Quite Ugly One Evening by Chris Brookmyre, a joyous return for Jack and a sharp look at family and memory
Chris Brookmyre has always been a master at mixing breathless thrills with big laughs and sharper truth, and Quite Ugly One Evening lands with the giddy snap of a long awaited encore. From the first chapter the voice is confident and playful, the plot is brisk and cleverly knotted, and the attitude is pure Brookmyre.
The title is a wink that longtime readers will clock right away. It nods to Quite Ugly One Morning, the debut that introduced so many of us to Jack and established Brookmyre as a fearless storyteller with an ear for mischief and a taste for moral complexity. Morning was a brash calling card and a riotous shot of adrenaline. Evening feels like its reflective twin. Same grin, same bite, but filtered through experience and perspective. By playing with the time of day in the titles, Brookmyre seems to be saying that the sun never really sets on chaos, it only throws new shadows, and Jack knows his way around the dark as well as the light.
Family sits right at the heart of this story. Not just the family you are born into, but the sprawling and sometimes messy constellations of loyalty and debt that form around you over a lifetime. The book understands the weird chemistry of family, that mix of tenderness and exasperation, and it uses that insight to drive choices that feel both surprising and inevitable. It is a thriller, yes, but the aftertaste is emotional truth.
Jack’s return is a delight. He has always been one of crime fiction’s most charismatic narrators, equal parts nerve and need, the sort of character who can talk his way into trouble with the same flair he uses to escape it. In this outing you can feel the miles on his clock. He is still quick with the quip and sharp as a tack, but there is a new steadiness in how he reads a room and a new honesty in how he reads himself. Fans of the earlier Jack adventures will catch little shifts in tone and posture that speak to growth without losing the swagger. It is great to see him evolve through the series while staying recognisably Jack.
One of the most resonant threads is the simple idea that people never really change, not in the ways that count. The book keeps bumping Jack and others up against their long standing patterns. The gifted hustler still hustles, the idealist still tries to do the right thing even when the right thing is fogged by risk, the ruthless player still pushes the same buttons. Yet Brookmyre finds nuance in that truth. People may not change at the core, but they can become more honest about who they are, and they can choose what to do with that knowledge. That is where the growth lives, and the book treats that recognition as a kind of grace.
For readers devoted to the Jack canon, this book feels like a reunion with an old friend who still knows the best stories and now tells them with a touch more wisdom. The earlier books featuring Jack were brilliant for their energy and audacity. This one preserves that spirit while folding in experience and consequence. You can sense the author’s affection for the character, not as a mascot but as a man who has earned his scars, and that affection is contagious. I finished with the warm buzz you get when a series you love proves it still has new places to go.
If you are new to Brookmyre, you can still jump in and have a blast. The plot stands on its own feet. The dialogue sings. The themes are universal. And if you do start here, you will likely find yourself hungry to meet the younger Jack in the earlier books, to see how his spark first caught fire in Quite Ugly One Morning and how that flame has been shaped by time and trouble. There is a pleasure in watching the continuum, in seeing how a voice matures while staying unmistakable.
The family focus gives the climax a satisfying weight. Choices land harder when they carry the charge of shared history. Secrets feel more dangerous when they threaten not only freedom or safety but the stories a family tells about itself. The book understands that protection and control can look similar from the outside, and that trust is a fragile bridge built from a thousand small truths. That insight elevates the thrills into something that lingers after the final scene fades.
So here is the verdict. Quite Ugly One Evening is a fast and funny and heartfelt return to form. It respects the roots while finding fresh soil. It will keep you tapping those digital Kindle pages with an eager grin and a thumping pulse. It will give you a few lines you will want to repeat to friends and a few choices you will want to argue about over a late night drink. It is exactly the kind of novel that reminds you why a beloved series endures.
Readers who already know Brookmyre will be counting the days until this is released. The rest of you can relax a little, since it is not due until May 2026. You have plenty of time to become obsessed with his other work before Jack saunters back onto the stage. My advice, start with Quite Ugly One Morning to catch the spark, then roam wherever your curiosity pulls you. However you approach it, this new adventure is worth the wait and an absolute joy to read.
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