Published By: Mirador
Pages: 253
Released On: 28/02/2022
SEX
Got your attention? Good, please read on.
The year is 1999 and John Leonard daydreams of being a rock star with his indie band Dutch Courage.
Can they make it big being stuck on a small record label based in Luxembourg and with a crazed kleptomaniac as a manager?
Get in the band’s van, strap yourself in with the only working seat belt and prepare for a crazy comedic cosmic musical tour of Europe.
It’s 10 days of ups and downs that might break the band as they encounter terrorists, extremists, punch ups amongst themselves & with their audience. Throw in a mad mystic, the obligatory booze and drugs and they soon find that life on the road isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If it can go wrong, it does, and some might say that Dutch Courage are cursed.
Follow the band and their mad entourage as they end up in hot water in Paris and in cold water when their transport gets in trouble in the North Sea on their ferry trip home.
With Dutch Courage there is no plain sailing.
Who survives… if anyone?
*****
Thanks to Lazza for sending me a gifted copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I wasn’t necessarily sure this book would be for me having read the synopsis, but I’m always open to reading books not necessarily in my comfort zone.
I liked the narrator – a man in his mid-40s reminiscing about his youth, something a number of readers will relate to. I also liked the references to the 90s. I was born in the early 90s so obviously wasn’t up to much, but things are so well researched (or remembered) that it definitely stems some nostalgic feelings.
It is obviously fiction but it feels really real, like this could be the personal memories of an ex-rock star. It takes the reader into the story as if you were a friend. I’m sure many people can identify with these men, particularly those middle-aged wannabe rockers!
The writing style is interesting. It’s written as if it’s a diary or a stream of consciousness. It may take a little while to get your head round but it does give you the sense the narrator is talking directly to you. I personally prefer a book made up of lots of short chapters whereas this one is just one long piece of writing. It doesn’t detract from the reading of the story, it’s just my preference.
I didn’t find it laugh out loud hilarious, but there’s certainly some funny bits and it’s a very joyful, pleasant, easy read.
There’s a lot going on – potentially too much – but it just feels right for these characters. It’s full of exploits and adventures, crudeness and rudeness, full on fun.
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