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The Wasp Factory

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The Wasp Factory

By: Iain Banks
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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About this listen

The Wasp Factory is a bizarre, imaginative, disturbing, and darkly comic look into the mind of a child psychopath - one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels.

"Two years after I killed Blyth, I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage that I was going through."

Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just 16, and unconventional, to say the least.

©2007 Hachette Audio (P)2007 Hachette Audio Suspense Thriller & Suspense Superhero Fiction

Critic Reviews

"One of the most brilliant first novels I have come across." (The Telegraph)

"One of the top 100 novels of the century." (The Independent)

"Brilliant...irresistible...compelling." (New York Times)

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Pretty gruesome in places and may disturb animal lovers. But a good story and well written. The narrator seemed a little strange at first but improved as the book went on.

Gruesome but well written

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Iain Banks Is a terrific writer and his imagination flying. Peter Kenny a gentle voice very easy to listen to. The story is different very clever but a very boys story. It’s not for every one.

It’s mad......mad and fun

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I purchased this book from Audible after having it on my list of books to get one day. It was the second audio book I'd ever listened to & the narrator was pretty great - especially given that this is told from the first person perspective.

Frank is a bit on the crazy side & the story goes through sections of high intensity then long, over described plateaus. I never got bored with it, just sometimes thought there were sections with too many unnecessary words. It did, however, do a good job at portraying an unstable & troubled mind.

I personally felt like the book ended really quickly. It worked, but I feel like I wanted that bit too drag out a bit more.

Definitely an odd & compelling book. Recommended.

Out there & compelling

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Brilliant piece of literature. Funny and grotesque, full of suspense and dark humor. Well worth the time.

Not for the faint of heart

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I thought I would give this book a chance. Started on a strange note and it basically remained on that plateau.

Strange, very strange...

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Banks got his psycho thriller poorly read. Dull monotonous voice

Read and enjoy the book, skip the audio

Great novel poorly delivered

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