A couple times a year, I get emails from authors asking me to review their book. Most of the time the book has nothing to do with music, let alone the Beatles and I graciously decline for those reasons. As a part-time publicist, I understand how hard it is to get someone to notice your book, especially if it’s self-published. So when the request came to read DeadStar: Who the Hell was Garth Tyson? by Nick Griffiths, I accepted the opportunity. And hell, the author was very charming…even via email!
This book is due to be released on January 25, 2022 and I really hope it becomes a hit. It’s the oral history of a fictional defunct Punk/New Wave band who’s lead singer/songwriter, Garth Tyson, disappeared decades ago after walking off the stage at the Glastonbury Festival in the mid 1980s. (And just a heads-up: the Beatles are mentioned several times throughout and Garth shares his birthday with George Harrison.) The characters are quite amusing and you can’t help but see a resemblance between some of them to the members of Spinal Tap (Yeah, it’s that funny) as they tell a reporter the band’s history up until Garth’s disappearance.
It took me several pages to get the gist of the way this book is constructed into its conversational format…sometimes getting confused between the reporter’s inner dialog, thoughts, and the conversation with those he’s interviewing. But once you get used to it along with the various British accents and idioms, the story will flow and you’ll have a hard time putting it down until you find out…What happened to Garth Tyson?! And for that reason…
I rate this book, 4 out of 4 Beetles!
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