Niccolo Ammaniti first came into my life through the superb, thrilling novel "I'm not scared" a couple of years ago. The writing was clever, suspenseful and exquisite, the storyline intriguing and surprising.

So, as soon as I heard that his latest book had been translated I got myself a copy (this time, on audio, read by the absolutely outstanding Rupert Degas, whose accents and intonations are flawless). Well, if anyone told me that there was a misprint on the cover, and it's in fact written by a different author I'd believe it! It couldn't be more different to "I'm not scared" if it tried!

The writing is still clever, but much wittier with lots of absurd dialogue and inner thought processes. The story is told from various people's perspectives in the third person, predominantly by a hen-pecked, spineless accountant who runs a satanic cult behind his wife's back, and secondly by a vain, egocentric writer who is a manipulative strategist in every situation. The book is full of wackos and weirdos, and whilst this is very entertaining, it does get a bit tiring when even as far as chapter 77 (out of about 82) we are introduced to someone else, still.

If you enjoy satire, crazy situational comedy, shock value violence and a bunch of flawed but fascinating characters, I'd recommend this to you!