'Looking Back At Me' by Wilko Johnson and Zoe Howe

Talking of blockheads (see last review here) here we have former Blockhead Wilko Johnson's autobiography (of sorts).

This book is chock full of photos and memorabilia from Wilko's life which takes up over half of the pages of this book making it into a coffee table book rather than a straightforward biography.

Obviously the idea of Wilko sitting down and writing his memoirs seems totally at odds with the man we all picture in our minds. This book is actually a collection of interviews between Zoe and Wilko then carefully edited and arranged into chronological order.

The book is a blast. You can’t help but read it all in Wilko’s distinctive voice which just adds to the fun. Although not a full or ‘proper’ biography, there’s enough in here to let you know his life story and to get inside his head (scary thought, huh?). Lots of his travels to India his love of astronomy and of course Dr. Feelgood. Apparently they might update this book to include the fantastic new album with Roger Daltrey and of course the big C. If so, I’d defiantly go buy this again as it’s amazing!

'Ian Dury: The Definitive Biography' by Will Birch

Ian Dury is one of the most beloved figures in 20^th century popular culture despite the fact he could be a complete twat! Will Birch's biography shows Ian in a well rounded light, showing his highs, lows and everything in between.

“Hello Sausages...” was as far as Ian got in writing his autobiography, thankfully there's a whole lot more in Will Birch's book, but it does maintain the silly, fun and humorous president that Ian set with just two words. The book is very well researched and contains thousands of quotes from the many people who were in Ian's life giving the book a very personal touch despite it being a biography.

Ian didn't start his musical career until his thirties, so there is also plenty of Ian's childhood, the contracting of polio and the hell he went through not only with the disease but at the 'special' school he was put into. Then we move on to where he becomes an artist and a teacher, all the time trying to be a little more working-class and 'one of the people'.

Obviously the main attraction of this book is going to be the stories of 'Kilburn and the Highroads' as well as 'The Blockheads' which it is safe to say take up a huge part of this book. Showing Ian's need for acceptance and his slow spiral into megalomania as the fame he so eagerly awaited came with a raised self-importance and the booze took over any rational thinking and kind words.

This book is great. A really interesting read and a disturbing insight into the life of the punk poet. The latter years as Ian moved into acting falls a little flat as Will hasn't found too many people to interview, plus knowing the reader isn't really that interested in the tiny bit parts he filmed. So the ending does suffer from biography-syndrome which here has the last part of the book end up almost as a list of films with the occasional quote from a star saying “yeah, I kinda remember him”.

Apart from a little quibbling aside that you always get with biographies, this book is well worth your time and money (even if you're not a blockhead fan!)

Blood Drenched Beard by Daniel Galera

The story by Daniel Galera follows a nameless character in his journey to find out what happened to his grandfather. The story starts with a short prelude that left me wondering what exactly it was, but by the time you get to the end you completely understand and I went back and read it again in a completely different light. After the prelude the story starts in earnest with our unnamed lead meeting his father who tells his son that he is going to commit suicide. While they discuss this his father also mentions the strange disappearance/death of his own father while in Garopaba. Apparently the gaucho had quite a temper and would often bring a blade quickly into any argument that he started. One night at a dance the power went off for a short while and when the lights came back on our nameless lead’s grandfather was lying in the middle of the room stabbed to death. His father also asks of his son to have his dog put down, as it’d be too hard on the dog to live without his master.

So the father does commit suicide, but our nameless lead doesn’t have the dog put down. Instead he takes it with him to the small coastal town of Garopaba where he decides to find out about the death of his grandfather. Now this is a small town where everybody knows everyone and secrets stay buried. Now along comes a stranger asking questions and not everyone is happy with that. One thing I haven’t mentioned is that our nameless main character has prosopagnosia (no, I didn’t know what it was either) which means he is unable to remember faces (including his own) which is why the main character remains nameless as he doesn’t even really know himself why should we know him completely too? Of course this causes all sorts of problems as he’s unable to remember who he’d spoken to. The book isn’t completely about the search for his grandfather, as he’s also a triathlete who teaches swimming, he falls in love and bonds with his dad’s dog Beta.

The book is beautifully written, I really enjoyed the prose. I’m not sure how much credit goes to Daniel or the translator Alison Entrekin. A few other reviews I saw for this book berates Alison’s ‘Americanisms’ in the translation, but I couldn’t give a fuck that she used the word ‘preppy’, as the flow of the words was just lovely. Raaaghh! Shame mine isn’t! I don’t know how to describe the prose, and I hate when people say that a book was poetic as poems can be so very different, so unless you’re meaning that it was written in rhyming couplets leave out the ‘the writing was poetic’ clichés.

Ok, so I can’t write, but this guy can. ‘Blood Drenched Beard’ is a great novel. Moving and beautiful, you should definitely pick it up and give it a try.

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

Before I go into writing about this book I thought I’d say a little about Unbound first. Unbound is amazing! If you don’t know about them, you really should. Basically authors can pitch their ideas for books directly to us (the readers) so we can see what they are thinking about writing. If you like the sound of it and would like to see it in print you pledge money, obviously the more you pledge the more goodies or rewards you get when/if the donations reach their goal. For example the smallest pledge will get a copy of the book in ebook format all the way up to dinner with the author (or whatever they are offering) when the total is reached the authors then go and write the book. All the pledgeies (well, that’s not a word but you know what I mean) get their name printed in the back of the book, but most importantly you get to point to a book on the shelf of your local bookstore and say “I made that happen!”

I first heard about Unbound (as most people find out about random stuff these days) through a celebrity on twitter! Yup, Robert Llewellyn (of Red Dwarf fame) was talking about his idea for a book ‘Notes From Gardenia’ a future utopia story (not the easiest of genre stories to try and write) and it’s brilliant, but not what I’m writing about now, but I will say that he has had two sequels funded through Unbound as well and they are well worth checking out (when available).
Please do check out Unbound (check their website here) as it’s an amazing idea that deserves even more attention. They put out real quality products; case in point is the stunningly beautiful ‘The Wake’.

As I’ve mentioned it let’s start with the look of this hardback. It’s stunning. Muted and natural colours with embossed lettering and Green man on the cover, the book also has no spine. Much like the gorgeous ‘Polpo’ cookbook from last year the lack of spine allows the book to flop and stay open a thing of perfect design beauty. But looking good will only take you so far, ‘So what’s inside?’ I hear you cry.
Set in the years after the battle of Hastings in 1066 ‘The Wake’ tells the story of a band of guerrilla fighters who take up arms against the French invaders. Well that had me interested. Of course I know the story of Harold (who didn’t learn that at school?) but guerrilla fighters in the aftermath? Not a story I have heard before, also ‘guerrilla warfare’ brings to my mind images of the Spanish civil war, with machine guns, grenades and blowing up rail tracks –how does that work in 1066? Ok, Mr Kingsnorth you’ve got me even more interested. Next I learn that Paul Kingsnorth hasn’t just written this story like you’d expect him too. No. He’s made up his own version of Old English! Yes, you read that right. Paul Kingsnorth has created ‘a shadow tongue’ a readable and understandable version of Old English to give the book a more authentic feel!
This I found to be quite a challenge. Maybe it’s my dyslexia, maybe I’m just stupid! But I had trouble reading this at first. The first page took about fifteen minutes to read! It was slow going at first, and I was around fifty pages in before I found that there was a glossary and a note on the language in the back that I would have loved to have been at the start, but hell, I’d found it now! By about halfway through the book I’d forgotten that I was reading this “readable” Old English and was just reading the story. And what a story it is!
If Bernard Cornwell had written this book (no offence to any Cornwell fans out there) the hero would have found his home destroyed, picked up a sword from the ashes gathered men around him and for all intents and purposes taken on and defeated the French single-handedly! Paul Kingsnorth doesn’t write that story. He wrote a much more realistic story. Buccmaster is a man on the verge of madness, talking of old Gods and with no real social skills at all, he does gather a band of men around him, fractious though they are and take on the French in the most uninspiring way. You wouldn’t call these men heroes, they are rubbish! If you’re thinking they are going to be like Robin Hood you’re in for a much more realistic vision of the past.
This book is not for everyone. The language, the uninspiring lead character and did I mention the language? But for those that venture, and those that don’t give up you will find the best book you have read in a very long time. This novel is unique, real and truly gripping. This is undoubtedly the book of the year!
I’ve just heard that this has been long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. As this is an English language prize I don’t think you can get more English than this! Good luck Paul, I hope you win!

'The Girl in the Road' by Monica Byrne

As with 'The Road to Reckoning' by Robert Lautner that was basically a road trip novel with western bits sprinkled over the top, 'The Girl in the Road' is also a road trip novel but with a sprinkle of science fiction.
Set about a hundred years in the future, a new energy source is being used. The sea. Thousands of upside down pyramid shaped scales (known as 'The Trail) line the sea between India and Africa. Our leading lady, Meena wakes up one morning with a snake bite on her chest she decides to try and walk along the trail to get to Ethiopia to escape whomever is trying to kill her and to find the killer of her parents (who were murdered while she was still in the womb). We also follow a literal road trip of a young girl called Mariama who runs away from home after finding her mother dead, bitten in the chest by a snake. She stumbles upon a couple of friendly travellers and joins them on a cargo convoy to Ethiopia. What the relation between these two women, to me seemed quite obvious, though a few moments made me question myself. I wont mention what it actually is, to keep you guessing too.
Apart from a fancy ipad type device, new sources of energy on a grand scale and the political landscape of India and the African nations (all of which play a very minor role in the story) this could be set at any time period really. So if you're expecting Iain M. Banks, you couldn't be more wrong, I found it was closer to the equally excellent 'The Windup Girl' by Paolo Bacigalupi. Road trip books tend to be about growing up or finding yourself and this is no different. It explores the meaning of love, but in a subtle way -this isn't 'chick lit'! It is a very great début that you should definitely give a try no matter what genre of book you normally read, this beautifully written gem will stay with you for a long time.

'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' by Neil Gaiman

This story is short. I read it in a few hours, but yet it doesn't feel small. The story is as full as it needs to be. You aren't left feeling like there could have been more. It's a perfectly formed novel.
The narrator of the book (I'm sure he has a name, but I can't remember. Maybe it's never mentioned. Either way it doesn't really matter) starts the tale leaving a funeral and killing time before the wake, decides to take a drive and finds himself driving to the house in which he grew up in. But as he drives on past he realises that it isn't where he was driving at all. He was heading to the Hempstock farm at the end of the lane. Once there he sets out for the pond or 'ocean' as the little girl (Lettie) who used to live there called it, and remembers the first time he came to the farm. A lodger at his families house stole his Dad's car and committed suicide in it, setting in motion the strange events that would follow. We follow his narrative as he uncovers these repressed memories, seemingly for the first time. The Hempstocks are the classic three Wyrd witches, the old hag, the beautiful woman and the child used in old British folklore (and a million other people since including Shakespeare and Gaiman himself in previous novels) and they lead him by the hand (quite literally) as the suicide cracks the edge of reality letting in some otherworldly nasties.
I don't want to talk too much about it, as you should just read it for yourself as this is a beautiful book, sad and poignant. One that you will dive into like the ocean, finding the waters refreshing, deep, and dark.

'The Axeman's Jazz' by Ray Celestin

 

New Orleans,1919 (the year before prohibition hit). Jazz and alcohol fuelled parties run continuously throughout the segregated and Mob-ruled city. Then something else turns up to ruin everyone's day: the Axeman.
Based on a true story, this tale provincially follows three characters who are all searching for the serial killer that's killing people with an axe (hence 'axeman' -clever right?!). We have the cop, Detective Lieutenant Michael Talbot who is hated by everybody on the force after he exposed the rampant corruption in the police department, who feels he's been given this unsolvable case so that he can finally be buried. We have Luca D'Andrea, the corrupt cop that Michael put in prison. He's just been released from prison and the only job he can get is back with the mob. So the mob can continue extorting protection money from businesses they need to be seen protecting the community. So Luca is given the job of finding the axeman before the cops do, despite wanting nothing more than to leave this life and move to Italy. Finally we have Ida, a secretary at the Pinkerton's detective agency. A girl who loves Sherlock Holmes and wants to be a detective, but knows she never can because of her gender and ethnicity. Helped along the way from her childhood friend Louis Armstrong she decides to prove her worth by capturing this killer.
When I first started this book I was constantly wondering how much of it is true. Was Michael Talbot really the lead detective? Was he married to a black woman? Was Louis Armstrong involved in tracking down a killer? I started to do a little research, printed out a map with the locations of the Axeman's murders but then I told myself it didn't matter which bits were true or not, the book is classified in fiction, just read it.
So read it I did. It is amazing. The story is dark, foreboding and very tense. As the three main characters collect evidence and clues you're shouting at them to somehow get together and compare notes, as they'd work it out if they pooled their resources. Obviously the Axeman is a famous unsolved murder case, so no convictions will be taking place, but that doesn't mean that under the guise of fiction the story can't have a more fulfilling end. Whether it does or not I wont say, but what I will tell you is the characters that Ray writes about whether inspired by real people or not are made real with his storytelling. Every character, no matter how minor is a fully fleshed out human being which along with the fact the story is a true one makes everything seem so real and threatening. I loved this book, and you should too. Without giving away what happens to some of the characters, I really hope that at least one of them is back in another book when prohibition hits.

‘Dear Daughter’ by Elizabeth Little

 

WARNING! There will be spoilers in this review, so if you are going to read this book, maybe you shouldn’t read what I’m writing. But I personally think you should read this review and give ‘Dear Daughter’ a wide berth.

Basic premise of the story is this; Janie Jenkins is a LA IT girl who gets convicted of the murder of her mother. After 10 years in prison she is suddenly released due to some technicality to do with evidence tampering or something. I don’t know, it’s not really gone into, neither is the 10 years in prison that haven’t really changed her at all. Janie doesn’t quite remember the night of her mother’s murder, so despite not being sure if she IS the murderer or not she sets off to find out what really happened.
The whole world seems interested in what she’ll get up to and one hate fuelled blogger has offered up $50,000 for any information on her whereabouts. So she dyes her hair black and puts on a pair of glasses. The perfect disguise! And unsurprisingly the first person to see her recognises her immediately and she has to threaten him to keep quiet (he doesn’t!). So she heads off to a small town in South Dakota (Ardelle), because one of the three words she heard her mother say before she died was the name of the town! (Yes, really).
Luckily for Janie no one in Ardelle recognises her despite spending lots of time with a small cast of characters that all end up being somehow involved in the story somehow. Janie stumbles on clues like she draws them to her like some sort of clue magnet. I know I have a USB stick somewhere in my house, but can I find it? Can I fuck! Yet Janie finds a new clue in every photo she looks at, every book she opens and even when she takes a shit it comes out in the shape of an arrow that points her in the right direction!!! So she gets to this small town and finds out that her mother was actually someone who grew up in this very town, got pregnant ran away and changed her name. Obviously something happened in this town, they’d tracked her down and killed her. Don’t worry though, Detective Clue Magnet is on the case, joined by a ‘Mystery Inc’  (that’s a Sccoby-Doo reference) group of people including a cool, good looking cop, a couple of lesbians, a teenage rebel and a few dodgy seeming guys to keep you guessing which one of them did it (I won’t actually tell you which one though!).
The book isn’t badly written (in terms of style), but is full of clichés and coincidences. It’s complete trash, but it is quite enjoyable, Janie has a fantastic wit and the LA IT girl is a new voice to tell a crime novel through. But if you’re not the kind of person who occasionally likes to switch off your brain and watch daytime TV this isn’t the book for you.

 

'Scavenger: Zoid' by Paul Stewart

 

Paul Stewart has once again teamed up with Muddle Earth playmate Chris Riddell on this new series 'Scavenger'. The beautiful, detailed, crisp and instantly recognisable work of Mr Riddell wonderfully complements the story, so why, oh why didn't Macmillan use him for the cover? I wont name the artist they used as (s)he hasn't done a bad job. To be honest, as someone who does illustration is quite obvious what has happened. They've been given copies of Chris' work to show them what the characters look like and then were stuck having to try and make their artwork look like Chris'! The results although fine, do come across as a pale copy. It's like you coloured in Chris' work then looked at it through a murky window. Really disappointing.
But once inside Chris' glorious drawing of the Biosphere with it's minute, intricate detail that just blows your mind...What? You don't know what the Biosphere is? Oh yes, I went off on a rant about art and haven't said a thing about the book!
So the story of Zoid is set in a far away future, basically we (the Humans) have ruined the Earth beyond repair and decided that we needed a new planet. So we created the Biosphere an enormous planet shaped space ship to hold life for however long it may take to find a suitable planet to colonise. All was fine for some time until all the robots (or Zoids) that worked on the ship doing all the menial tasks for the humans revolted and took over the ship and killed everyone they could find. Many years after that, small bands of humans that are left live deep within the Biosphere trying to stay alive. The main character York (a 14 year old boy) is a scavenger (hence the title of the series) who leaves the Inpost to look for bits of anything that they can use and destroy Zoids.
Ok, here comes a spoiler (but not a big one). Right near the start the Zoids attack the Inpost and drag everyone away. York then sets off on a journey to save them encountering all sorts of creatures and other 'tribes' of hiding humans.
The book is designed for that 9-12 age range so there's nothing too gritty or offensive (obviously), is quite short and easy to read. Each chapter is only a few pages long and each ends with a cliff-hanger that makes you keep on reading no matter what you are meant to be doing! The book is a lot of fun and a really great read. Yes the main character is a boy, but there is also a strong female lead who comes into the story about halfway through (I'm not giving anything away, she's on that so-so cover!) so not necessary a boys-own type story. The story ends well, so even though the book has a series title if no more are ever written you aren't left feeling deflated. But I really hope there will be.
Yes, it's for kids, but it's great. Like that guilty pleasure of watching Doctor who.

'Wolves' by Simon Ings

You're told never to judge a book by it's cover, but if a book doesn't look good you are not going to pick it up. I read an awful lot, I work in a bookstore and yet I do judge books by their covers. And once in a blue moon along comes a book to teach me a lesson, 'Wolves' was one of them.

You see, 'Wolves' has a fantastic cover. It's dark, grainy, haunting and menacing. It has a giant wolfesque creature on it and the title 'Wolves'. The book however is NOT about wolves, there are no wolves in it, there isn't even a gang with a 'pack mentality'! The only reason this book is called Wolves is that 'Dull guy in marketing has a series of horrendous events happen to him, but just gets on with his life' was a terrible (although accurate) title.

Don't get me wrong, the book isn't badly written and there are some interesting ideas in it. Basically it's the invention of 'augmented reality' a kind of souped-up Google glass, that mixes adverts and computer games into your everyday surroundings. But the story doesn't focus on this, or on anything. The book reads like a huge series of sub-plots interwoven together, there's the augmented reality, the cheating with his best friends wife, the 'murder' of his Mother, an apocalyptic novel about a flood, changing relationships and so on. But as none of them take the main stage (as it were) you're left with a book of nothing but sub-plots, which reads like nothing is happening and yet you know lots did!

I Would not recommend this book. Lovely cover though...

'The Road to Reckoning' by Robert Lautner

I love Westerns. Not many books these days are Westerns (which is a shame- ever since the space race and Neil Armstrong landing on the Moon, Westerns have not been in vogue and have never had a comeback since) so when one comes along I tend to get myself too excited! So much so that no matter how good the book is I find myself disappointed.

I was not disappointed with this book.

Which is odd as it's not really a Western. Well, it is but it isn't. It's a coming of age novel and a road trip as if you mixed Jim Dodge's 'Not Fade Away' with J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye' then sprinkled it with Stetsons, spurs and Samuel Colt's newly invented revolver.

The story is that of Thomas Walker who sets out with his father (a travelling salesman) to sell the new Colt revolver to whoever they may meet. They leave the depression hit New York and set out West. As the towns get smaller and wilder the adventure of a lifetime soon starts to lose its lustre. Soon Thomas finds himself orphaned, alone and hunted. By chance he meets Henry Stands and old ex-ranger who is heading back East, in whom he can see his only chance of making back home alive.

A great story of a boy dragged into manhood whether he wants it or not. The relationship between Thomas and Henry is beautifully written and has lots of funny and heart warming moments too. But this is not all rainbows and roses, the America of 1837 is in the midst of a depression, law and order is hard to come by and is no place for a boy on his own. This is a great little book that you should definitely read (even if you don't like Westerns!), though if you buy the beautiful hardback, your dust jacket will get destroyed!

'Look Who's Back' by Timur Vermes

A few months ago there was a “news” story about a woman (Simoni Renee Guerreiro Dias) who had found 'proof' that Hitler had lived until he was 95, and by proof I mean the worst photo that you had EVER seen! (Just have a look here)

Well she had written a book and a few people were asking about it in the bookstore, so I set about searching the internet to find out a new book about Hitler living past the Second World War and I stumbled upon this book by Timur Vermes. Well my interest in the 'non-fiction' title was lost and this utterly bizarre idea for a novel replaced it ten-fold. In case you haven't heard anything about 'Look Who's Back' the simple premise is that it is 2011 in Berlin and Hitler wakes up in a field covered in petrol and has no idea how he got there. He immediately and incredibly conveniently meets a lovely friendly newspaper vendor who thinks Hitler a hilarious and deadly accurate comedic impersonator of the old Führer and quickly (and quite unbelievably) arranges a meet with some television executives who love him and try (and succeed) to make him a star.

Ok, so the start isn't believable. At all. But this IS a book about Hitler suddenly appearing in Berlin 66 years after his death!!! Plus you don't really care how he gets on his feet. You just want to see how one of the most recognisable and evil men that has ever lived reacts to life in the 21^st century. This was a hard book to love. The main protagonist is Adolf Hitler! You don't like him, you're not ever really going to like him, so you don't care if he becomes successful, in fact you don't want him to. But you can't stop yourself from finding out what happens next. This book is full of brilliantly executed (no pun intended) wit and satire mainly aimed at marketing and television executives (which are just the kind of people to make Hitler seem human!). Hitler being Hitler says some outrageous things and as everyone assumes him to be a comedian and performer their perception of what he means is twisted by that, leaving the reader laughing at these comedies of errors.

This is an odd, interesting, funny and poignant story that really should be read. Not the greatest story ever written but so different that it deserves to do well.

Donnybrook by Frank Bill

This book was a gift from a friend. I'd not heard of Frank Bill and did not know what a donnybrook was. But quite quickly I could see why they had got this for me, as we're both fans of the TV show 'Justified', and this book delivers that kind of gritty, real and dark story that certainly pulls no punches.
Frank Bill (like my favourite author Charles Bukowski) writes characters that have no redeeming features, real scum of the earth type people that you hope in your heart that you never get a chance to meet in real life and yet you can't stop reading about them and actually start routing for them (well not ALL of them, they are some really horrible people that have come out of the twisted mind of Mr Bill!). So, back to the book. The donnybrook is a three day fighting tournament that is happening on a thousand acre plot of private land where they are watched and betted on by a whole host of dangerous people who are drunk, high or sating their blood lust. The story follows an array of characters that are making their way to the donnybrook (whether or not they know that that will be their desination) including a cop and fighter an assassin and meth dealers!

The story is tense, gripping and a pleasure (well, I'm not sure if pleasure is really the right word) to read. Highly recommended, I'll be keeping an eye out for Frank Bill in the future, and so should you!

'Love Goes to Buildings on Fire' by Will Hermes

The subtitle of this book 'Five Years in New York that Changed Music Forever' says it all really. This book is set in New York, during the mid '70's where music and drugs were the main outlet from a world of economic depression and boredom.
Wow! Practically every genre of music has it's birth, re-birth or just a fantastic kick up the bum in these five years. Hip-Hop, Disco, Punk, Rock 'n' Roll, Salsa, Jazz and classical music all get there time within Will's book.
It's written (for the most part) chronologically, and in small bit-sized chunks. It's as if Will Hermes had travelled back in time to write a weekly music column for some magazine so managed to be exactly where he needed to be to get the most amazing music articles ever written, that are now collected here with no filler!

Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Grandmaster Flash, CBGB's, Fania All-Stars, Philip Glass and so much more. This is a book that you can dip in and out of or enjoy in one huge go. No matter what music you normally listen to and how much you may already know about it (there has been huge amounts written about CBGB's and the emergence of punk-for example) you will find more you didn't know and lots, lots more besides.

The only bad thing about this book is that by the time you've finished reading it, you'll have a list of albums you need to buy about a mile long!!!

'The Road to En-Dor' by E.H. Jones

Well it has been 100 years since the start of the Great War and with that anniversary comes a plethora of reissued and re-jacketed books, and this is one of them. But even so, how had I not heard of this escape before? Yes everyone knows of the ‘Great Escape’ –mainly due to the Steve McQueen movie. But this is so insane and weird that I can’t believe this escape story wasn’t the top pick for any movie producer.
Like many people, what made me pick this up was the fact that Neil Gaiman had written the introduction. “Huh! Why is Neil writing an introduction to a first world war escape story?” was definitely the first thought that entered my head. If you’re interested in exactly why Neil’s introduction was available to read on the Guardian’s website, you can read it here if you want to. As I’m sure he’ll convince you to read this book better than I.
Well anyway back to the book. Lieutenant E.H. Jones and Lieutenant C.W. Hill are the main protagonists. They’ve been captured and sent to the Yozgad prison camp in Turkey. Life as a POW is exceedingly dull, so they start ‘spooking’. Trying to talk to the dead using a OUIJA board quite unsuccessfully, Lt. Jones decides to fake the outcome and make messages appear to come out of nowhere. Although just a bit of fun, some of the other prisoners start to take it so seriously that Jones feels he can no longer admit his deceit without looking like a jerk. But as time goes on he pushes things further and further and also comes across Lt. Hill (who’s an amateur magician!) and together they push what could be expected even further!
It’s an amazing roller-coaster of a ride that involves them convincing the guards and commandant of their ‘powers’, and that there is a vast amount of buried treasure and the ‘ghost’ (through the ‘mediums’) could lead them to it!
Easily the most bizarre story you’ll ever hear about, and incredibly tense at times. It did make me wonder how anyone could put themselves through so much hardship. But then again I’ve never had to be in a Turkish POW camp!
You should really read this book, it’s outstanding!!!

‘Conversations with Spirits’ by E.O. Higgins

The premise for ‘Conversations with Spirits’ by E.O. Higgins is quite simple, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle asks Trelawney Hart to investigate a psychic medium who he believes to be the real deal.
Trelawney Hart is a man of pure logic like Spock or (more fittingly) Sherlock Holmes. Unlike Holmes, Trelawney isn’t addicted to cocaine but to alcohol. In fact since his wife’s death he seems to never have been sober!
This book is highly enjoyable and I’d recommend it to fans of Conan Doyle’s work. Just as in real life this fictional Sir Arthur is interested in spiritualism and is seeking proof of life after death (along with almost everyone in 1917 as with the huge loss of life during the Great War hitting everyone personally) and he feels he has finally found a man who seems have extraordinary powers, and is about to top it all off by walking through a solid wall!
The book does drag a little however (some scenes felt like complete filler, yes Trelawney is a drunk, I don’t need him to order another cherry brandy every page to hit that point home)and the description of the ‘illusion’ left me a little confused as to what exactly I was supposed to be visualising. But then again, I love illusionists and trying to work out how it was done, but not sure I could write up something I’d seen in a convincing and compelling way that even comes close to watching it yourself!
Overall though, this book is a lot of fun. Please do check this out!