Book Review - The Last Act of Adam Campbell by Andy Jones

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Amazon UK

Title: The Last Act of Adam Campbell

Author: Andy Jones

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: 28th May 2020

Rating: 4 Stars

A year can go quickly. Particularly when it's your last.

Adam had a good life: a job he enjoyed, a nice house, a loving partner and a bright six-year-old daughter. Then he cheated on his partner. Then she kicked him out of their home. And then he was given approximately twelve months to live.

Despite the devastating news, Adam is determined to turn his life around before it finally runs out. Help comes in the form of an ex-junky, a cantankerous train driver, a nun experiencing a crisis of faith, and a teenager intent on losing her virginity - all living on borrowed time, all desperate to feel alive before their time is up.

I'm really not sure what to say about this book.  Don't get me wrong its incredibly well written, and given the way it ends I'm feeling oddly uplifted (which based on the epilogue possibly shouldn't be the case),  but at the same time. I thought it was a book with its ups and downs. 

I loved the beginning third, and the last quarter or so, but the section in the middle of the book, honestly just dragged for me, coupled with the in depth details of all the various symptoms the characters have, of their side affects from the medication, and I felt ill in parts just reading it. 

For its a book that centres around a group of people who are facing their own impending mortality, all diagnosed with Cancer, and with limited amount of time left to live.   They first meet in a support group to deal with this, but it progresses from there into so much more. 

I loved seeing how the group came together and just what they were working on even if some of the Shakespeare quotes and references went over my head completely. 

As warped as this may sound I kept reading to see just how many of the group would be alive by the end of the book and just how things would turn out in all of their lives.    Such a varied group of people, and we get to also know their families too, it just shows that Cancer takes no prisoners, it's not selective and can affect anyone. 

I really did care for some of the main people, and there were moments of light relief, bits to make you smile, as well as potentially be quite emotional. 

Certainly a well written book that has crept under my skin more than I would have anticipated, even while reading it, and a change in direction from what I recall the authors previous books to be. 

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Four by Andy Jones - #HolidayReading Mexico

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: Four

Author: Andy Jones

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Publication Date: 16th May 2019

Rating: 4 Stars

In the time they've known each other, Sally, Al and Mike have shared - well, almost everything.

Sally and Al have been married for seven years, though now their relationship is hanging by a thread.

Sally and Mike have been best friends since university. And on many occasions something more.

Mike and Al have been friends and colleagues for many years. Yet with Al poised to become Mike's boss, their friendship comes under threat.

And now there's Mike and Faye. They haven't been together long, but Mike's pretty sure that, this time, it's the real deal.

As the three old friends sit on a train heading towards Brighton to meet Faye, little do they know that after this weekend, the four of them will have shared . . . everything.

They all know they have made a mistake.
But they could never have imagined the consequences.

Have you ever considered having a foursome or partner swapping? 

This is the story of Sally and Al who are married, that are best friends with Mike who is going out with Faye who is considerably younger than they are. 

On the groups first meeting with Faye, with rather too much alcohol and drugs taken, there is an idea that they would swap partners for the night. 

What follows is a story from all perspectives looking into how the various relationships and group dynamics change. 

I was slightly disappointed that the main sex of the book was predominately behind closed doors, but apart from that I really enjoyed seeing the aftermath of their hedonistic night!

I was completely absorbed by the story, and really wasn't sure what the final outcomes would be, but thoroughly enjoyed finding out. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Girl 99 by Andy Jones - Chances Fortnight

I'm delighted that I have been able to take a chance on a new author to me,..Andy Jones. 

Amazon UK

Title: Girl 99

Author: Andy Jones

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Publication Date: 14th February 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

When Tom’s girlfriend walks out on him the day before Christmas, he feels humiliated but not necessarily heartbroken. Sadie wasn’t, after all, The One. If we’re being precise, she was number eighty-five.

And so, for reasons that are only mostly wrong, Tom embarks on a mission to bring his number of encounters up to a nice neat one hundred.

Over the course of his quest he sleeps with a colleague, a colleague of a friend, a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend’s wife, the estate agent selling his flat and several more besides.

Everything is going, if not well, then at least according to plan…and then Tom meets Verity. Whether she’s The One remains to be seen, but she’s certainly more than just another number.

Very entertaining story, about one lad who is trying to get his number up to 100, as a result of a bet! This is an amusing lad lit book, and as a female, its always great to get inside a male brain and see just what guys get up to when there are no women about to reign them in!

Tom did the honorable thing and admitted to kissing another woman, to his then girlfriend. However admitting to that sort of indiscretion via email on a Monday morning is never the advised way to go about it.  Understandably Sadie is upset and soon after Tom finds himself single. 

While he is thinking, works out that he has currently slept with 85 women, in his life, but his mistake was mentioning it to his best friend. El, who has his own fascinating storyline, due to his degenerative illness, bets Tom £1,000 that he can't get his total up to a nice even 100, by a certain date. 

In amongst Tom attempting to hit on almost everything wearing a skirt, in an effort to win the money, we also  see a lot of him at work, where he makes adverts.  Some of the best moments are the auditions for the series of adverts for Skittles, and then the production scenes. The right mix of humour and being quite sweet.  

Tom meets and does more with all manner of women, but only some of them are described to the reader in any details, and even then the sex isn't explicit. I loved Tom's estate agent, some great scenes involving her, well not the agent herself but the antics. Then there is Tom and the car share with Sadie, where things aren't quite as simple as it sounds. 

Then there is Tom's downstairs neighbour, an older man and one of Tom's friends. Watch out for an excruciating conversation between Tom and Eileen about Dave. Really though there was plenty of humour throughout the book, and even more memorable scenes. 

I could probably sit and pick out memorable scenes all day, or I could urge you to have a look at the book for yourself! 

Girl 99 will appeal to fans of Mike Gayle, Matt Dunn and Steven Scaffardi, and for anyone that wants to see a story transforming a rather laddish man about town, into someone who meets a rather intriguing woman. There are plenty of laughs, some bad language, plenty of alcohol, and generally an all around entertaining feel to the book.  In addition to a few deeper storylines, but even the those were offset with humour in the right way! 

Thank you to Lake Union and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Publication Day Extract from Girl 99 by Andy Jones

Happy Publication Day to Andy Jones, Girl 99 is out today and I'm delighted to be able to share an extract from it. I'm also really looking forward to sitting down and reading my copy. 

Published 14th February 2017

Available for purchase - http://amzn.to/2jSGPec

When Tom’s girlfriend walks out on him the day before Christmas, he feels humiliated but not necessarily heartbroken. Sadie wasn’t, after all, The One. If we’re being precise, she was number eighty-five.

And so, for reasons that are only mostly wrong, Tom embarks on a mission to bring his number of encounters up to a nice neat one hundred.

Over the course of his quest he sleeps with a colleague, a colleague of a friend, a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend’s wife, the estate agent selling his flat and several more besides.

Everything is going, if not well, then at least according to plan…and then Tom meets Verity. Whether she’s The One remains to be seen, but she’s certainly more than just another number.

Extract: The Book Club, where everyone apart from Tom are ages 65+

Rather like Tropic of Capricorn, my host’s expression is hard to read.

 ‘It’s just so bleak,’ I say. ‘He spends the whole book drunk, miserable and entirely controlled by his . . . penis.’

The word – like the entity it represents – is out before I can stop it, as if it has a mind of its own, as if possessed by the ghost of Henry goddamned Miller.

 ‘I’m sorry,’ I say, from behind my hands. ‘I didn’t mean to . . .’

‘Quite all right,’ says Helen. ‘We’re all adults. Besides, we can hardly critique literature if we’re going to embargo its building blocks.’

‘Hear hear,’ says Mo.

‘Penis?’ says Cora.

Mo strokes Cora’s hand. ‘That’s right, dear.’

‘The thing is . . .’ I say. ‘The truth is, I found Tropic of Capricorn so utterly depressing because it reminded me of myself.’

The room is silent but for the sound of seven people leaning forward.

‘And this reminds you of you how?’ asks Mo kindly.

‘I’ve slept with a lot of women,’ I say, and everyone leans back, as if retreating into the safety of their chairs.

I nod gently, as if to confirm this revelation, as if I’m granting myself permission to continue. ‘All the time I was reading Henry Miller, I was thinking how sordid and pathetic and . . . and hollow his life was, but . . . well, that’s me all over, isn’t it?’

Jim nods as if, yes, he knows exactly what I mean. Vera’s mouth is puckered into an expression that could be born of several attitudes, but I’d put my money on disapproval. Helen twiddles her glasses chain. Mo smiles. 

‘And then I met someone,’ I go on. ‘And then . . . and then I ruined it.’

‘You did the dirty on her?’ asks Agnes.

‘I was quite a one myself,’ says Cora, taking hold of my hand. ‘Is three an awful lot, do you think?’

Any other Monday, I’d shit myself laughing. But not today.

About Andy Jones

Andy Jones lives in London with his wife and two little girls. During the day he works in an advertising agency; at weekends and horribly early in the mornings, he writes fiction.


You can find Andy on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram as andyjonesauthor


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