Here's the latest book: met the author at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival. After speaking to her and hearing about her debut book, I downloaded it immediately on to my mobile phone while balancing a pint of Theakstons. Didn't work; in the morning, the book wasn't on my phone. Rectified that quick smart and finished the book in good time.
Check out my review below (produced totally free of monetary reward):
The Vanity Game is like reading a trashy celebrity mag,
poring over an entertainment website, or watching reality TV – pure indulgent
entertainment! There’s sex and drugs and
rock and roll – “celebrities” behaving badly – and its loads of fun.
A great debut from H.J.Hampson – she really captures the life
of the D grade celebrity, the overpaid footballer, the 15 minutes-too-long of
fame, and the industry and media that feed off them. The dialogue is witty and quick, the
characters enjoyable, and you do feel like you are peeking behind the curtain
of celebrity stardom as it is today.
Although the central plot of the novel is intriguing and quite original,
it’s the scenes of photo shoots, roof top parties and expensive debauchery that
really kept me reading.
The protagonist, Beaumont Alexander, is not exactly a
likeable character though. He engages in
a number of acts, especially in the first few chapters, that can turn readers
right off. I did find it hard to
sympathise with the multi-million pound footballer and gained more pleasure
reading about his suffering and the crazy world that threatens to consume
him. I could be wrong, but I think that’s
intentional: for what other reason do we enjoy seeing photos of celebrities in
uncompromising positions and read stories of falls from grace? It’s bloody entertaining!!!
Check it out here: Amazon UK
2 comments:
Hi Daryl,
Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it. How is it going your own novel?
Slowly, but surely thanks HJ! Working through the final draft at the moment - on target!!
How's your next project coming along? A comedy was it?
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