If there is one thing that Tony Broadbent brings to the
written page, it is the colloquial perverseness that can be found in the jargon
of the home turf of the English language, England. His new novel/thriller, THE
ONE AFTER 9:09, does it and does it well. I discovered Mr. Broadbent a few
years back at the Mystery Writers conference at Book Passage in Corte Madera,
California where he brought an engaging wit and style to the discussions. After
reading his three book ‘SMOKE’ series about Jethro, a burglar with more on his
plate than nipping some rich dowager’s jewels, Broadbent turns to what could be
his second loves, rock-and-roll and the Beatles.
Now I ask you, would you write a thriller about the most
famous and most fantabulous rock and roll group since, like, forever? Would you
even think of trying? The Beatles are chronicled in a thousand books and
stories, videos, posters, handbills, and even some of the earliest bobble-head
dolls. Gutsy work on the part of Mr. Broadbent, damn gutsy—and, to write a
thriller, damn cheeky too.
We’ve moved from Jethro’s ruined post-World War Two London of
the late 1940s to Liverpool 1961. Social disruption is the norm; the economy is
in tatters, the kids—all products of the war itself, are searching for
something, something they can call their own—and its rock and roll. In the cellars
of Hamburg and Liverpool a new sound rises, a sound that slams you in the gut,
makes the boys jump, and the girls get all excited and I mean, really, really
excited.
Mr. Broadbent’s tale is of money, promoters, ambition,
culture, rival rock and roll clubs, and men bent on causing as much trouble as
possible. It is the story of Brian Epstein and his desperate desire to manage
these mop-heads to their fame and his fortune. It is a story of deals, double-dealing,
failures and success. A book very hard to set down. Well recommended.
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