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A review of Dead Famous

by Ben Elton

A satirical whodunnit based on reality T.V. shows such as big Brother

Reviewed by: Alan McClymont
About Alan McClymont

Dead Famous Ben Elton returns at the top of his game with his most recent novel Dead Famous. In his usual satirical style he describes one of the darling formats of modern day T.V., the reality show. If ever you have a pet hate you should pick up a book by Elton dealing with the subject. You will find that he tears it to pieces with surprising skill and finesse - but it still remains torn apart. If you are a fan of reality T.V. however, don't worry there is still plenty here for you to laugh (and occasionally wince) at.

Using the structure of Big Brother as a guideline Elton manages to create a murder mystery thriller with plenty of humor. The basic idea is simple enough. 12 people volunteer to spend some time shut up in a house together whilst being filmed around the clock by a T.V. crew. Every week viewers vote out one of the contestants and at the end the remaining participant wins a large cash prize and, invariably, instant media status.

Unlike the traditional format, however, as things are looking a bit slow and boring Elton throws in a murder and all hell breaks loose. The remaining contestants agree to continue with the game knowing that the murderer must still be in the house with them. At the same time a cynical out of touch detective is given the case and proceeds to bounce from dead end to dead end. The contestants are desperately trying to find out who did it but at the same time are still trying to win the contest. It gives the writer a good chance at having a go at their stupidity and vanity and he doesn't miss out.

In taking the traditional murder mystery novel into the technical age Elton manages to refresh the genre and bring in some new and unexpected twist. I never felt that I knew who did it until it was over and I had to keep turning the pages to find out at as quickly as I could. Even without the wonderful humor and great cynical observations which are made this book would still be worth the read. With them, however, it would be sacrilegious not to read it.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Dead Famous

Copyright © by Alan Mcclymont, 2003

Reviewed by Alan McClymont :
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