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Close to extinction: Venomous Lumpsucker, by Ned Beauman, reviewed

6 August 2022

9:00 AM

6 August 2022

9:00 AM

Venomous Lumpsucker Ned Beauman

Sceptre, pp.294, 20

Ned Beauman’s novels are like strange attractors for words with the letter ‘Z’. They zip, zing, fizz, dazzle and sizzle. They are a bizarre bazaar of pizzazz. Some readers no doubt might find his form of literary hyperactivity exhausting. Personally, I find it exhilarating. In part this is because the novels do not just have propulsive plotting but the ideas are high-octane as well.

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