Straight-talking, beer-swilling man of the people Neil is the leader of a dwindling UK political party, which apparently isn’t racist even though it’s anti-immigration, and also full of racists. As he prepares to launch his campaign on an upcoming referendum, however, he stumbles on a plot by shape-shifting aliens to sabotage his political career.
With only his trusty bodyguard (whatever his name is) and a couple of asylum seekers to help him, can Neil thwart the alien threat and deliver the speech of his lifetime to kick off his referendum campaign? Or has the mono-balled purple-helmeted warrior cashed in his last lavish expenses claim?
This 15,000 word novelette parodies people you might once have thought were beyond parody. Though obviously not Nigel Farage, UKIP and Jeremy Clarkson. That would be silly.
"Looking back now it also has one problem: it has dated very badly."
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
Aliens infiltrate UKIP trying to destroy them by saying/doing something so outrageous it will end the party forever.
Yeah. Good luck with that.
This could and should have been hilarious. Instead it is just bland. A parody needs to go up to eleven, not just quote the actual beliefs that certain groups have. Otherwise the Daily Mail would be hilarious. I didn't laugh. I barely smiled. As a parody, mentioning Thanet by name and having Farage's picture on the cover make it too obvious no matter how much you change the name and the author is lucky that Jeremy Clarkson has a sense of humour (or that Mr.Clarkson takes parody & milk floats better than a lack of steak). 'Smoke me a kipper' makes people of a certain age think Ace Rimmer, not UKIP, and if trying to parody UKIP a Flash Gorden expy isn't the thing you want to call attention to.
This fails on a few levels: It isn't subtle. It isn't that funny. There are points where it is just offensive, and I'm not talking about to UKIPers here. It is also suffering from bad timing: at the time this book was written, the Orlando massacre had not happened. Writing this review two days after it, a few of the plot points make for very unpleasant reading. It was also written before Paul Daniels' death, making a joke that would have been about a retired celebrity look like a very nasty slap at an icon. The Jeremy Clarkson bits were written before the huge Netflix deal and the BBC's new Top Gear viewer graph resembling the Langollen Woods Downhill BMX Track.
Formatting, typos, and grammar are all fine which is a pity as it might have livened the book up. It is a two, and not recommended.
(and no, dear neighbour, I am still not interested in joining and keep that sign off my bloody lawn!)
Looking back now it also has one problem: it has dated very badly. Many of the jokes were dependent of events around the Referendum, and even a few months later, they just don’t have staying power.
I think it is very difficult to write a book about specific issues or people unless purely as a historical exercise, so this was doomed to failure from the outset. I haven't read more than what was free to look at because I wouldn't want to support the writer in any way, and what I did see was, well, pretty horrible. (That goes for content and style.) I can't believe there have even been three positive reviews. Total trash.
I think this author made the mistake of choosing to write about something about which her knowledge was vague at best and that spelled doom for the book. I think focusing on topics that they know more about or at least spending more time doing the necessary research would be a good idea in future.
These are the kind of mistakes that a new author might make. I don't know if this author has written a book before this one, but here's hoping that the next one (if there is a next one after this...) will be better than this one.
*I think this author made the mistake of choosing to write about something about which her knowledge was vague at best and that spelled doom for the book. I think focusing on topics that they know more about or at least spending more time doing the necessary research would be a good idea in future.*
That's very generous, and essentially I do agree completely. Still, when you have problems with both content AND style maybe it's time to get a different job/hobby.
*That's very generous, and essentially I do agree completely. Still, when you have problems with both content AND style maybe it's time to get a different job/hobby.*
Yeah, I really wasn't impressed:(.
That is so true. There is only so much that good research skills or a great editor will be able to accomplish. Sometimes you just have to accept that something isn't what you're meant to be doing.
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