This is Wroe’s second novel and he has been deemed to write lively and amusing stories. Sometimes comedy works for me and other times not. This book appealed to me as it told the tale of the fictional Kyrzbekistan, a place given the title of most corrupt country 2011, which sounded like it would have lots of comedic gold to offer.

Keeping close to Wroe’s roots as a journalist, it surrounds the impact of a newspaper, called the Chronicle, trying to capture what is happening in Kyrzbekistan amidst a drive against free speech in a corrupt country.

The main character is a teenage lad named Ellis, who having set fire to his school is made to work at his father’s newspaper print, being taught the old ways in the face of an Internet, electronic information sharing shut-down. There is a lot of frustration at the lack of free speech and attempts to control everyone’s lives. There are heavy handed police, revolutionaries and a Russian billionaire to contend with.

Ellis’s parents are consequently imprisoned, electrical power is lost and a strong bastion to overcome this corrupt society is established. There is a coming of age, love interest element, in that Ellis falls for an oligarch with the dubious name of Joan.

The characters are loud and brash. Wroe clearly has a distinct writing style, but as a personal read it was a bit too much farce & alternative facts for me. I couldn't buy into the characters. It failed to make me titter or smile and in fact some of the scenes and characters were irritating. Having said that if you do enjoy farce then it is likely to hit the right spots as it is loaded with it. I would hate to put off any readers if it appeals to them and imagine those that enjoyed his first novel Chop Chop, will likely enjoy this dark comedy endeavour too. But sorry for me it was just more of an endurance than a pleasure to read.