This is Gavin Extence’s third book and it’s the third book of his I’ve loved and the third book of his I’d tell you to go out and read. He has a real knack for getting under the skin of any given situation and dealing with it, without making it a parody or overly sentimental and slushy and The Empathy Problem is no different.

Set against the backdrop of the St Paul’s Cathedral protest a few years ago, The Empathy Problem follows Gabriel as he learns about his brain tumour. His office overlooks St Paul’s and he often looks out of his window at the protestors and makes assumptions about the people below him and about how long they’ll last for outside. All the while, proud at how much money he’s making and how he’s carrying on his now extremely shortened life.

But, the tumour is affecting his emotions, so with the advice of his oncologist he seeks out the support of a psychologist. She is a no-nonsense, realist and gives him a much-needed kick up the bum. But, this doesn’t stop Gabriel because what Gabriel usually wants, Gabriel usually gets and something like a brain tumour isn’t going to stop him. The problem is, he is now looking at it from a slightly different viewpoint and thinks things make a bit more sense.

This book will keep you hooked as you follow Gabriel on his strange tumour-led journey. It’s not sad and weepy and a book to make you all blue.
It’s quite a clever look at our class system. The banking crisis. And people.

A great read. Highly recommended. I can’t wait to read his next.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my copy.

I chose this book as it has been compared to 'The Rosie Project,' which I loved but unfortunately I had a problem finding much empathy for the central character in 'The Empathy Problem'. Self-centered, egotistical and obnoxiously rich hedge fund manager, Gabriel begins to have a change in personality following his diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor. To begin with I found the story quite slow moving and whilst the pace increased in the second half, the characters remained one-dimensional and thus I couldn't get emotionally involved with them.