I just finished reading Iain Banks’ new (non-SF) novel Dead Air. I finished it in less than 24 hours; it’s one of those books that reads very easily, unlike most of his other novels.
Dead Air was certainly entertaining enough and I never became bored, but as many others have noted, it doesn’t have much of a plot and nothing really starts happening until the very end. I’m feeling insufficiently moved by the book to say that if you haven’t bought it already, you might as well wait until the paperback is released. Compared to his other more powerful novels such as The Player of Games or Use of Weapons, Dead Air feels much lighter and inconsequential – entertaining, but nothing beyond that.
mssv 
Thank you for the review. I was dithering over importing the book now or not. The answer is now “not”…I noticed that the people posting at alt.books.iain-banks weren’t particularly impressed with it. It’s too bad, especially since we’ve all been waiting two years for his next book…