Gavin And The Bodysnatchers by Michael A Duffy

 

Gavin and the Bodysnatchers

Michael A. Duffy

5 Stars

Genre: Comedy Thriller

Pages: 398

Published: 23 Sept 2021

Publisher’s Blurb

Time to cheer yourself up with this dark comedic page-turner!

When Gavin’s retro joke shop fails and his wife, Marie, leaves him, he finds himself at a crossroads in his life. Seeking a fresh start in employment, his existence is then blighted by tyrannical boss, Bryce Brimstone - a man who seems to bestow misery on everyone he meets. Eventually wishing the dreadful guy dead, it seems that Gavin is not the only one who shares that daydream.

But how might a monster be nobbled? With rat poison, a meat cleaver maybe, or even by the imaginative use of cling film? Or how about by using an app on your phone, one that makes sorting assassinations as easy as ordering a pizza?

Then again, who would want to enter a traumatising world of murder investigations, kidnap, cannibalism, organised crime and ice cream van drama? Surely best to stay well clear?

‘Gavin & The Body Snatchers’ - a tale of be careful what you wish for. A better life is all very well. But not if it KILLS you!

A book written to be read! A story waiting to be told! A cast waiting to be met - well their avatars, at any rate!

Hello dear book browser, lost amongst the millions of other novels in Book Universe, maybe hungry, thirsty, disorientated. Not really knowing where you are any more. But somehow, in desperation, or by complete accident, you have found yourself looking at this novel.

But you are OK, I understand, just breathe. It is normal that you may now experience FOMO. Yes, ‘fear of missing out’, because you realise that this book could well be the undiscovered Holy Grail of indie books. Indeed, this could be your one big chance to say yes, I was among the first - just like the world famous Edmund Blofield, the first chap to have bought ‘Hamlet‘ in Waterstones Stratford in the year 1599.

But I can comfortingly assure you that unlike Shakespeare’s stuff, you’ll mostly understand all the words in my book. There is absolutely no iambic pentameter, no ‘nonny nonnies’ or ‘wherefore art thous’. But there is drama, suspense and lots of laughs. Anyway, I’m Michael by the way. Very nice to meet you…

 

Review

I read this book over two days whilst stuck in bed with the dreaded COVID infection so really needed something to cheer me up.

Gavin & his merry band of bodysnatchers were the perfect antidote to the plethora of symptoms simultaneously wracking my poor body and gave me more chances to laugh than a box set of my favourite sitcom.

The characters are well written and each blend seamlessly into the plot which itself is absolutely mad, ludicrous, bonkers and very very funny.

I'm sure that if you were studying this for A Level then you'd find plot holes you can drive a super tanker through and character behaviour that defies explanation in the real world but this isn't the real world - it's a madcap adventure that picks you up on page 1 then thrills and entertains before dumping you off, completely out of breath (or maybe that's the COVID), at the end like Dorothy's tornado complete with dead witch and some more than happy munchkins (bodysnatchers) There is even a Dog!

Reminiscent of the Tom Sharpe novels I read in my youth this is an ideal candidate for a six part comedy drama on the BBC (my vote for Gavin is Martin Freeman (The Office, Fargo, Sherlock))

Did I mention that I really loved this - Michael, you really need to be working on the sequel

Most fun book I've read in years - and boy I've read a lot of books

I received a free copy of Gavin and the Bodysnatchers from the author in exchange for an honest review, so I toned down the praise a little bit to compensate – just the 5 stars on this occasion

Free copy or not – just go buy this book, I laughed my a**e off

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Author

Born in the North West of England, Michael A. Duffy’s formative years were shaped by the cobbled streets and colourful characters of a declining Lancashire Mill town. When he became old enough he escaped off to Merseyside to watch his favourite footy team, Liverpool FC. 

Then he became a student in Manchester in the late Seventies, becoming heavily involved in the indie music scene, playing in bands and writing for both national and local music magazines.

Once his head had been turned by the bright lights of both Liverpool & Manchester, he reckons that he could never return to his dreary though charming Cotton Town roots. So he then moved to and fro between these two far more exciting Northern cities, embarking on a glamorous working life. Well not particularly glamorous, but he did have a few jobs anyway. Varied stuff like English teaching, commercial management and then marketing, each work-life chapter claiming to result in varying degrees of enjoyment and success.

So, as he observed life in both Lancashire and Merseyside, he eventually assembled the mosaic fragments of characters he shamelessly stole for the basis of his two novels, 'Sixth Beatle' and 'Gavin & The Bodysnatchers'.

He now lives on Merseyside with his wife, Sue, occasionally visited by their grown up kids - none of whom wish to listen to Michael's later life singer-songwriting efforts, nor indeed hear him wax lyrical about his next novel idea, the one that's sure to be the Next Big Thing! .

Other Books by Michael A Duffy

                 Sixth Beatle