The Killing Joke

Anthony Horowitz is a very busy man. The Killing Joke, a grimly hilarious black comic novel, may be his first book for adults, but his Alex Rider series (in which a junior James Bond repeatedly saves the world) is a publishing phenomenon, selling millions to young readers - and shortly to be rendered into a film series. Horowitz has written a film for Christina Ricci, and has scripted such TV series as Foyle's War and The Midsomer Murders. All of this varied experience has fed into The Killing Joke, and produced a novel that will have you laughing quite as often as it raises your pulse (and that's on Horowitz's agenda, too).

Guy Henderson is a struggling actor recently dumped by his girlfriend. Getting drunk in a downmarket North London pub, he overhears builders telling a sick joke about a recently deceased actress - who just happens to be Guy's long-lost mother. He objects, and is viciously headbutted for his pains. But does he seek revenge? No - the incident sends him on torturous quest for the source of jokes such as the one that offended him - and he encounters both shadowy, sinister figures and bizarre characters who appear to have stepped right out of jokes -- and don't have his welfare at heart.The one-liners here are, to quote the title, killingly funny, and the hapless Guy is a wonderfully shambolic hero; If the final revelation doesn't quite match the brilliantly sustained build up, few will complain. It looks like Horowitz has another career - first-rate comic novelist - to add to his bulging CV. --Barry Forshaw

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More than a joke - Rated
I've always associated Anthony Horowitz with rather serious subjects such as Foyles War on TV. However, this book breaks into completely new ground. It's stimulating, imaginative, exciting and funny all at the same time. Your view of the world is constantly challenged and it helps open your mind to a host of possibilities in normal day life. This is helped through setting the rather surreal events in the very normal setting of north London and East Anglia.
Absolutley brilliant!

Original and entertaining... but slightly disappointing! - Rated
I got this book for Christmas and had specifically asked for it as I've love Horowitz's previous books. However, I'm feeling mild disappointment. It starts off well, and ends well however I do feel its slightly long winded in between. There are some hilarious moments, especially with the nuns in the subway and the rabbis chasing the hero and heroine through the streets of Oxford. I also loved the Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman - very clever! However, by about 3/4 I was experiencing disappointment. I was expecting it to be a hilarious story full of laugh out loud jokes, thats what seemed to be promised by the reviews, but I didnt find myself in that situation at all! A couple of times I smiled wryly but apart from that nothing much else. (I was also slightly disturbed by the scene set in the fun house) However I do think the ending was quite ingenious and certainly had a little chuckle to myself. The Killing Joke is certainly not without humour but I think perhaps it was just too long winded, and at times I felt it lagging. Overall I give this book 4/5 as it is an enjoyable read, due to it being such an original and clever book.

A great read! - Rated
The Killing Joke is the first book I've read by Anthony Horowitz but it will undoubtedly not be the last.
My first impression was that it would be a comical read. It turned out to be much more. There were many parts which made me chuckle but within it lied something much more sinister. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and literally could not put it down. It is well plotted and unpredictable. I recommend it to anyone and it is already being passed around my friends.
Courtney, 14

A thoroughly enjoyable and imaginative read! - Rated
Well written and a real page turner. I bought this book on impulse as I liked the unique concept behind the story, about following a joke back to it's source. This is a comical detective story, with a slightly sinister undertone. Guy Fletcher hears a joke in a pub and decides to hunt it down to its source, in order to pass the time whilst in-between jobs. His journey takes him across the country, and he meets a wide variety of people and his perfect soul mate. However things start going wrong when a 'secret organisation' stumbles upon his enquiries and puts a plan into action to stop him. Things start off pretty harmless, but then things get worse... explosions, deaths, murder, and various attempts on Guy's on life all add to this action packed adventure story.

All stops are pulled out to prevent Guy reaching the answer to his question. What is this big secret that they do not want discovered? It's big enough to turn Guy's life into turmoil that's for sure, as he's wanted by the police, is on the run, and everything seems to be laughing at him on the way. With an Englishman and Irishman and a Scotsman following him around and watching his every move, the book keep me guessing all the way through. Filled with a few classics that everyone will have had a laugh at before - Guy really does find a fly in his soup! You keep imagining which way things are going to turn, and are constantly surprised until the very end.

about the end... - Rated
As a Horowitz-fan, I adored reading this book, I recommend it to anyone with a sense of humour, and to all without a sense of humour. But I would like to say that the ending, which seems to be quite disturbing to the other reviewers, is actually just going a bit further with the main theme. Because the whole structure of the last (before last) chapter is the same as a joke, fast-paced, with a lot of gaps, and it gets even better, because Horowitz, who describes his main character as bad in telling jokes, is in fact ruining the end by forgetting important characters and switching facts in time. Lots of autors would end with the escape, but Horowitz uses the (half) open end to tell the audience "It's just a joke" and he starts again, with a repetition of the first chapter, a famous openingphrase of jokes. I also like the happy end, but that's just me.