Iain Banks' debut novel, The Wasp Factory, caused a storm of controversy when it was first published in 1984 and became an immediate classic

'There's no denying the bizarre fertility of the author's imagination: his brilliant dialogue, his cruel humour'
Irish Times

'Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different reasons than I'd disposedof Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda more or less on a whim. That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again. It was just a stage I was going through.'

Enter - if you can bear it - the extraordinary private world of Frank, just sixteen, and unconventional, to say the least.

'Read it if you dare. Weirdly talented'
Daily Express

Brilliant . . . irresistible . . . compelling