Rating: 
Summary: READ THIS BOOK!
Review: "Louise Welsh's 'The Cutting Room' is at once beautiful and frightening. Perhaps a reflection of the polemic "Eros and thantes" that is the source of action in the book. Passages of rich and original descriptions together with thought provoking literary excerpts make this a literary debut that is difficult to forget. The writing is so self assured, the tone perfect, that it is surprising to learn that this is a debut. Characterisations are real, involving and original. This novel is in the genre of crime fiction but it should not be judged by or contained within this it. I look forward to reading more."
Rating: 
Summary: Warning
Review: A fresh and interesting writing style. Two major problems, one this is not a Scottish novel, it is a Glaswegian novel: References to geography are not a major block to someone, but if the reader is unfamiliar with Glaswgow and it's language, there will be tiny dead spots within the story as the words with unfamiliar meanings are used. Also a potential problem, there are a couple of instances where the writer is extremely specific about homosexual encounters. The homosexual hero/main character did not bother me, but to be reading along a mystery and then be bogged down in a page or two of true pornography in order to keep going with the story was not to my taste. The story itself is interesting, the surprise twist appears some 20 pages short of the end of the book, which finishes a little flat. The book reminded me of a Glaswegian version of Arturo Perez-Reverte, but not at his very best. Some of the reviewers mention awaiting her next book with anticipation. It will be interesting to see whether it is in the mystery vain or the almost pornography category. The small photo of her on the inside flap is one of the worst I have ever seen of an author for their book. It is as if the photo purposely was meant to hide more than it reveals.
Rating:
Summary: Warning
Review: A fresh and interesting writing style. Two major problems, one this is not a Scottish novel, it is a Glaswegian novel: References to geography are not a major block to someone, but if the reader is unfamiliar with Glaswgow and it's language, there will be tiny dead spots within the story as the words with unfamiliar meanings are used. Also a potential problem, there are a couple of instances where the writer is extremely specific about homosexual encounters. The homosexual hero/main character did not bother me, but to be reading along a mystery and then be bogged down in a page or two of true pornography in order to keep going with the story was not to my taste. The story itself is interesting, the surprise twist appears some 20 pages short of the end of the book, which finishes a little flat. The book reminded me of a Glaswegian version of Arturo Perez-Reverte, but not at his very best. Some of the reviewers mention awaiting her next book with anticipation. It will be interesting to see whether it is in the mystery vain or the almost pornography category. The small photo of her on the inside flap is one of the worst I have ever seen of an author for their book. It is as if the photo purposely was meant to hide more than it reveals.
Rating: 
Summary: Descriptive gay sex within a weak mystery novel
Review: A gay man trying to solve a snuff photo mystery is a twist on the movie 8mm and has promise. The descriptions of the auction business is somewhat interesting. The author pulls a red herring on us that will make a tense but unsatisfactory movie climax. Too much of the book is devoted to describing gay sex. This book is more a curiosity than the great work many reviewers describe.
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: As a Glaswegian abroad, I was delighted to read this book, which captures the feel of my home city so convincingly. The writing style, description and dialogue seem to draw heavily on the noir tradition, in literature but also I suspect in movies - I wasn't surprised to read that this is being made into a film in the UK. I loved the central character, Rilke. He was a true original, and for me, an old fashioned hero, flawed but deeply moral. This has been billed as a thriller, but I think that's missing much of the point of the book. Yes, the plot will keep you reading, but it's the vivid atmosphere and superb characters that will stay with you long after you put this book down.
Rating:
Summary: More than a crime novel - a stunning debut
Review: Crime novels seldom qualify as literature because as a genre, crime fiction is said to be manipulative and hence considered a lower written art form. Not so, with Louise Welsh's stunning debut, "The Cutting Room (CR)". Welsh is undoubtedly a fresh new talent but already she shows such craft, style and maturity in her writing it would be a shame to pigeonhole her as a crime novelist so early in her writing career. She has the stylistic versatility to cross over.As several reviewers have noted on this site, it isn't the plot that makes CR such an impressive and riveting novel. If truth be told, plot is possibly the one weak element in Welsh's story. The premise is certainly fascinating. An aging gay auction house dealer turns investigator after stumbling across possible evidence - from among a rare collection of pornographic books - of a snuff murder being committed in an earlier time. He and his firm needs the money from the job to survive. Before he completes the job, his client dies and he and his boss are tempted to make off with the collection including the evidence but is stopped by an inquisitive and awakening conscience. Rilke is an enthralling anti-hero figure. He is jaded, depraved and dissolute. He cruises bars and parks after work to satisfy his lust for young flesh but his conscience remains alive, buried beneath the stains and ravages of smoke, drugs and drink. Here, Welsh shows her natural talent with characterisation. Rilke's associates and the other lowlife who make up the human landscape are also utterly real and believable. But that's not all. Welsh delves deep into the art auction business and emerges with an authentic and vividly assembled picture of the trade. She's great at scene setting and creating the right atmosphere for her story. What's possibly lacking is a sustained interest in plot development. Often it seems she might have a different bee in her bonnet and this is most evident in the way she engineers the denouement. Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, it's all over. It's as if you sneaked out to the loo and found you missed the ending when you came back. "The Cutting Room" is nevertheless a formidable debut and one of the most impressive (crime) novels I have ever read. It would be unfairly limiting to consider Welsh simply a budding crime novelist. I think she has potential to produce literature of enduring quality. CR is just the beginning. I'll be looking out for her next. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A seductive journey
Review: From Scotland comes this dark, seductive tale of a man caught by a mystery. Rilke works for an auction house and is called in to take care of a recently deceased man's belongings. He's instructed by the man's sister to privately dispose of what's in the attic. His curiosity is piqued, and he's shocked at what he finds: an extensive erotic library, and a cache of disturbing photos of what appears to be the murder of a young woman. He stumbles about trying to figure out what to do, and slips further into the fringes of a dangerous world through his acquaintances. Meeting pornographers and traffickers and others in the skin trade, Rilke continues his own lonely existence and pines for the alluring young man he meets along the way. Unfortunately, he has also slipped into a web of deceit that might just threaten his life and those he's encountered. "The Cutting Room" is told with a compelling voice and gives a remarkable portrait of life of Glasgow. I never got a clear idea of why Rilke felt drawn to find about the pictures, and the twist at the end is rather bewildering, but overall I enjoyed this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Gay porn and weak plot
Review: I feel that the rave reviews from media and readers are totally wrong, and it's not because I am against a gay hero. He is an unhappy auctioneer who goes for casual sex, but the story is weak (more a thriller than a whodunnit), improbably, and stumbles along. Along the way, the hero sees a young (man) in a window who longs to be seduced and goes up to his room. This is written in a *very* graphic way, and the boy does not appear anywhere else in the book. Hero Rile makes passes at another character, Derek, whose role in the book is also a big question mark. The story of hero Rilke finding snuff pictures of a girl and becoming so upset by them that he goes on a quest for the solution is not believable, and not well executed.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: I loved this book. From the start it gripped me and pulled me in. It was so original to have what has been described as a crime book, based around not a detective nor policeman, but an auctioneer - Rilke. The whole setting was fascinating; I could completely imagine the scene of the big old house that was the subject of the clearance, the furniture, the antiques, the mysterious and spooky attic containing someone's past life and history. It was in the attic that Rilke discovers the photographs upon which the whole story is based - a woman lies bound in ropes, tortured, bleeding, dead. But are the photographs genuine? Was this woman really murdered or is she the subject of a sick but clever photographer? Rilke's journey to unravel and resolve the authenticity of the photographs is fast paced and incredibly intriguing, I couldn't stop reading, desperate to find out what fascinating fact would be stumbled upon next. As a main character, I really liked Rilke, I had a soft spot for him. I was compelled by his life, his world, the people he knew. Along the way we meet many other beguiling characters, Rose - Rilke's feisty business partner; Les the dealer and TV; Anne-Marie the stripper; Anderson the sober policeman who shares a secret history with Rilke; and the illegal 'ring' of dealers. These are just a few, there are many more. But with each character Welsh manages to make us feel as if we personally know them, each is a distinct individual, even the ones we have only a fleeting encounter with - I really felt that I might bump into these people on the street! There are also some great underlying themes to this book, the seedy underworld of prngrphy, the gay scene, religion, drugs, illegal immigrants. All are cleverly entwined and so much a part of the story that I didn't even regard them as separate themes. Although to many of us these worlds are perhaps not viewed as part of our everyday lives, this book realised them as actual and very much alive, if still not wholly accepted, in our society. I would definitely recommend 'The Cutting Room'. Not just for crime readers, this is for anyone looking for a modern, fast paced, atmospheric read, full of intrigue, insight and great characters.
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful book
Review: I loved this book. The language was beautiful. The characters were multi-dimensional. The Cutting Room absorbed my thoughts even when I was away from it. I read a lot and am also a novelist. Both have made me jaded - it's the rare book that doesn't have me editing it in my head as I go along. Instead, The Cutting Room captured my heart - and made me wish I had written it.
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