I have never read a book like this! I never want to read another book like this...unless it's Marco who is writing it! What a wild ride! This is so clever and well thought out and Marco, what a scream.

I loved that the book is just a constant trail of his thoughts. There was one scene where Marco got a call from Chief of Police Como Galahad and Marco jumped in the car and sped to him, in the car Marco mused what he could give as a reason for this urgent call. It might not make sense here but seriously it's so funny how is done. The book changes course throughout as Marco does crazy things, changes things, and makes his own plot hole observations.

I seriously just bloody loved it! It's a work of art, and Marco is definitely the idiot in this book, as the tagline suggests. I had so much fun with this book. It is one of my favourites already and I have 2 more to read!

This is book 2, but I believe this was written first, and I didn't miss out on not reading anything else before. I am going to be reading the other two as I do need a Marco fix. He is the loveable rogue, the daft side kick, but in his head, he's the hero because why would you want to be anything less in your own story? This is a book everyone should give a chance to, and you won't regret it.

This has to go down as my most highlighted ebook to date! Nearly every page brought another tongue-in-cheek spoof of writing, reading, fiction in general, or crime fiction in particular.

I just haven’t read another book quite like it!

The story follows Marco Ocram, bad writer and something of an idiot all round, as he writes his own crime adventure while it occurs. Every word of the story pops from Marco’s addled brain and into reality, via the filter of the words we read on the page. It’s unbelievably meta and incredibly good fun.

Starting with a new television and a squished body, Marco drags his reluctant hero (who he believes to be a sidekick) Como along for a romp through the tropes and clichés of crime fiction, framed utterly anew by the unique style of delivery.

There are innumerable media and cultural references: Marco Ocram is basically standing in front of the Fourth Wall nodding, winking and mouthing ‘Ha ha, look!’ periodically at the reader. I think I could reread the book multiple times and still find new gems.

Whilst seemingly unlikable with few redeeming features, Marco actually quickly endeared himself to me as he bumbled from one ridiculous situation to the next, solemnly pointing out every plot hole and linguistic flaw but pushing determinedly onward in the blind belief that somehow it will all turn out okay if he just keeps on writing.

In my opinion, regardless of the outcome of the case, it did!

I would recommend this to fans of Castle, Robert Rankin’s Lazlo Woodbine and pretty much any self-aware humorous fiction. I can’t wait for the next book…! (5th August 2019).





I hadn’t forgotten. In my last book, I’d wanted to play the bad cop in the ‘good cop, bad cop’ routine when we interviewed one of the baddies, but Como pointed out that I was a writer, not a cop, so we ended up doing the ‘good cop, bad writer’ routine, with me as the bad writer, which had caused no end of cheap jokes at my expense. You don’t forget a thing like that easily.

– Marco Ocram, The Awful Truth About the Sushing Prize


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog

Funny, creative, and weird mystery. This won't be for everyone (that wants a funny read), but the author is very talented. If you're seeking something different, you'll probably like this. Recommended.

Thank you to Tiny Fox Press and NetGalley for the ARC!!

Hmmm... I'm not sure whether I liked this book or not. I guess it is a humorous mystery with a very original concept but I found it a little annoying at times. A quick read and a little bit different but not as funny as it thinks it is.

Thank you to Tiny Fox Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not a mystery so much as a stream of consciousness narrated by a complete idiot. There is no 4th wall in this story, we are privy to every single fact that flits through the narrator's head and that in turn becomes the story. There is also no superpower, it's just that the story takes many twists and turns (see above), until ending in an extremely unlikely way.

Overall, this would have been genius as a short story, or maybe a longread. As a complete book, not so much.

Weird, creative, unfair, humorous, and clever are all adjectives that can be used to describe this truly novel novel. Whatever rules you learned in your writing classes can be thrown away, and probably should be, if you’re going to enjoy this story in which our protagonist/author writes his own story—sometimes successfully, other times: not so much. But, philosophically speaking, isn’t that what each person tries (or fails) to do each day?