One of the quotes on the back of James Scudamore's Heliopolis compares it to Great Expectations, which is usually a good reason to go back and actually read Great Expectations instead of the particular book in question.

Heliopolis didn't just fall short of Great Expectations, it also fell short of the rave review in the Washington Post that drew me to it in the first place.

The novel is reasonably good but doesn't come close to great and can be flawed and clunky at times. It is a black comedy tinged with bits of melodrama and thriller that tells the story of Ludo dos Santos who was adopted into the family of a wealthy supermarket magnate who travels everywhere by helicopter. Ludo is having an affair with his adopted sister, working in an absurd advertising agency that is promoting his adopted father's new "budget" supermarket chain for the favelas, and going through a sometimes reckless exploration of these favelas.

The novel alternates between a few compressed, eventful days in the present and extensive flashbacks to the past, as well as between comedy and tragedy.

It is hard to say what was so disappointing, but the alternations never seemed to work and the disjointed jumble of genres and actions didn't make psychological sense and made the book a little less appealing.

I would, however, read Scudamore's next novel... but in the meantime will re-read Great Expectations.