Iain Banks' debut novel, The Wasp Factory, caused a storm of controversy when it was first published in 1984 and became an immediate classic

'There's no denying the bizarre fertility of the author's imagination: his brilliant dialogue, his cruel humour'
Irish Times

'Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different reasons than I'd disposedof Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda more or less on a whim. That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage I was going through.'

Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least.

'Read it if you dare. Weirdly talented'
Daily Express

'A gothic horror story of quite exceptional quality' Financial Times

'Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim. That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage I was going through.'

Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least.


Praise for Iain Banks:

'The most imaginative novelist of his generation' The Times

'His verve and talent will always be recognised, and his work will always find and enthral new readers' Ken MacLeod, Guardian

'His work was mordant, surreal, and fiercely intelligent' Neil Gaiman

'An exceptional wordsmith' Scotsman