Scott's Redraft - Sorry It's Very Late

“Complicity” By Iain Banks

Statement of Intent
The novel “Complicity” by Iain Banks has a definite turning point and decisive moment.
This study will describe what happens at this point and will explain why this is so integral to the plot.
This study will refer to the characterisation, setting and plot building up to this moment.



“Complicity” tells the story of Edinburgh journalist, Cameron Colley and the situation he finds himself in, when what he thinks is a lead for a “juicy” article turns out to be part of a plot to frame him for a series of murders. An anonymous informant sends Cameron all over the country on various pretexts and calls him at pay phones with the next piece of information on the supposed “scoop”. The locations are actually the perfect cover for the real serial killer to put Cameron in the right place at the right time to look suspicious. Cameron is actually completely innocent but so much evidence is stacked against him that he is arrested and questioned. He realises that whoever is framing him has access to a lot of information about his present and his past which narrows the field. For example there is a note in his handwriting at one of the murder scenes and many of the victims were featured in an article produced by Cameron that was very much against them and what they stood for. “Introduce a real avenger…Somebody who’ll give people like James Anderton, Judge Jamieson and Sir Toby Bissett a taste of their own medicine” Two more victims are mentioned in this article and it begins to read like a hit list. Cameron wracks his brain and finally realises his childhood friend Andy is behind the murders. The reason Andy is never suspected before is because Banks “tricks” the reader into believing he is dead. This is because a man is described being murdered in Andy’s bed, in Andy’s house and then set on fire. The body is so badly mutilated that it is never identified but he is believed to be dead by both Cameron and the police, thus eliminating him as a suspect. This is the turning point on which this study will focus.

Banks uses two narratives within the novel. A first person narrative is used for Cameron’s side of the story, where he is the narrator. A second person narrative is used for the section describing the gruesome murders taking place, for example “You took the gun out once, reaching under your thin canvas jacket”. This narrative is very unusual and rarely used. The main reason for using it is that it brings the reader closer to the text, almost making the reader a character in the novel. This narrative structure also makes the reader feel guilty because it’s as if they are murdering the people. The second person narrative is what allows the turning point to come so unexpectedly because the reader sees the man murdered in Andy’s bed and as the reader has no idea who the murderer is, automatically assumes Andy is dead. “The hotel is dark and very quiet” “The snooker room is waterlogged”. These two quotes both automatically remind the reader of Andy’s damp and dingey hotel. “You bring the log down with all your might. It hits his head but you don’t hear the noise it makes because you cry out at the same time, as though it’s you in the bed.” The statement “as though it’s you in the bed” is very ironic because it’s supposed to be Andy in the bed. This moment sees the whole book turned round as it now becomes a hunt for Andy, before he strikes again. This keeps the reader in suspense to see if Andy is eventually caught.

The characters are portrayed through their thoughts, dialogue and actions. Cameron has a delusional view of his childhood and sees it as an almost idyllic period of his life. Cameron also has some very contrasting moods.

“I’m tempted to call in at the paper and pick up a copy fresh off the press” His story has made the front cover and he takes great pride in this. “It’s as bad as that television piece you did last year.” This shows his work is not always up to standard and is told to rewrite a piece. This is in contrast with the piece that made the front page as he can’t have taken pride in the article he has to rewrite.

“I dream of Strathspeld, and the long summers of my childhood passed in a trance of lazy pleasure.” He looks back on his childhood as heavenly and idyllic which contradicts the fact that Andy almost died, Andy is sexually assaulted and then preceded to murder his attacker! This is the first sign of Andy’s violent nature.

The setting is integral to the plot because Cameron is in this situation because of his locations at the time of the murders. Banks also uses descriptions to vividly set the scene throughout the book. The fact that the book is set in Scotland, especially Edinburgh, will allow Scottish readers to identify places within the text. “tour of Stockbridge by night looking for a parking place”, readers who know the area can identify with the fact that the streets are always packed with cars and that Cameron has to drive round the whole place to find a space.

“Eddie is sitting on – no; housed within – a throne of a chair, all black carved wood and buttoned red leather” This paints a vivid picture in the reader’s mind that Eddie is sitting in a very grand and imposing chair, to represent his authority as the editor of the newspaper.

“The mountaintops are smothered, black crags violent spattered marks against that blankness.” This describes the snow covered mountains with rock formations poking through as if they have had to fight their way through the snow.

While Cameron is being interrogated by the police he starts to fall apart and even starts to believe it was him who committed the murders. His frantic and distressed state is conveyed thorough repetition of word I. “I thought I was some tough cookie but I was wrong I’m just a dunked digestive baby I’m soft I’m flopping I’m disintegrating”. As this is read it seems to speed up a Cameron becomes more and more stressed. Punctuation marks have been omitted for it to read quicker and without pauses.

The plot is what makes this book so clever and enjoyable. Almost everything that happens has some significance in the case. The reader takes on the role of the detective and is given small clues to the killer’s identity throughout the novel. Allowing the reader to become involved in the text, keeps them interested throughout. It also keeps the reader looking very closely for anything that could help to reveal the murderers identity. One of the biggest clues is when Cameron has a very strange phone conversation with Andy in which Cameron phones him but Andy claims to have phoned Cameron. It turns out that Andy was murdering one of his victims and it was a recorded message that Cameron was talking to, this provided Andy with an alibi. At the end the whole plot links back together and you realise how important all the things that happen are; in relation to finding the killer’s identity.

To conclude, the novel is very unpredictable and this adds to the reader’s enjoyment as you can never be sure which way the plot will turn. Many readers will also enjoy the fact that they can take on the role of detective. Banks is also very clever in the way he ties together the plot in the end. The way Banks “tricks” the reader and turns the plot around, means the reader is kept guessing all the way through the novel.