Comic (though not as comic as it thinks it is) and lightly-written grotesque tale of English village life which manages to overcome, if not justify, its use of second-person narration. The main problem with "Scorper" is that so much of it is familiar from stuff like Magnus Mills, early Will Self, Wicker Man, Miles Gibson, Third Policeman etc. It's not derivative, but it covers the same ground as these works, in a similar style, without breaking any new ground of its own. But it is very good in its satire of the English b&b, quiz night, village pub, "local heritage", town bully etc.; and the hero, a lumbering interloper from Los Angeles in search of his roots, is a likeable and pitiable character. ( )