through the world of the video — itself a much-maligned art form, in the view of the odd-couple protagonists.
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PAUL FOLEY revels in the coolest, most joyful piece of theatre you’ll get this summer
BOB NEWLAND appreciates an important contribution to the debate about how slavery helped to build the wealth of Western companies and states
PETER MASON welcomes collected writings from Britain’s first black female publisher that focus on the place of black writers in literature
Timeloop murder, trad family MomBomb, Sicilian crime pages and Craven praise