The audio book version of Queer Fish in God's Waiting Room is read by Adrian Pasdar, who, incidentally, does an awful Australian accent and possibly the worst British accent since Dick Van Dyke. Pasdar is most recently known for playing Nathan Petrelli in Heroes.

The original 2008 book, written by Lee Henshaw, follows the adventures of the narrator Liam Kerby, through three trips with his brother - Brother Liam - and their friend Ed Lover to New York, Mexico City, and Venezuela. Part comedy, part surreal monologue, the audio, like the book, only has a sparse plot, most of the content being the coherent and often incoherent ramblings of the three travellers as they meet strangers, smoke weed, swear and talk about their dicks.

The final result is not unlike a cross between William S Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson, the stories approach borrowing heavily from the latter’s scatological gonzo approach to writing.

We get to follow the three adventurers as they sample the seedy side of life, whether they are in their home town of Macclesfield or travelling the Americas. The prose does have a problem in that the lack of depth in any of the characters is hidden by the endless string of jokes and shallow philosophy.

Apart from the main characters everyone else has names which comment on a particular aspect of their character. The first couple are funny but when it is used for every other it loses its punch to become a little tiresome.

There is an audience for such a work. The brothers, rather than being the twenty-something that they should be come across as pseudo-intellectual fourteen year old. So, the potty mouth musings and the slightly absurd adventures may mimic Burroughs and Thompson, but Henshaw cannot match either their wit or writing skills.

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Charles Packer