This book is for all means and purposes satire of modern society, world where people are more interested in differences than in common points, where everyone is always right and trolls and social-justice-warriors roam the network and spread their gospels on whatever is current at the moment. Main slogan is not to let facts influence ones discussions and statements.

It is world where something needs to happen, all the time, there is no breathing space when good portion of population is glued to their phones and depends on it for tracking what happens around them.

Unfortunately all of the above is more or less how things work in real world - of course story is exaggerated for the dramatic purposes but not by much.

Through detective Matlock author gives picture of cultural clash between old and new generations. Almost everything said and done by "old-ones" is very sure to draw ire from the ultra-politically-correct new generation or rejected because it is old and no more "in" (newspapers eh, who reads them today, right, right!?!?). Which would not be bad if these "correctors" are not so easily fired up by random news to almost extreme levels. It seems like everything is put under microscope and given no option to explain - you are either right or not. And if you are not ..... oh boy.

Author presents all of the above as comedy but so many things are so close to home and echo in reality that it is not funny.

Only thing I did not like is use of Russians as archenemies - this ended up being so cheap it is unbelievable. I don't know why author decided to go this way since he could even taken route of mystery antagonists (it is all in cyberspace right?) but I guess he had to be hip and use them as main puppeteers because it is ... in - right? I guess no country has their own greedy, power hungry and unscrupulous businessmen/criminals and public is always so well informed and naive (including the government) that only external enemy can disturb them? I can only say give me the break. Blaming others for faults in ones society is very disturbing thing to do.

In summary interesting book that shows how society, in times when almost whole human knowledge is at the very tip of the hand, decides to be tricked and led by demagogues and [how is now popular to say] story-spinners (before they used to say these people twisted the truth but I guess that would mean they were liars which is not so politically correct - right?). And demagogues and story-spinners will always find the way out and keep people occupied with things that will keep their pressure up and thinking on hold.

Only thing that could be done better is actual plot that runs in the background. Main antagonist is just ... poor choice.
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I'm not sure how to classify "Identity Crisis". It feels like a satire except that it's unflinchingly honest and that kind of honesty makes me wince rather than smile. It's not a polemic as it's not selling a solution, just displaying a problem by flaying the surface of it and exposing the bloody mess underneath. It has too much bitter humour in it to be a dirge or a lament. Perhaps it is just a mirror, held up to make us look at ourselves and take in what we've become.

The focus is on how social media is being used to create a climate of fury, to discredit evidence-based argument and to undermine support for any view of the world that is neither angry nor extreme.

It is a world in which appearance is more important than substance, where being "on the right side of history" is achieved by weaponising hashtags to pillory opponents, where identity is more important than information, where the "national conversation" is a curated stream of propaganda that sustains anger and division to pre-empt challenges to extreme political positions.

The story is pitched around a referendum to make England independent of the rest of the UK. It's told with a bitter wit that was so close to home that I felt like I was watching a vivisection. Although it's not a long book, I had to take regular breaks from it to allow the feelings of disgust and despair to dissipate.

Ben Elton has a deep understanding of how social media is being used to shift opinion, create and sustain tribalism and distract us from the real agenda being driven by the powerful.

The strongest parts of the book are those that deal with the referendum, with mainstream media and social media response to sexual abuse and with the use of a revamped version of "Love Island" to surface issues related to gender and sexuality.

In the end, I felt the novel went nowhere. It was an exposition rather than a narrative. If these issues are new to you, it will make you think. If these issues are known to you then it may confirm your darkest views of what's happening.

I listened to the audiobook version of "Identity Crisis", which is narrated by Ben Elton. He does a serviceable job but I would have preferred to have had a narrator with a little more range. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.
https://soundcloud.com/audiolibrary-a/identity-crisis-by-ben-elton-audiobook-exc... ( )

Matlock had made the mistake of taking the call on speaker-phone and he could see DC Clegg listening in. She gave him a sympathetic shrug. He knew what she was thinking. That he was just another bewildered old dad-man floundering about in the unfamiliar waters of a society he no longer ‘got’.
Pretty hurtful for a guy who still considered himself to be 100 per cent rock ’n’ roll. Although, of course, he also understood that rock ’n’ roll was something only dad-men continued to aspire to be.

A satire on political correctness, social media and cancel culture. It is not one of my favourites of Ben Elton’s recent books, maybe because it hits too close to home to be a comfortable read.

3.5 stars ( )

The basic plot, which I've added below, concerns the investigation of a series of murders by old-school Scotland Yard Detective Mick Matlock. Each of the victims seems to belong to one of the "kaleidoscope of opposing identity groups" but luckily Mick has a couple of sidekicks to walk him (and many of us readers) through them. In the background is an upcoming referendum to withdraw England from the UK.

This is a very English book. Very, very English. So much so, that I don't think many readers outside of the UK, or England to be specific, will be able to fully appreciate it. Example: There are three characters presumably representing real-world political figures: Bunter Jolly; Plantagenet Greased-Hogg and Guppy Toad. I'm willing to bet that Bunter Jolly is Boris Johnson, but have no idea who the others are, and couldn't be arsed trying to find out. 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys is also referenced (as the subject of a one man play), but I'm glad I spent a few minutes reading up on him!

The broadly satirical book takes aim at some easy targets like political correctness, reality TV, social media and English politics. I think that political correctness as a target for satire was probably clapped out in the '90s. Satirising reality TV seems largely pointless, because the truth is far stranger than anything the author can invent, but if you're au fait with Love Island UK, you may get something more from the book. You will also appreciate it if you know what all the letters in LGBTQIAPK+ mean. And social media? Take it or leave it, present company excepted.

Other annoyances are characters with similar names (Sammy the first victim and Sally the Detective; Tom the politician and Tommy the political lobbyist), repetition ("on the wrong side of history" must have been used 50 times) and insignificant minor characters being given too much airtime.

On the plus side, there were a few laughs and the ending was well done.

***1/2 stars if you're English, not a straight white male, are a straight white male, love reality TV, hate reality TV, love social media, hate social media, or don't fit into any of the above categories. ( )