Crooked Little Vein (edit title)

• Rated 5 stars

“I kept going back to make sure I read that right. finishedoin less than 24 hrs.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Better the second time around.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Phenomenal debut novel. A deranged tale of a genuine shit magnet trekking through the sexual underbelly of America looking for a book bound in alien skin, written by Ben Franklin himself, detailing the secret history of America.

How could you not love this?”

• Rated 4 stars

“very weird but most excellent. especially the inflatable testicle thing. i highly recommend it. ”

• Rated 4 stars

“It's pure Warren Ellis, take that as you will”

• Rated 0 stars

“Odd.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Not bad. Picked this up on a recommendation from one of the Chapters staffmembers, who saw I was buying a book by Chuck Palahniuk. Quick read, relatively lots of action, seemed a little bit obsessed with the "shock value" of the content. All in all, not bad.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Hunter S. Thompson gets a lesson in readabilty and also in injection of saline into his scrotum.

This book would be good for a late teen.”

• Rated 3 stars

“Well, this certainly is one weird story. The main plot is McGill trying to locate and obtain this alternate Constitution, the one that when read aloud to people makes them do, well, pretty much whatever you want them to do. The chief of staff states that the president wants it located so that they can start holding town-hall-type meetings, read the book, and get people to go back to the way things were, the "good old days". The sexually repressed days is more like it. Never mind that the COS is a raging heroin fiend, never mind the scary way he shows up everywhere that McGill goes, and never mind that it might not be in everyone's best interest to go back to the days of the working Dad and stay-at-home Mom with the two kids, dog, and white picket fence. McGill is offered a lot of money for this mission, and he's really not in a position to say no.

He's not alone on this weird quest, either. He meets Trix, a rather flamboyant poly amorous researcher (where he meets her is one of the books weirder scenes); the two hit it off and he "hires" her to be his assistant. She tells him he needs her because he's probably the most un-hip person she's met in the last decade. True - McGill isn't known for his wild and swinging ways. And he's going to need someone like Trix to navigate the crazy trail of the book, ranging from Godzilla-obsessed dorks to a wild Texan to....well... let's just say there were things in this book that I sort of wish I didn't know about.

But when all's said and done, is this a good book? Um, yeah, I guess I'd say it is. While it is definitely out there and on the uber-weird side, I thought Ellis's writing was good. Good characterization, tightly written plot (even if it is on the out-there side!), and a nice resolution to the story. This is his first "regular" novel; he's the author of several graphic novels. I would gladly pick up another book of his, but this time, I'll know to put my mental seat belt on before I open the cover. It's definitely a wild ride! ”

• Rated 3 stars

“Like Raymond Chandler on crack? 'Crooked Little Vein' is a detective story populated with characters and situations that, in the long ago days before the internet, would probably have seemed shocking to most readers. I got the impression that I (the reader) was supposed to still be shocked by some of the things that cropped up (weird porn and fetishes, etc) in the story, but I wasn't. Perhaps I've had internet access since I was too young, or perhaps I've renewed my subscription to Bizarre magazine/Suicide Girls one too many times? Anyway. It's an alright romp. Kinky in parts but not outrageous. Plenty of dialogue rather than prose (Ellis's background in graphic novels showing through) so it's quick and easy to get through. ”