Today I am delighted to be taking part in the blog tour to celebrate the latest novel by David F Ross, Dashboard Elvis is Dead. You can read my reviews of some of Dacid's previous novels here Welcome to the Heady Heights | There's only one Danny Garvey.
I also have the chance to offer a great giveaway to win a print copy of Dashboard Elvis is Dead. For details on how to enter, see the foot of this post.
Renowned photo-journalist Jude Montgomery arrives in Glasgow
in 2014, in the wake of the failed Scottish independence referendum, and it’s
clear that she’s searching for someone.
Is it Anna Mason, who will go on to lead the country as
First Minister? Jamie Hewitt, guitarist from eighties one-hit wonders The
Hyptones? Or is it Rabbit – Jude’s estranged foster sister, now a world-famous
artist?
Three apparently unconnected people, who share a devastating
secret, whose lives were forever changed by one traumatic night in Phoenix,
forty years earlier.
Taking us back to a school shooting in her Texas hometown,
and a 1980s road trip across the American West – to San Francisco and on to New
York – Jude’s search ends in Glasgow, and a final, shocking event that only one
person can fully explain…
An extraordinary, gritty and tender novel about fate and
destiny, regret and absolution – and a road trip that changes everything…
My Thoughts
I can honestly say that I found this to be quite a challenging read. In part, this was because direct speech was not punctuated. However, once I put that to one side, I had to admire the author's original writing style and distinctive authorial voice. It is quite a gritty read, which moves through the decades and weaves together different storylines which seem to be brought together at the end.
One of the aspects I enjoyed the most was being able to recognise certain actual events which had a profound effect on everyone. Starting just after the Scottish Referendum in 2014, this gave it a contemporary feel and made you think that this could all happen. The novel was taking place in our world. You are taken to some down to earth places, with drugs, gun crime, poverty, racism all in the mix. Jude is living with a massive guilt which she is trying to escape from. As you follow her journey, you can't begin to see how it is going to end up. The end is devastating (no spoilers) and you can't help but sit back and admire such meticulous and detailed work.
In short: gritty, elusive, challenging.
About the Author
David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and has lived in
Kilmarnock for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture
at Glasgow School of Art, an architect by day, and a hilarious social media
commentator, author and enabler by night. His debut novel The Last Days of
Disco was shortlisted for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, and received
exceptional critical acclaim, as did the other two books in the Disco Days
Trilogy:The Rise & Fall of the Miraculous Vespas and The Man Who Loved
Islands. David lives in Ayrshire.
Thanks to David F. Ross and Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater of Orenda Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Check out the rest of the tour!
To win a print copy of Dashboard Elvis is Dead, just Follow and Retweet the pinned tweet at @bookslifethings Closing Date is December 21st 2022 and there is one winner. Good luck!
*Terms and Conditions – UK only. The winner will be selected at
random via Tweetdraw from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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