One of the most intriguing, assured and unputdownable debuts to come out of Scotland in recent years . . . A stunning work of fiction-- "Sunday Times"
A remarkable first novel-- "New York Times"
I was hooked from page one. Rilke is not Welsh's only great creation. The huge supporting cast of misfits and outsiders . . . are equally memorable. And Glasgow becomes a character in itself: it is oppressive, foreboding - a dark place for a dark tale-- "Guardian"
Astonishingly this is a first novel, catapulting Welsh straight into the superstar league, while establishing Rilke as a true original-- "The Times"
Welsh upturns tropes and adds depth, seedy detail and Gothic lyricism to the page-turner framework-- "Telegraph"
The Cutting Room fixes itself among a formidable modern pantheon that includes the novels of Ian McEwan and A.L. Kennedy-- "LA Times Book Review"
This elegiac, elegant and atmospheric book is an original and compelling first novel. Rarely can such Gothic material have been treated with such subtlety-- "Daily Telegraph"
Welsh's prose can flit from clipped and short to elegant and graceful . . . As taut a thriller as you'll get; full of unexpected alliances, double crosses and a brutal denouement worthy of classic American hard-boiled fiction-- "Big Issue"
Welsh succeeds in making Glasgow her own-- "Observer"
An astonishingly accomplished debut, this is always in my top ten books of any genre . . . Welsh brilliantly draws a gothic Glasgow of despair and decay as she lays bare the depths of human deviance-- "Guardian, Top 10 Scottish crime novels"