Genre: Historical
Literary Fiction
Description:
“It’s 1971. Jack Bernstein is a struggling young rock ’n’ roll manager
in New York City. Instead of a fancy office in Manhattan, a flashy car and
backstage passes, he operates out of a basement apartment in working-class
Queens, driving a cranky eight-year-old Volvo as he trolls third-string venues
for hidden talent. He suffers enormous betrayal when Manhattan agents or
“sharks” steal his talent. Jack finances a demo tape for his top talent by
borrowing from a loanshark and pawning a friend’s guitar. When the tape fails
to land a deal, Jack’s last hope is an offer from a friendly Queens mobster:
manage his obnoxious nephew as best he can and doors will open. New York City
in the late sixties and early seventies comes alive with all its intensity.”
Author:
A native of New York City, Stephen Shaiken had a long career as an
attorney in New York and San Francisco before retiring. He now splits his time
between Tampa, Florida and Bangkok, Thailand, the latter being the setting for
his first three books, a series of thrillers.
Appraisal:
This was a fun read for a lot of reasons. First, we’ve got Jack
Bernstein, a young man still figuring life out who wants to make a career out
of managing rock’n’roll bands. He was a fun character to follow around. The
setting in time and place also adds a lot to the story. New York, mainly
Queens, means we’ve got mobsters and loansharks, as well as lots of potential fans
and opportunity, but also lots of competition. The time was a good one for
music and lots of the big names from the 60s and early 70s get their name
dropped in appropriate contexts in the story, which will give those old enough
to remember that time a bit of a flashback (no, not that kind of flashback),
and will hopefully resonate with the younger crowd as well. Then throw in a
couple chances Jack takes that could backfire badly if things don’t come
together quickly, just to turn up the intensity level, and you’ve got an engaging
read that any music fan should enjoy.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
Format/Typo
Issues:
A small number of typos and proofreading issues.
Rating: ****
Four Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words
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