The Steep Approach to Garbadale - Iain Banks

I've been a fan of Iain Banks since a friend loaned me a copy of the Wasp Factory about fifteen years ago. Since then I have read everything he has written. I generally prefer his science fiction; to me that is where his skills are at their peak.

In Garbadale Banks is revisiting modern corporate culture, a subject he mulled over in his previous novel The Business.  This time he mixes in some of the secrets, scandals, and quirks of an old Scottish family, cheapening the storytelling somewhat with the use of a gimmicky twisted plot-line and suspense.

Unfortunately this is a weak novel for Banks. His last, The Algebraist, was among his best and one of my favourites so I'm pretty sure he hasn't run out of good ideas.  There was nothing challenging here and most of the characters felt two dimensional.  It's hard to empathise with a protagonist that never shows you how he feels.  The story itself has very little substance and is hinged on a secret that you know is only going to be revealed in the final pages.