Christopher I King's debut novel is quirky, interesting and eminently readable.

The prologue to the story of Jimmy Gallagher grabs hold of you and it threatens to be a white knuckle paced ride. And then the author backtracks.

And you realise that this is not so much a thriller in the conventional term, but more a story about a character, a man caught up in a situation partly of his own making, but mainly out of his control and as we learn what has brought him to this position, an odd thing happens, something which is rare in thriller-land. We start to care what happens to this man. Jimmy is us. Maybe doing things we wouldn't do, but he could be anyone of us. A basically decent guy, trying to do his best and checked at many, if not all turns, by fate, human nature and the vagaries of life.

And sometimes he wins, as in the quick thinking comment to shut up the cab driver on the way to Gatwick airport, and sometimes he loses (witness the 'one sock' episode). Just like we do.

It's rare to find really likeable characters in modern thriller fiction, mostly they are flawed heroes, or people with a manufactured 'past'. Where 'Motorbikes, Ducks and Crispy Sweet Apples' scores, is in having an 'everyman' hero, struggling with the day to day living as we all do and being both instantly recognisable and likeable at the same time. And when the living turns out to be not so day to day, when the situation starts to spiral out of control, the character retains his credibility, he still tries to do the right thing.

That and King's excellent recognition of the absurdities of life, make this a trip to the States to remember for the reader as well as for Jimmy Gallagher. I was genuinely caught up with the character and the story. King has an ear for dialogue and the rare ability to see and transcribe the idiocies of general living that we all know and try to avoid mentioning, even, or especially, when we're caught out by them.

The comic elements are clear and at times laugh out loud, but in many ways this is a serious story as well, with characters who are lonely and sometimes desperate. And there is nothing funny about the final situation.

A welcome new voice, then, and more importantly, a different and distinctive one.

With thanks to novelist Joe Stein for the above review