Author:Irvine Welsh

Irvine Welsh turns his attention from social critique of working class Edinburgh to the surreal scorched neon backdrop of Las Vegas in this sweeping stansalone new thriller. An already divided family is brought into open warfare when a wealthy couple decide to leave their vast fortune to their Gen Z college drop out grandson, leaving their furious daughter out in the cold and hell bent on revenge. Meanwhile a sinister new neighbour insinuates himself into the already dysfunctional family dynamic, spreading further discord. This is a novel that is something of a slow burner, but once it gets into its stride it unrelentingly gathers pace with each passing chapter until it reaches a breathtakingly unexpected climax. The characters, some more likeable than others, are well drawn and the backdrop of sin city itself, with its unrelenting heat and seedy underbelly and sub culture, is convincingly evoked in this cleverly constructed tale. This propulsive multigenerational saga of Trumpian America is full of the author’s trademark black humour, social realism and biting satire. It’s certainly a change in direction from his more recent work, but nonetheless it’s an enthralling and gripping read that fans of his previous novels will surely » Continue Reading.

Author:Nick Holmes, Hans Meertens

Steven Wilson’s career as part of Porcupine Tree has already been covered in an earlier book in the On Track series, but here we have the first of a two volume look at his subsequent solo work. This covers the decade from 2008’s Insurgentes set to 2017’s To The Bone, a period where Wilson experimented with a number of different musical styles, from the prog leanings of The Raven That Refused to Sing to the much more listener friendly 80’s influenced To The Bone. It’s a period that includes what for me remains his masterpiece, 2015’s Hand.Cannot.Erase, and another ser I really like from the same year, the compilation set Transience, which is a great introduction to his more accessible work, focussing as it does on shorter pieces. For those unfamiliar with his music, don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s all prog, because these early years also feature jazz, electronica, indie rock and even pop. This is a good, solid look at this part of his career, written by an author who is obviously very well versed in his music, so it’s certainly worth your time investigating this title if you’re a fan as it » Continue Reading.

Author:Paul Sexton

Remember those long ago days when there were no arenas or exhibition halls? If you wanted to attend a gig, it was a small club or perhaps a city hall. Into this vacuum came the university venues, satisfying the new market created by the rising popularity of that new fangled rock music. Boasting an introduction by none other than Mark Knopfler, this excellent and hugely enjoyable book tells the story of how, with the advent of the albums era, upcoming and even established bands travelled the length and breadth of the UK in their trusty Transits in search of the next gig, while hoping to be offered that elusive record deal. Looking back, it’s no surprise that many of today’s managers and promoters cut their teeth as social secretaries, learning their trade at the sharp end, and giving opportunities to bands that went on to become household names, such as Zeppelin, Floyd, Sabbath. Genesis, Dire Straits, Queen and The Who. Even Paul McCartney played this circuit when Wings first took flight. There’s plenty of fond reminiscences and hoary old anecdotes from the main players as the author explores that burgeoning scene when we were all so much younger » Continue Reading.

Author:Kevan Furbank, Chris Salisbury, Andrew Mon Hughes & Grant Walters

I have to confess that I am a sucker for any book on prog, and this look at what was happening in the pivotal year of 1974 is therefore right up my street. Perhaps the last of the golden years of the genre, it offered rich pickings and here the author dissects twenty of the key releases, including The Lamb, Relayer. Red and Journey to The Centre of The Earth to pluck out just a few of the biggest ones. He also shines a welcome light on perhaps less familiar releases by the likes of Magma, PFM, Gong and Hatfield & The North. Each album is examined in detail, looking at the background of the bands, the recording process and most importantly of course the music itself. I really enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it to any prog fan – what a year it was, when the discerning fan really was spoilt for choice and you could have spent your meagre weekly pocket money ten times over!

I really enjoy a bit of Skynrd, a band whose music from their seventies heyday has really stood the test of » Continue Reading.

Author:Stephen Palmer

Another year, another Pink Floyd book, this one examining their career album by album. Given the band’s story has already been told many times, this new title doesn’t really add anything new in the factual sense, so really its raison d’etre is the critical look at each record. The author is firmly in the Gilmour/Wright camp, particularly carrying a flame for the latter, who to be fair was an integral part of the band’s sound until the mid seventies. He is rather less keen on Waters, and unsurprisingly this taints his view of the later albums. He dismisses The Wall as merely ok and nothing special, and positively hates The Final Cut, and contends that AMLOR is a better album than both, while also displaying a strange affection for the very mediocre The Division Bell. Not a view I can concur with I’m afraid, but there you go. His looks at each album are decently written without being exceptional, and he does try to give his own slant on the music, which is to be commended even if it’s sometimes a bit lightweight and has a few annoying factual errors which rather stick out like the proverbial sore » Continue Reading.

Author:Alan Parks

The second novel in this new series, and the sequel to last year’s introductory (and outstanding) ‘Gunner,’ is set in New York in the December of 1941. The European allies are desperate to draw the USA into World War Two, and ex detective Joseph Gunner, now working for the British Secret Service, is despatched across the ocean to ferment pro war sentiment using every trick in the book, including blackmail. However, a plot to ensnare a prominent politician in a honeytrap operation goes badly wrong when the femme fatale is found dead, and Gunner realises he has been betrayed and his cover blown. Caught between the clutches of the NYPD, The Mob and a secret group of Nazi sympathisers, and with global events accelerating out of control;, he faces a race against time before he becomes the next victim, while at the same time unwittingly stumbling upon an even greater and far reaching conspiracy which would have devastating consequences for the world order. A very good read, tautly plotted and fast paced, with the author superbly capturing the sights and sounds of New York at that time, and combining this with a very plausible and well researched storyline » Continue Reading.

Author:Nikki Smith

Nikki Smith is a new author to me, but has already written five earlier novels. This new thriller, set in the UK and South Africa, sees a seemingly perfect life disintegrate before your eyes. When his wife becomes uncontactable at their holiday home in South Africa, the worried husband travels from the UK to investigate, only to discover his wife is missing from their blood stained safari lodge, while on the wall is a missing person poster with his own photograph and details. I won’t give any more away, but the plot, which is told from different perspectives and moves from the present to the past, is very cleverly constructed, and just as you think you’ve worked out what’s going on the author pulls the rug from under your feet. The book also contains some vivid and very evocative descriptions of the South African landscape and its wildlife that very much add to the overall atmosphere, and indeed almost seem to transport you to the country. This dark mystery thriller is one that will keep you intrigued to the very last page – fast paced, suspenseful and full of twists and turns, I’d certainly recommend it, and on » Continue Reading.

Author:David Starkey, Scott Robinson

I think most would agree the period from 73 to 87 was The Boss’s imperial phase. It certainly contains my three favourites from his canon, Darkness, Nebraska and Greetings. Here the author takes a deep dive into those golden years when every record was essential listening, covering the eight studio albums plus the Live 1975-85 set. There’s plenty already been written about this era of course, but the author manages to give a fresh perspective on some familiar songs, appealing to both the committed fan and the casual listener. It certainly gave me a nudge to relisten to these albums, some of which I think it’s fair to say have stood the test of time rather better than others. This marks the point where I rather lost touch with Sprinsgsteen, only having dipped in and out of the next almost forty years of work, most subsequent albums getting only a handful of listens with the exception of The Rising and Tom Joad – but it was an exciting ride while it lasted, and of course he still delivers the goods on stage even if the records aren’t quite as compelling as they once were. In conclusion » Continue Reading.

Author:Bob Spitz

US author Bob Spitz proves that there’s still plenty to say about The Rolling Stones in this epic new biography of the band. Although it appears that he, perhaps unsurprisingly, hasn’t been able to interview any of the band members, he has nevertheless forensically gone through their story from its very beginnings with the proverbial fine toothcomb. It takes as its heart the bond between two young boys that has endured for over six decades, and their volatile, even alchemical, creative partnership, while simultaneously drawing in others who fell within their orbit, those who survived the course such as Watts and Wood, and those, like Jones, Taylor, and eventually even Wyman, who fell by the wayside. There is certainly a huge amount of detail here, and although many of the stories are already well known the author shines a light to give them a welcome new perspective. While the book itself clocks in at a hefty 700 pages, the last 100 are reserved for the bibliography, index etc, so there’s actually 600 pages to get through. Rather frustratingly, the content is heavily skewed towards their early years – by page 450 Exile has only just been released, which » Continue Reading.

Author:Stuart MacBride

Following hot on the heels of the recent short form novel ‘And The Corpse Wore Tartan’, we have here a full length story featuring DI Roberta Steel and her trusty sidekick ‘Tufty’ Quirrel. With retirement just a few short weeks away, all she wants to do is quietly see out the final days of a thirty year career policing Aberdeen’s seedy underbelly before riding off into the sunset. However, it seems the North East of Scotland doesn’t want her to go gently into the good night. A body is discovered in a wheelie bin, there’s a violent protest to deal with and the unwelcome presence of a populist far right politician looms large, all made more challenging by a large proportion of her colleagues being off sick. It seems these final few weeks may be the death of her! This is another darkly comic tale from MacBride, which simultaneously manages to incorporate a captivating police procedural while making some pertinent points about today’s broken society. There’s even a cameo appearance from Logan MacRae along the way, so what’s not to like? All in all, another really enjoyable page turner from one of the masters of this genre!

Length » Continue Reading.