David QuantickRecensioni

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/rickys-hand-by-david-quantick-brief-note/

By a well-known TV writer. Funny but ultimately implausible even on its own terms. The future tech works just well enough to drive the plot.

This review first appeared on scifiandscary.com. I received a copy of the book from Titan Books for review consideration.
‘All My Colors’ is a weird blend of horror and comedy that manages to work a lot better than books that mix those genres sometimes do. I often find that comedy horror veers too far one way or the other, being either funny but not scary or creepy but with jokes that fall flat. David Quantick’s book steers a path straight down the middle and is both laugh out loud funny and genuinely mysterious and unsettling. Given that Quantick is part of the team who wrote TV shows ‘The Thick Of It’ and ‘Veep’, I expected the jokes. What I didn’t count on was him having such a talent for horror.
The book is the tale of a failed writer in 1970s middle America who finds that no-one else can remember a famous novel which he knows word for word. Seizing the opportunity, he rewrites the book. Given that this is a horror novel, his actions set in motion a suitably horrific sequence of events that build up nicely as the book progresses.
The premise is pure Twilight Zone, and the 70s setting makes it read a little like a lost Stephen King novel, only much, much funnier. It never quite reaches King levels of terror, but it does have some memorably nasty imagery and a denouement that is lingeringly creepy. It also features the King trope of the alcoholic writer. To my mind, though, it’s a better book about writing than anything King has penned. It perfectly captures the mystery of the creative impulse and the way in which a work of art ceases to belong to its creator once it is finished.
Most of all, though, ‘All My Colors’ is a really fun read. It’s engaging, gripping and hilarious by turns. I couldn’t put it down and ploughed through it in a day. If you like your horror smart, inventive and witty I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Very intriguing story that I couldn't put down. So much in the vein of the movie Yesterday. I usually don't like stories with an unlikable protagonist, but this one worked for me

I received an e-book ARC copy of Night Train from NetGalley and Titan Books in return for my honest review, which follows below. I thank both for this opportunity.

The opening scene gives us promises of a tense and secretive read. A person wakes up confused of who they are and where they are, not a great way to to start the day. Fighting her way to a door, she becomes aware that she is stuck on a moving train, not much of an improvement in my opinion. She begins moving in the direction she hopes will lead to the front of the train, passing through train cars carefully and fearfully. She meets another person, a man who claims to have been surviving on the train for more than a month, if his calculations could be in any way correct.

Each train car that they enter is different, some are buffet cars that offer limited types of food, while others range from common train cars to outright bizarre configurations. The windows will sometimes show explosions, ash raining down like snow, or lakes of fire below the tracks. None of this helps them remember. And the story continues from there but I don’t want to give away spoilers.

So the obvious comparisons for me are the graphic novel, turned movie, soon to be television series Snowpiercer and the horror movie series Cube. There are traps and wrong choices to be made while traveling the train length, which is reminiscent of the Cube franchise. In those people would wake up in a room, usually with some memory loss, and have to find their way out of connecting rooms. Some are safe to enter, some are booby trapped, there was some math involved in solving it, or trick to making it through safely. They were fun, slightly campy movies, with unique ways to mess people up. Snowpiercer was an apocalyptic world setting, with a train that runs a continuous track, stuffed chock full with the surviving humanity. But class snobbery still exists, because why not?!, so there are poor people living in filth eating cricket bricks and rich people eating sushi and drinking booze.

This book felt like it took the middle road in plot from these two, a blend that was unique yet familiar. What fell a little flat for me was the character dialogue, at times it seemed like it tried to be jocular but didn’t read sincere. It also could be awkward when more than two people would be talking, it could become difficult to tell who was speaking. There was also a stretch in the last part of the book where a few sentences seemed to be out of place, making the story feel fractured. Unless it was on purpose. I think it may be a printing error, it may be fixed by the release date. An example without using actual text; a question would be answered in paragraph one, without a speaking source given, but the question would not be asked until paragraph two. It made it difficult to read for several pages.

I thought it was an interesting story, I give it 3 stars because I enjoyed most of my time reading it. I would suggest it to people to read, my issue with the dialogue is my issue, others may not agree with me of course. Some of the later chapters felt clunky and out of sorts, but again, I don’t know if that will be present in the final release, or if it is a reading style I just didn’t get.

This book reminded me of Stephen King's earlier books when he wrote under the name of Richard Bachman. Some earlier parts of this book had me laughing so much before it started down its dark corridors! It's definitely a bizarre book but I certainly enjoyed it and read it straight through.½

What starts out as a funny, dark and highly readable tale becomes improbable and just downright silly by the last chapter. Very disappointing ending to a fun "page-turner."½

Charlie Bread, the "Antiques Whisperer", is in search for the truth about a document possibly written by JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, in GO WEST, by David Quantick. His employer is pushing him to get the job done, a mysterious woman shows up and becomes part of the search for truth and eventually all the lies, and double crossings, secret identities, and more are revealed in this entertaining novel.
The protagonist, Mr. Bread, is an antique analyst at the top of his game, but he is also a peculiar and socially challenging individual. He uses a radio program by John Peel to relax and focus his mind and takes great delight in vexing his employer with his quick wit and superior antique knowledge. His sense of urgency comes and goes, he is easily distracted, and has a habit of stumbling into trouble. Now whether it's because of these characteristics or in spite of them I'm not sure, but the reader can't help but be entertained by Mr. Bread.
Quantick's story is well crafted and effortlessly sways between the bumbling humor and social challenges of Mr Bread, and when attention by our protagonist is put towards it, the unraveling of what is really going on and who Mr. Bread should trust. The book takes a little while to settle into the plot, but I felt that it reflected how Mr. Bread takes a while to settle into a job. By the end, Quantick reveals all and does a stand up job of tying up the loose ends.
With the exciting search for the truth and a good bit of British comedic bumbling, GO WEST is a fun, easy to follow, light thriller. I certainly want to read more by Quantick in the future.
Thank you to Unbound, David Quantick, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book contained one of the worst first chapters I've ever read...A wannabe-matcho/intellectual/sexist who was also an ''antique whisperer.'' Not much to say on this one but this ''novel'' ticked all the right boxes on the ''How to Abandon A Book Before the Third Chapter.''

Paul Sparks, commonly known even to his nearest and dearest as Sparks, is a waster. An overgrown man-child, he’s a lazy aficionado of videos, junk food and the pub closest to his ‘office’, where his job involves (infrequently) replicating 1970s t-shirts. It’s a sorry state of affairs, but it has always suited Sparks and it’s only when his girlfriend Alison dumps him in exasperation that Sparks realises he could have handled things a bit better. When he stumbles across a very esoteric website, which suggests the possibility of alternate universes, Sparks comes to a decision. He might have lost Alison in this world, but if there really are parallel worlds out there, he’s determined to search through them until he’s found the one, perfect world, in which he can win her back forever...

For the rest of the review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/01/18/sparks-david-quantick/

David Quantick was one of the best things about the NME when I began buying it; in conjunction with the exuberant Steven Wells they were funny, provocative and unafraid to touch a nerve with artists or readership. He’s also been part of some of the best British TV comedy of the last couple of decades; The Day Today, Brass Eye and The Thick of It. I’ll always give a chance to a reliably funny writer, particularly when it’s cheaper than chips (apart from the fries in McDonalds).

It’s a well-worn premise; man (Sparks) loses girlfriend and looks for a way to get her back. Quantick’s SF twist is the Random Life Generator, which allows access to alternative universes with splendidly mundane premises (no Nazis won WW2 dullness here). It’s a good ramble which gives Quantick the excuse for some typically great one-liners but it often feels meandering and simply an excuse to fit in a few more jokes until the author works out how to end it all. Which, in fairness, he does rather well and not too abruptly, unlike this review.

A very good read. Well written with the perfect blend of interesting stuff and decent sized dollops of fun. Pretty essential for any Beatles fan, but it would entertain all lovers of music making generally. You'll want the record to hand while you read...

The Dark Husband was written by David Quantick who apparently is a famous comedy writer. On the basis of this, he should probably stick to that genre; The Dark Husband is pointless rather than funny. OK, the plot just about makes sense, and poor Danny Webb survives playing all three of the main guest characters, and there is just a hint of romantic spark between Ace and Hex, but it's just not very exciting.

Roughly 50 pages of context (the period, the band), 100 pages discussing the tracks one by one, and another 50 pages of appendices.

I'm not a specialist, and there's no bibliography, so I can't really judge the accuracy of his research; but starting as an average listener I can say it enhanced my enjoyment of the album, and made me curious about some related music, which is a strong recommendation.