The Antisocial Socialist

Shootings here, even in Scarberia, are not all that frequent. Hence it was a Big Deal.

I found the book awesome. The ending wasn't anticlimatic, just harsh. The other one I read by him, Underground, stuck with me a long time.

That reminds me, what China Mielville (?) should I read as a complete new person having only heard about him from you? And as a feeble person not able to take much extreme scary stuff?

You should read Un Lun Dun because it is not remotely scary or dark, but is in fact an adorable deconstruction of portal fantasy.