I was eager to read The Facility having loved Simon Lelic's first novel Rupture and I was not disappointed. While different in scope and subject to its forerunner Lelic once again unflinchingly tackles some of the thorniest issues facing modern society. The Facility, which is set in the near future, depicts a nation in which stringent anti-terrorism legislation is regularly used to curb the civil liberties of a populace all too willing to shrug its shoulders and accept the "necessity" of such draconian measures. The plot is darkly gripping throughout, while the central characters are all briliantly drawn. The tortured Henry Graves is a particularly strong character and, as with Rupture, Lelic demonstrates an uncanny ability to garner sympathy for those that on face value do not deserve it. Although some have criticised Lelic for not continuing with the innovative narrative style of Rupture, which gained him so many plaudits, I am glad that he resisted the temptation to follow what was obviously a successful formula. Lelic's storytelling is strong enough to stand alone and this pacy, high-brow thiller does not need technical trickery to maintain the reader's emotional involvement until the very last page. With his taut writing style and elegant, often poetic prose, Lelic is rapidly turning into one of the nation's finest new authors. A 1984 for the i-pod generation!

I enjoyed Simon Lelic's style of writing very much. His main characters were very well defined and I found myself sympathising with the main character and the dilemas which he faced. The plot, for me, let this otherwise excellent writing down. I found it too much of a repeat of dictatorial European history of the last century. I didn't enjoy reading about human suffering, especially when these characters were supposidly very poorly. All a bit far fetched for me with too much of a ring of previous truth.