Tourist Paperback – 5 April 2001

This is the first Matt Thorne book I've read. At first I loved it, the atmosphere of the dead seaside town is dead spot on, the the emptiness of the character's lives is reflected in their town, and the town's emptiness in them. I also though Matt was incredibly ambitious to write his first book in the first person of a female character, but he seems to have succeeded in making her believable. But then I'm not a woman, so I'm not sure.I quickly got bored though, once I'd gotten over being impressed by atmospherics. The book didn't go anywhere, it just trod water for half the time, muddy, sewage filled, cold sea water.And then there was the sex scenes. I know many people applaud Matt for his ability to write them, but they're just ugly and pointless. At first I thought they fitted well, as a demonstration of the characters trying to fill their lives with something, but halfway through I'd start thinking "oh, yet another sex scene" and start skimming forwards. Why be against describing your characters' appearances, or their locations, but be all for detailed descriptions of them doing it with each other, again and again and again?Still, I was impressed with much of his writing, and Matt Thorne certainly has an ability to evoke powerful images when he tries to.