Brightness Falls (Vintage Contemporaries)

Rating:
Summary: The demise of a pawn in a corporate raid
Review: With little of the incoherence or mawkishness that marked "Ransom", but also little of the levity that graced "Bright Lights, Big City", the novel relates a failed junk-bond-takeover of a New York publishing house, in which the protagonist, a minor editor in this company, is a key figure ... and is left out in the rain. Apart from the rather strong dose of morality dealt out towards the end, a compelling read. As usual, McInerney is good at making his characters act and think like real human beings. However, certain aspects are best overlooked, the socialite wife helping victims of a raided crack-house, the corporate raider who is married to a transsexual, the junkie friend ... these seem to be added for effect rather than any reason related to the story's plot.