The Uranium Tipped Pen

Well the book is out, and people (god help them) have actually read it, so in the spirit of actually remembering to update my blog once in a blue moon, I thought I would post a few reviews.

Firstly, one from Australia’s Guerilla Capitalist and Anarchist rebel Royce Christian, kindly posted on his blog

t was Thursday.

Detective Cold Turkey knew this because he had read it in his horoscope yesterday.  Say what you like about astrologers but they know what the day is.  They even know what the day is going to be, which was more than Cold Turkey could usually say for himself.

He felt hung over.  His body felt like it had lost an arms race with a major superpower.  This was far from ideal but at least it went some way to explaining the terrible pain in his head.  Heck, it was even a partial explanation for the rope and the blindfold.

There was still, however, one mystery that had not, as yet, become clear.

Even as the thin mists of consciousness enveloped his feeble mind and started to kick-start reality, Cold Turkey knew it was going to be a bad day.  He knew this not because of his horoscope but because he was hanging upside down, some distance from the floor, in ever increasing agony.

Good days do not start like this.

Admittedly Cold Turkey had been having a ‘bad lifespan’ but this really took the biscuit.

This was almost as bad as the Unfortunate Misunderstanding with the Broccoli, except that there were fewer victims this time and he was immobilised with rope rather than used copies of Gardeners World. It was altogether too much for a Thursday Morning.  He couldn’t even remember where he left Wednesday evening, let alone anything important like: where is the aspirin? And, what didn’t I do last night?

Cold’s stomach started suggesting that it might be about to take matters into his own hands and begin examining the evidence from the previous evening.

Things clearly couldn’t go on like this, so Cold decided on a firm course of action.  He struggled lamely against his bindings and went “mmpmmh”.

It was at this point in the proceedings that Cold Turkey heard something interesting and enlightening.

Cold Turkey could list many noises he didn’t like to hear whilst hung over. “Ah, he is awake, let’s teach him a lesson he won’t forget in a hurry” wasn’t one of them, but he was none the happier to hear it anyway.

He left the familiar and unhappy torture of his hangover and entered the slightly less familiar world of searing pain.

And to think this had all started only last Friday.

Cold knew it had been a Friday because he had read it in his horoscope.

And so begins he tale of Cold Turkey and the Case of the Missing Crime by Samuel Morris, a comical, surreal and  seemingly absurdist tale set in none other than the English city of Stoke-on-Trent, and focusing on the misadventures of the former superhero turned private detective, Cold Turkey as he fights to save the city from the evil Captain Rightwing.

The novel itself is something akin to what you would expect of a comic book’s debauched liaison with a DvD containing a season of the Mighty Boosh; a series of non sequiters, private in-jokes and witty observations folded neatly around a bizarre story-line of lycra wearing super-heroes, some bad, some good, most useless.

As you probably have guessed, the novel itself is described by its author as ‘anarchistic’ who, as legend has it, is himself an Anarchist of some description.  Although the novel is far from a didactic piece, but there are moments of clarity where the reader is slapped in the face with a mildly camouflaged anti-state moral, often amidst moments of chaos or calamity to illustrate the point.

Whether it’s a description of the banking system as one that is easier to break into the cavernous halls of the vault than it is to break out, or the mere image of a‘regiment of freelance superheros’ atop a police van (with the police logo ‘Lice’ formerly written upon the side) converted into a boat for the purpose of beginning the battle against against the evil-doers to cries of “Up the revolution!” and “Bacon sarnies for the people!” –there are many reason to read Cold Turkey.

Samuel Morris, truly has his own unique style.  It’s his witty turn of phrase that makes the book a great read, and if you have a quirky, off-beat sense of humour,Cold Turkey will certainly appeal.

Now we come to the shameless plug, where I urge you to buy the novel and support Samuel is his David-and-Goliath struggle against some equally shameless publishing giants who have refused to publish the book.

So, Samuel has decided to publish independently.

Cold Turkey may be purchased through Amazon, directly through the publisherMelrose Books, or through any small bookshop with the ISBN;

ISBN-10: 1906561303
ISBN-13: 978-1906561307

Help keep Samuel Morris in a healthy supply of biscuits so that he may continue writing.

 

And nextly, The Amazon Reviews, at least one of whom doesn’t appear to be from somebody I know

 

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Rankine meets Spillane meets Marvel in Stoke,26 Mar 2009 By  Mike Capay “Chen Tui” (Cambridgeshire, UK) - See all my reviews The more I read of this the more I enjoyed until I found I couldn’t put it down. This author has his own style and, whilst influences can be detected, the style is unque and very enjoyable. It’s light-hearted and concerns an unlikely hero, a useless private detective named ‘Cold Turkey’, who assisted by Big Fat Martin, unwittingly fights to save Stoke from domination by the treacherous Mr. Rightwing (of the Union of Crimefighting Super Heroes) after Cold determines to find out how £10 was stolen from his bank account. There are some delightfully bizarre characters, especially India, the Hippy Assassin who has some rather surprising tools of his trade. And you’ll find the explanation of how Bank Accounts and Cash Machines work both very odd, plausible and hilarious. My one criticism is that the author’s photo is on the inside rear of the dustjacket and if, like me, you use this as a book mark, you may be disturbed by the way his eyes peer out at you as if his strange powers are helping him watch you reading…

 

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars STOKE:ON TRENT COMES ALIVE, 8 April 2009 By  HS “GM” (SCOTLAND) - See all my reviews An extremely funny book if you enjoy off beat humour. Deserves 5 stars but I gave it four as it needs editing. A good editor could turn this into a bestseller and it would make a hoot of a film. Most I’ve enjoyed a novel this year and I read a lot. More please.

I absolutely LOVED this book! What makes a Hero super? What indeed. Very sad to have consumed already- Write another one! If you like hopeless situations, sibling rivalry, conspiracy theories with talking heads Vs vigilantes and curious explanations to the inner workings of a cash machine.. You should really have read this book by now. You’ll never pass a gnome so carefree again! 

 

There you have it folks!

If you’ve not gone out and got yourself one of these rare first editions! now is the time to think about it

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 7:32 pm and is filed under Narcissistic News, Wordsmithing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.