Author:John Connolly

A new addition to the long running Charlie Parker series is always welcome. Once again set in Maine, this, the 23rd in the sequence, is another absolute corker. Hired to investigate the death of a teenager at a remote school for troubled children, Parker soon realises something far more sinister is afoot. Meanwhile, a group of men are playing The Game, involving the kidnap and murder of itinerant women – but it appears one of them has broken their rules. As Parker digs deeper, troubling new facts emerge about both himself and his long standing colleagues Louis and Angel. There are tantalising glimpses into their back-story, but frustratingly it appears there are more questions than answers – for now at least. As the main story unfolds, there are in the background more unexplained developments in the mysterious nether world inhabited by Parker’s dead daughter. Another gripping novel which successfully merges a crime novel with a parallel supernatural world, and one which fans will love. If only we didn’t have to wait another year for the next instalment!

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Although this can be read as a standalone novel, it really works » Continue Reading.

Author:Richard Butterworth, Emma Stott

Back to the sixties with the latest two books in this series. First up is MC5, who produced three uncompromising high octane albums between 1969 and 1971, with a very belated fourth effort appearing in 2024. This book is rather heavy on the hyperbole for my taste, but in fairness it does a good job of disecting the releases as well as examining the cultural ecosystem that spawned them. I suppose Kick Out The Jams is their enduring legacy, but realistically they are something of a historical footnote musically in the UK at least. This is an enjoyable well researched read, but realistically it’s aimed squarely at the hard core fan. Forever Changes is one of those iconic sixties albums whose appeal has transcended the passing of time, still sounding fresh six decades later. It’s forerunner, Da Capo, is often somewhat in its shade but is also well worth reacquainting yourself with. Again, we have a detailed look at the albums from the various phases and incarnations of the band, as well as a peek behind the scenes of what was going on internally within the ranks. The band soldiered on after their initial heyday, although » Continue Reading.

Author:Anthony Horowitz

A welcome new instalment in this series of murder mystery novels, in which the author himself appears as a character playing the ‘Watson’ role to ex copper Daniel Hawthorne’s ‘Holmes’. The first book in this series, The Word Is Murder, is being filmed for a movie adaptation, but when the pair arrive to visit the set they find a far from happy camp. The two stars hate each other due to incidents in their past, the director is pretentious, the screen writer is an eco warrior determined to impose their views on the script, and to cap it all the producer is about to run out of money. It seems things can’t get any worse until the actor playing Hawthorne is fatally stabbed, leaving the real life Hawthorne with no choice but to step in and investigate his own murder! The plot is as convoluted as the many suspects’ intertwined pasts, but along the way we are given some more tantalising glimpses into Hawthorne’s puzzling private life and his rather mysterious childhood. A very entertaining and captivating read that really keeps the pages turning, and leaves the reader eagerly hoping for further revelations in the next novel.

Length » Continue Reading.

Author:Andrew Wild, Chris Sutton, Stephen Lambe

The Doobie Brothers were an FM radio staple in the US in the seventies, and it was something of a surprise to see them barely mentioned in the Raised On Radio book by Paul Rees that was recently reviewed on here. Their career had two distinct phases, the early seventies period that produced classics such as Listen To The Music, China Grove and Long Train Running, and the post 1975 era featuring Michael MacDonald that gave us a rather different smooth sound with the likes of Minute By Minute and What A Fool Believes. They are one of those bands that just seem to keep on going with differing line ups, with their most recent album appearing just last year. This book gives a thorough appraisal of their whole career, as usual taking the albums song by song, but also providing a potted history of the goings in the band over the decades. A very enjoyable read for fans of this band which has shifted over 40 million albums over the years, and is currently touring to celebrate their 50th anniversary..

Black Sabbath were in a hole when Ozzy was fired after the Never » Continue Reading.

Author:Alan Bennett

This fourth volume of diaries appears a full ten years after 2016’s Keeping On Keeping On, and covers the years from then up to 2024, the year in which Bennett turned ninety. It covers a turbulent era, encompassing Covid, Brexit, the death of the Queen and the rise of Johnson and Trump, so there’s certainly plenty of grist for the writer’s mill! Nonetheless, there’s still plenty of opportunity to mull over the minutiae of life with his deadpan wit, evidenced in trips to Europe and pilgrimages back to his native Yorkshire, alongside the serious business of writing several more best selling books, the premiere of his play Allelujah!, the revival of Talking Heads and the filming of The Choral. However, there is an underlying air of poignancy and even melancholy that pervades the book as he contemplates the changes in the country coinciding with the changes within himself as he deals with the physical and mental challenges of old age, along the way reminiscing fondly about his long gone childhood years. His distinctive voice shines throughout this captivating volume as he finds joy and sorrow in the most unexpected places, while at the same time giving vent to » Continue Reading.

Author:Hans Meertens, David Waterfield

This book takes a deep dive into Iggy Pop’s output between 1977 and 1999, a period which saw the release of no less than 13 albums. I’m only really familiar with the first two, the Bowie collaborations The Idiot and Lust for Life, both of which still stand up almost fifty years later. For some reason I lost track of his subsequent albums, all of which are considered in depth in this comprehensive and well researched book – and there certainly is plenty to mull over, the sheer variety of styles, the musical detours, the highs, the lows and the ones that got away. If you’re a fan, you’ll devour this breakdown of each record, and even if, like me, you’re only a casual listener it will pique your interest sufficiently to encourage you to have a listen to some of the albums that may have passed you by first time around.

Is it really 45 years since Making Your Mind Up won Eurovision – suddenly I feel very old! I must confess I know nothing about them, other than remembering their other big hits, My Camera Never Lies, Now Those Days Are Gone, and the » Continue Reading.

Author:Liz Nugent

This is Liz Nugent’s sixth novel, the preceding five titles all being award winners, so no pressure then! I’m pleased to predict though that she’s certainly in line to make it six out of six with this excellent new title. It’s another dark and deeply disturbing tale of a dysfunctional family, set between the USA and Eire. Ruby Cooper and her sister seem to have an idyllic life until a cruel incident fractures their world and causes the family to implode, with the aftershocks reverberating down the generations for years to come. Even decades later, the wave of destruction continues to affect all their lives, but it seems inevitable that the truth and its long hidden dark secrets will eventually be dragged into the harsh glare of daylight, and then the inevitable consequences will be unleashed for both innocent and guilty alike. Despite the subject matter, I really enjoyed this book, but be warned this unsettling, compelling tale of a damaged individual will totally ensnare you in its tangled web for the entire duration. Another distinctive and unique novel from this outstanding writer!

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Nugent’s previous novels, dark fiction and » Continue Reading.

Author:Mario Giammetti

Italian journalist Mario Giammetti has written numerous books on Genesis and the individual band members over the years, although this is only the third to be translated into English. It is, in fact, a revised and updated version of a title that was originally published in Italy twenty years ago, now bringing Banks story completely up to date. He is undoubtedly a very gifted writer and performer – I think he maybe doesn’t always come across in the best light in interviews, but he was undoubtedly one of, if not the, main musical and creative driving forces in Genesis. This very comprehensively researched book delves exhaustively into his life and work, from his childhood days through the various iterations of Genesis and on to his frequently overlooked solo outings, which are finally given the in depth attention they deserve. The translation can at times perhaps feel a little clunky, but nevertheless you can’t fault the level of detail the author goes into, with quotes from numerous interviews over the years both with the man himself and with an extensive and impressive cast of friends and collaborators. As always, Kingmaker have done a great job on the book, producing » Continue Reading.

Author:Stewart Home

Stewart Home has been an agent provocateur on the edge of art, punk, and politics since the mid-1970s. This romp through the chequered history of Yoga in the West through the twentieth century got him noticed by the main-stream media.

His story introduces a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells, from a US Houdini wannabee on the make, through Edwardian army officers who just happened to be Aleister Crowley acolytes and fans of fascism , to out–and-out Nazis and ends up in the era of QAnon. It’s a well-worn ploy: something familiar and mundane being tarted up as Ancient Wisdom of the East. In this case, posture-based exercises were passed off as Yoga asanas and sold to rich Americans and Europeans. Of course, anything that seemed to be the esoteric wisdom of an Aryan Root Race got fascist blood pumping.

It’s an easy, entertaining read populated by eccentrics and sociopaths. Unfortunately, quite a few of them were – and continue to be – very influential.

Length of Read:Short

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Bare Faced Messiah (the L Ron Howard biog), Strange Angel (the Jack Parson Biog), Bad Medicine.

One thing you’ve learned

Yoga as practiced in » Continue Reading.

Author:Andy Stuart

This lovingly produced detailed book documents the making of the new Big Big Train album, Woodcut, while also analysing the meaning behind the heartfelt lyrics and the wonderful music it contains. It takes the reader on a journey from the initial sparks of inspiration all the way through the creative process and on to the album’s recording and mixing sessions. Candid in depth interviews with the band members give a behind the scenes peek into how the album was made, and reveal some of the influences and events that shaped the final record. Part history, part creative journal and part cultural commentary, the book has been painstakingly compiled and comes on beautiful top quality art paper, and alongside the text it includes a plethora of previously unseen photographs. It’s a very fitting way to commemorate and document the making of the album, which is surely set to become a classic in the band’s now extensive canon.

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Passengers on the continuing journey of Big Big Train!

One thing you’ve learned

A great tribute and accompaniment to a fine album.

Author:Paul Rees

Those of us old enough to qualify for a free bus pass will remember the pre DAB radio era. FM radio existed but the Bellamy Brothers crooning “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body” on Radio 2 was as close to experiencing this new sonic nirvana as we’d usually get. Radio 1 was still saddled with wobbly AM, and by the time Aunty finally bestowed FM on it in 1991, the UK had missed the American “rock radio” moment by about ten years.

Rees’ thesis is that AOR thrived because of high fidelity radio, especially in cars, where the broadcast compression created the perfect soundstage. It was the ideal soundtrack for the otherwise disco infused 80s – I’m listening not dancing.

He opens with the claim that no genre has been so misunderstood or consistently scorned as AOR. I’d gently point him toward prog and heavy metal, who’ve spent decades being kicked around by critics like the musical equivalent of estate agents, but point taken. Despite being a fan, Rees doesn’t rant. Instead, he lets the musicians talk, and they do so with some alacrity.

Rees covers a lot of ground. There’s a five page “Cast of » Continue Reading.

Author:Stuart MacBride

At just over 200 pages I’m not sure if this is a short novel or a long novella, but either way MacBride is back! No sign of Logan MacRae though, it’s his long standing colleague and foil Roberta Steel who takes the starring role here for the first time since 2018’s Now We Are Dead. The author describes the book as his homage to the golden age of detective fiction, and indeed there is certainly something of an Agatha Christie feel about the plot and setting – a murder occurs at a wedding party at a remote Highland castle hotel, but suspects and culprit alike are stranded there when bad weather cuts them off from the rest of civilisation. Steel is one of the guests at the event and feels, somewhat reluctantly, obliged to take charge of the investigation to try to bring the killer to justice. This is a very entertaining read, with the all the usual MacBride elements of gripping suspense, macabre violence and black humour lovingly mixed together in equal measure, and is certainly highly recommended for his legion of followers.

Length of Read:Short

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

MacBride’s previous work, whodunnits in » Continue Reading.

Author:Richard James, Opher Goodwin

The last thirty years of Rush’s long career broadly speaking are not their strongest, a view which the author seems to agree with. Gone were the long prog epics and the great songs such as Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta, with the band seeming to favour a new wave influenced sound, almost sounding like The Police at times. That’s not to say there aren’t some good songs among the dozen studio records they released in this period and actually there are some good albums too – I always liked Power Windows even though it sounds rather of its time now, Vapour Trails was a decent comeback after a six year hiatus, and their swansong, Clockwork Angels, is one of their best and is hugely underrated and too often overlooked. In fact, although this new style divided the fan base, they became an increasingly big draw on the live circuit. The author does an excellent job pf picking apart the albums, even though he often doesn’t appear too enamoured with much of the music on offer. He also covers the eight live albums from this era, which in their later yeas seemed to accompany every tour – » Continue Reading.

Author:Gerald Seymour

This is now the sixth consecutive novel in a series featuring elderly intelligence service operative Jonas Merrick, a man the powers that be keep trying to put out to grass but who makes himself indispensable with his acumen and know how in the world of counter terrorism and crime. The Met ask for help to bring down a major player in the drugs world, who seems to be untouchable. However, his desire for one last big deal provides an opportunity to infiltrate an undercover agent into his close circle via his disillusioned daughter. As with many of Seymour’s novels, the pace is initially quite slow as he sets the scene and introduces the various characters, but as the story progresses the tension gradually ratchets up page by page to an exciting and satisfying climax as family loyalties shift and old alliances are tested to breaking point. Another very enjoyable, well plotted and captivating read from this master of the thriller genre.

Length of Read:Medium

Might appeal to people who enjoyed…

Although this is part of an ongoing series, the book still works perfectly well as a standalone novel for thriller fans.

One thing you’ve learned

Despite the fact » Continue Reading.

Author:Alexander Larman

Alexander Larman normally writes about lords and ladies and royalty. For his first foray into the world of Rock, naturally, he has chosen The Dame as his subject. Lazarus covers David Bowie’s career chronologically from 1989, when Tin Machine released their debut, to the end. Pleasingly, he refers to this period as Bowie’s post “imperial phase”. His research is thorough, interviewing numerous protagonists (notably Tony Visconti demurred), watching every Bowie moment on screen and reading every contemporary article in the press. As with any self-respecting journalist, he is protective of his sources. Mike Garson, Reeves Gabrels and Bowie’s long-term publicist, Alan Edwards, will be especially pleased how their contributions have been presented. He respects Bowie’s privacy, only referencing his personal life when it played out in public, such as Hello’s spread on his marriage to Iman.

Lazarus is not an in-depth analysis of the songs, such as Chris O’Leary’s Ashes To Ashes, nor a Paul Morley fanboy gush, but the curious observations of a historian, reporting critics’ views even-handedly, stitching the facts together into a coherent narrative. He pays as close attention to Bowie’s flirtations with the art world, cinema and the internet as he does to » Continue Reading.

Author:Eddie Read, Andrew Wild

I do have a long standing love of the twin guitar sound of Wishbone Ash. This entertaining and well researched book covers the years from their 1970 self titled debut through to 1982’s Twin Barrels Burning, although for me their imperial period ended with 1974’s There’s The Rub. Even that short period produced five superb studio albums plus the classic in concert set Live Dates. There aren’t too many books around on the band as far as I know, Martin Turner’s No Easy Road and the collaboration between Andy Powell and our very own Colin Harper, Eyes Wide Open, being the only ones that spring to my mind, and both are from some time ago now. In that light, it’s good to have a fresh look at their work, and the author provides a detailed look at the dozen studio albums plus various live releases, incorporating bonus material that appeared on reissues over the years. There’s plenty of historical research about the band’s musical journey combined with the writer’s own original interpretation as he delves into each album track by track. Overall, a very enjoyable in depth read for fans of the band and their classic » Continue Reading.

Author:Joe Banks

Peter Hammill’s career now stretches back over almost sixty long years, during which he has made over twenty albums with VDGG and more than thirty solo records. This weighty volume, clocking it at over five hundred pages, takes an in depth look at the work of this visionary musician, providing an intimate portrait of both the artist and the man himself. In this assiduous examination, the author dissects the work of this maverick who very rarely repeats himself, delving into the underlying inspiration for the music as well as the end results on record. The book focuses primarily on his years on the Charisma label in the 70s, but does include a brief look at the following years, along with many previously unseen photographs. It’s certainly an impressive and immersive read, with plenty of interviews with collaborators and contemporaries, and the fact that the whole thing is beautifully presented on top quality glossy paper is the icing on the cake. This thoughtful study, very detailed and yet still highly readable, is a fitting tribute to this imaginative far sighted artist, a true musical pioneer and iconoclast, and provides a thorough and nuanced critical appreciation of his work.

Length » Continue Reading.

Author:Richard Houghton

6th December marks 56 years since The Rolling Stones headlines a Free Festival held at Altamont Speedway in California. The events of that day have been well documented, and are often held up as “the point the 60s dream ended”. Thing is, the Altamont show was a tack on to the Stones 1969 US Tour – added in response to criticism of ticket prices for the Tour which spanned November 1969.

The Rolling Stones had released Beggars Banquet at the end of 1968 – it would be the last to feature Brian Jones. Jones appears in some shape on a number of the tracks, but his appearance at the sessions was unpredictable, and his contribution sporadic. Also at the end of 1968, the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was created – a concept that intended to create “the new shape of the rock-and-roll concert tour” (plus with no scheduled tour planned, it was a way to give additional marketing boost to Beggars Banquet). This was to be the last time Brian Jones appeared with the band he started They had not visited America since 1966, and like The Beatles found the experience to be restrictive and not » Continue Reading.

Author:Martin Barre

Martin Barre’s autobiography is an enjoyable romp through his life and career brought to life by inset boxed anecdotes telling of fun on the road and in the studio. Martin starts at the beginning and we have a well-paced look at childhood, school and his early love of music which clearly prevails to this day. There’s lots about Tull of course, with an unflinchingly honest look at his contribution to, and departure from, the band. Finally he covers his subsequent session/side man work and launching and running his own band.

Reports from those who have met him always say what a nice bloke he is and that comes across here. He’s quite honest about things he didn’t like but his positive outlook prevails. There’s plenty on guitar and gear nerdery for those who like that sort of thing, and despite the universal recognition by his peers, even those who don’t seem to like anyone (looking at you Richie Blackmore), he is consistently generous in his praise of others and modest about his own achievements.

The book seems to be written by Martin himself – having heard him interviewed a few times (and indeed having interviewed him myself on » Continue Reading.

Author:Stuart Bailie

I vaguely recall reading Belfast journalist Stuart Bailie’s articles in the NME back in the nineties, but his work had long gone from my memory until this new collection of his writing over the past forty years reached me. He begins with an interesting and quite detailed look back at his overall career, before presenting a series of his best pieces culled from the various outlets his journalism appeared in between 1985 and 2025. This superb collection gives us some first hand insights in to what it was like to be a music writer in the heady days when the music press was in its pomp and far beyond, with encounters with the likes of Tom Waits, Oasis, The Manic Street Preachers and Radiohead. I feel though that the very best of his writing, the cream of the crop, is reserved for Irish musicians such as U2, The Pogues, The Waterboys and Van Morrison, all of whom he seems to share a great deal of empathy with. This is a really good read, which I’d highly recommend to connoisseurs of music journalism, and as the more recent pieces amply illustrate this wordsmith has lost none of his skill » Continue Reading.

Author:Paul Lynch

It takes something very special for me to write a review of a novel. I read a lot, and as this is at heart not a literary forum, I generally keep my thoughts on the latest Patricia Lockwood (unreadable) or Cormac McCarthy (chewy, a lot of physics) to myself. Occasionally however a novel comes along so remarkable that I just want everybody to read it. Of Lynch’s previous novels I’d read Beyond The Sea, a tale of poverty and survival at sea in South America and admired his prose without feeling that engaged by the subject matter. I couldn’t shake the thought that at heart this was constructed and planned – a series of aesthetic choices rather than necessary.

A Prophet Song is a world away. This is something Lynch has put everything into, a story he absolutely has to tell. Though published in 2023, its relevance has – awfully – only grown over the last two years. His story is set in contemporary Ireland, in which a set of political circumstances have brought into power a far-right party, and from the perspective of a professional middle-class Dublin family the novel charts a country’s descent into civil » Continue Reading.

Author:Derek Shulman

The former Gentle Giant vocalist and indeed founding member, and latterly record company executive, takes us through the journey of his life in this autobiography, co-authored with music journalist and author Jon Wiederhorn. He leads us from his childhood days through to life on the road with Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and on to the formation of Gentle Giant, a band whose complex intricate music still holds its own today despite being recorded in the heyday of prog over fifty years ago. He has some interesting recollections of the recording of their albums and the inner politics of the band, although they eventually seemed to call it a day on amicable enough terms. Managing the band gave him a good insight into the workings of the record industry, so after its dissolution it was quite an easy and natural transition to move over to the other side of the fence to begin work as an A&R man. Spotting and snapping up an unsigned young band called Bon Jovi got him off to a flying start in his new career, and he was soon climbing the ranks, along the way signing up artists such as Dream Theater » Continue Reading.

Author:Steve Pilkington, George Haffenden, Joe Matera

This is a revised edition of a book on Maiden that originally appeared in 2020, which has been updated to include their most recent album, 2021’s Senjutsu, as well as for an overall polishing up. As the years go by, the band seem to get bigger and better, both in terms of albums and their epic live shows, although like many of the biggest metal bands these days, such as Metallica, they seem to spend more time on the road than in the studio. This is a really first class telling of their tale, from humble beginnings as part of the NWOBHM, right through their long career, As well as looking at each album track by track, the author gives some interesting background as to what was happening behind the scenes in the band, and also takes a look at their iconic artwork. This very readable entertaining book makes for an informative companion for both the diehard fan and the more casual listener, mixing facts and analysis with anecdotes and opinion, and is certainly well worth seeking out.

I don’t know an awful lot about The Temptations other than the obvious singles such as » Continue Reading.

Author:Ross Montgomery

The year is 1910 and Halley’s Comet is in the sky. At a stately home on World’s End, a tidal island off the Cornish coast, the Viscount is convinced this heralds a series of natural disasters and has accordingly ordered the house to be completely sealed from the outside world, with all his extended family, guests and servants inside. Alas, his elaborate precautions prove to be in vain as he is found murdered in his study the next morning. It falls to a newly appointed butler, fresh out of Borstal for a crime he didn’t commit, and an irascible 80 year old foul mouthed family matriarch, to investigate, alongside an incompetent detective from Scotland Yard who is more hindrance than help. This is a classic ‘locked room’ mystery, but the plot, which at times resembles a giant game of Cluedo, is liberally infused with humour, which sometimes borders on farce, as this undynamic duo dig into the family’s secret past in a race against time before the killer can strike again. This is an unusual but irresistible novel, a gleeful adventure with some unique characters and a sprinkle of wickedness, which will appeal to lovers of the whodunit » Continue Reading.