The book, Crow Road was the first book that I have read by author Iain Banks. After I figured out what the author was doing with the shifting in and out of generations, I really was able to enjoy piecing together information about the story. This generational shifting was successful only because the author was so good at breathing life into his characters. I think some of the humor of the book was lost on me because I am simply not up on British vocabulary, with words such as bridies and Haggisburgers. Would I recommend this to a friend? You bet I would. I thought it was excellent writing and glad that his thread of mystery did not end up consuming the more important issues such as family (it is nice to know that Scotland is about as dysfunctional as the rest of us), religion, and the meaning of life.