Reviewed
by: BigAl
Genre:
Contemporary Fiction/Satire
Approximate
word count: 115-120,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
As the
manager of her husband’s rock band, Y&T, Jill Meniketti has a
unique perspective on the world of rock and roll.
For
more, visit her website.
Description:
“Lock
up your grandmothers! . . . When rock's former biggest rebel loses
everything, he's forced to call in favors from all the rock star
royalty whom he'd burned his entire career.
With a
trashed comeback tour, creditors on his ass, no record deal, a health
issue he doesn't even know how to spell, and nothing but a few bucks
from the sale of his last guitar, Mike Mays is destitute for the
first time in his rock star life. He's forced to crash his estranged,
uptight daughter's tidy world, and when she kicks him out, to
couch-surf halfway around the world at a ragtag farmhouse in Tuscany
called Groove House--home to a pack of aging ex-rock stars, who
aren't thrilled to see him.
Mike
creates chaos at every turn, bulldozing everyone in his path. His
raunchy offstage antics snagged headlines back in the '70s and '80s,
but can the aging bad boy bluff his way out of his worst bungle yet
and actually stage a comeback?”
Appraisal:
Anyone
who even half-heartedly follows the books I review could have
predicted I’d jump all over this book as soon as I saw it. I’m a
sucker for novels that somehow tie into the music business. The
characters in Groove House, especially the protagonist, Mike Mays,
are satires and reflect the worst of what you might imagine from an
aging rock star who once was and now only has been.
There
are two main story threads woven together to form Mike’s story. The
first is reconnecting with his estranged daughter and forming a
relationship with his grandson who prior to this didn’t even know
Mike existed. The second is the story of “Groove House,” an
Italian villa populated by other rock stars now past their prime.
This second story line was entertaining, although I’ll admit to
groaning when I realized it was probably heading toward the clichéd
“let’s put on a show” resolution. The first story thread,
however, redeemed the second, with its exploration of the consequence
of decisions, the importance of family, and a reminder that things
aren’t always as they seem.
FYI:
Adult
language. These characters are rock stars, not priests. What else
would you expect?
Format/Typo
Issues:
No
significant issues
Rating: **** Four Stars
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