When I saw Martin Kemp had written his debut novel I thought I’d request an ARC from NetGalley. I ‘ve found novels by ‘famous people’ a bit hit and miss – so was hoping this would be a hit – although maybe I should have gone for the predictable ‘gold’ pun that the blurb does……..

“Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose …
A British icon delivers a powerful blockbuster in an exhilarating London underworld thriller.
Martin Kemp, the music, film and TV legend creates fiction gold as he introduces fictional anti-hero Johnny Klein in a breathless, high-octane page-turner.
Johnny Klein is a rock casualty, a fallen 1980s popstar who has lost everything — his family, his money and his fame. Thrown a lifeline by an old contact in the music business, Johnny doesn’t care what he is getting himself into.
Dragged down into East London’s dark underbelly, Johnny discovers there is more at stake than his own shattered ego. Johnny hates being yesterday’s man but now he’s wishing he could disappear altogether. The party might be over, but there’s no escape from the past…”

The book follows the story of Johnny Klein – 1980s popstar (write what you know and all that!) – who has fallen on hard times having partied his fortune away and lost his wife and teenage daughter in the process. He ends up lodging with an acquaintance’s family in their Indian / Elvis themed restaurant (yes. as random as it sounds!). He then, in an attempt to get some cash and raise his profile within the industry again, gets sucked into an underworld drama of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

Some parts of the book were pacey and kept my interest, but some were a bit repetitive and I hate to say it, just a bit boring.

Now I know I can be a bit of a dick about consistency / editing mistakes – but there were two in quick succession in this book which jumped out at me (although maybe they will be corrected before the final version!) One character is shopping in Harvey Nicks when she speaks to Johnny and he goes to meet her – but a page later it refers to Johnny meeting her outside Harrods. Clearly she could be shopping in both – however it read like a continuity error. Within the very next chapter Johnny reminisces about walking home across London in the early hours of the morning, to a paragraph later saying he’d spent all of his cash on a taxi back the night before. Whilst neither of these errors ruins the storyline – it just feels a bit lazy? Sorry, I appreciate I am a tw*t………

Overall it was ‘fine’ – and I wanted to continue to read it to see how everything turned out for everyone involved – but it did not set the world alight. I do wonder if it would have been published at all if it weren’t for the fact that the author is already famous? I’m sure many people – like me requesting the ARC – will do it based on the Martin Kemp name anyway.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.