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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Tomas
|author=James Palumbo
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=180
|publisher=Quartet Books
|date=July 2009
|isbn=978-0704371583
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>0704371588</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=0704371588|aznus=<amazonus>0704371588</amazonus>
}}
Tomas has had enough of the unthinking excess and greed of modern society. He despises the men declaring themselves film producers to impress women wheeling around their breasts on trolleys. So he kills them. The chief of police doesn't pay much attention until he makes his favourite hotel disappear, obviously.
''Tomas'' has cult written all over it. It's slick, cool, funny and very readable. If you're sat on a beach, wanting to flick through something that will make you laugh a bit, think a bit, and that has a smattering of violence and sex, it's ideal. There are hints of [[''American Psycho]] '' and the collected works of [[:Category:Hunter S Thompson|Hunter S Thompson]], with the surreality and metaphor cranked up.
James Palumbo's debut novel takes potshots at all the unpleasant and shallow aspects of life. When his satire has a broad target, it's usually excellent. The jokes and ideas are very strong - I particularly laughed at the newspaper's front cover about a celebrity's knickers, and the editor's attempts to tie other stories to them. When the satire is narrower, it lacks the necessary viciousness. If you say that I'm A Celebrity is a bit rubbish, the audience says "Yes. And?" It needs to be a knife under the ribs. It needs to make people's jaws drop.
If cult's what you crave, then you won't go far wrong with [[American Skin by Ken Bruen]] and [[The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks]]. If you fancy something a little bit different to read this summer, check out our [[Top Ten Beach Reads For Men]].
{{amazontext|amazon=0704371588}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=66609950704371588}}
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