Books Love Me – Reviews

This one is for the music fans, especially if you are a hardcore heavy rock enthusiast. Nah, this book is perfect for all music lovers and for those who are curious about the life a musician leads.

Charlie Sinclair is 24 years old and holds two jobs. He works on an assembly line in a factory by day and thrills rock music fans by night. He plays the guitar in the band who calls themselves Pistonhead. Even though they have only released two CDs and keep a small following of fans, the band members remain optimistic by doing what they love to do, that is to make and play music together.

However, Charlie feels as if his life isn’t going anywhere. He only holds a temporary day job. His band gets booed at certain shows. His childhood friend and lead singer of Pistonhead, Rip is hooked on drugs. He has no girlfriend. His apartment is filled with mice. His mother has a new boyfriend he doesn’t know about. Charlie wished he could tell all that to people who think he leads a glamorous rock star life.

Then suddenly something happens that ultimately changes everything. The band’s future becomes uncertain. Charlie’s future looks even bleaker.

This novel of only 174 pages has the plot going smoothly. It only revolves around one very important week in Charlie’s life. Told from the third person limited point of view, we readers see life and music though Charlie’s eyes.

Despite the rocker musician’s spectacular performances on stage, Charlie becomes just as ordinary as everyone else once he gets off stage. People think he leads a promiscuous life with groupies but all Charlie wants is a girlfriend who loves him as he is. This is where I wonder if his co-worker Lisa has feelings for him though there are hints of it. There is also an eccentric love scene with Lisa’s friend, Tamaya.

I really enjoyed reading the concert scenes and Charlie’s feelings when on stage. The most exciting part for me is where one of their performances got a lukewarm response from a very hostile audience. I was on the edge of my seat and tried to guess whether the band would stop playing or just go on with the show.

The author of this novel, Thomas A. Hauck was a rock musician and songwriter for 15 years. He had played with Boston-based bands such as the Atlantics and Ball and Pivot. You can read more about the bands here.

Check out Thomas Hauck’s guest post on my other book blog, Books Love Me!

***Thanks to Mr Hauck for sending me a copy of his novel to review.

Peter ‘Whiskey’ Battle or just Whiskey, as called by friends and family, makes his money by being a hired killer. For a large sum of money, he can easily wipe out anyone from the face of the earth without leaving any obvious traces to lead back to him. Yeah, he’s that good.

His friends consist of rich dudes who earn money in ‘unusual’ ways, just like him. His close friend, David Ambrosia, is in the music industry and is doing what he can to make his fiancée, Godiva, a singing superstar. He’s also connected to drug dealers and such. Then, there’s Whiskey’s father, Snookey and his younger brother, Alonzo. Snookey’s stuck in jail but can still run operations from in there. Alonzo frequently lands himself into trouble of some kind.

Whiskey is also protective of his older sister, Tasha, and her kids. She took care of him and Alonzo since they were young when their mother was too busy doing drugs or going after men. Therefore, Whiskey and his family are tough characters who have been through a lot. In fact, most of the characters in this book are tough people.

Anyway, Whiskey’s biggest job is to murder a Police Chief, Mickey O’Malley, who’s determined to eradicate drug trafficking and other drug-related crimes. Whiskey and his cronies find this worrisome because they’ll be losing a lot of money if O’Malley is successful. Therefore, lots of them want to see O’Malley dead and gone.

Mo’ Dirty is definitely different from all others that I’ve read in my life. Initially, I wasn’t used to the street language being used but as I kept reading, I got the hang of it. I wanted to stop reading halfway because I got kind of bored with it but continued because I’m curious to know if O’Malley will be killed or not!

The main characters are all bad-a$$ guys who are impossibly rich and treat women like objects but they’re undeniably loyal. Those who snitched on others to the cops will obviously be murdered. People who don’t keep their promises will likely get their ‘punishment’ too.

I’m guessing that there’s a second book after this one as the story wasn’t quite finished. There’s a “To Be Continued…” on the last page. For those who’d like to read from the bad guys’ point of view, then you can try reading this book. It’s certainly been an extraordinary reading experience.

***Thanks to Tracee Gleichner from Pump Up Your Book Promotion for sending me this book.

Other Reviews: gautami tripathy, April

Mark Haddon’s second best-selling novel isn’t anything like his first. I enjoyed The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time but I can’t say the same for A Spot of Bother. However, it’s an easy book to read because Haddon wrote in short sentences and small paragraphs. Plus very short chapters too.

The story is about George Hall’s and his family’s adventures. I say ‘adventures’ because the things happening to them sound like that. George is a retired guy and he’s in the middle of building his own studio in his garden so that he has his own space to draw and paint. He also has some lesion on his hip, which he thinks is cancerous and he also thinks he’s lost his marbles.

Then, his wife, Jean, is having an affair with George’s old friend from work, David. Sometimes she feels guilty about it all and feels bad betraying her husband. One day, David poured out his feelings to her and asked her to be with him forever. To leave George and be with David, that is. But Jean doesn’t think she’s ready to take such a huge, drastic leap.

Besides that, Katie, their daughter, is about to get married a second time. She already has a little son, Jacob, from her first marriage. This time, she’s going to marry Ray. Unfortunately, her parents and brother don’t think that he’s quite suitable for her. Also, Katie isn’t sure if she’s in love with him or not.

Finally, there’s Jamie, Katie’s brother. He’s a homosexual and he’s having trouble with his partner, Tony. Jamie is also trying to get his life back together, trying to rebuild the perfect life he created for himself. Anyway, things don’t always go to plan, do they?

Well, doesn’t it sound like a pretty exciting book? I find that things got more exciting after about 60% of the book. My favourite part of the book was when Jamie’s mother and sister greeted Tony after a very unexpected scene, which shocked family and friends.

Actually, most of the book is about George. Yeah, it’s quite pitiful for him. He admits he’s afraid of death and yet he doesn’t get a thorough medical check-up. His family’s too busy to take any notice. They took it for granted that he could take care of himself, like he always did.

I guess this book would be perfect to pick up to read if you’re having a particularly rough day. While reading, imagine you’re in the shoes of any one of the characters (except little Jacob, though), then perhaps you might feel a little bit better.

Other Bloggers’ Reviews: Bibliolatrist