Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Reedsy Discovery

Must read 🏆

A breathless, at times dark, tale of life on the road. Biting dark satire and comedy, well worth a read for fans of the genre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Andrew McLinden's 'The Next Big Thing'. The author considers the work ‘dark satire,’ and I love dark satire, so I settled in and began to read . . .

The first thing that sprung to mind was that this reminded me of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting. I also got subtle nods towards Easton Ellis’ American Psycho and Palahniuk’s Fight Club, which is in no way a bad thing. These are seminal novels. But as I read on, I realised it was much more than that. It was its own book.

The book is written in the first-person (which I love) and is a breathless tale about Danny, the often loathsome singer in a band. Danny likes the spotlight, and Danny is very well fleshed out. I can imagine many bands across the world that feature a ‘Danny’, a coke-snorting megalomaniac who needs the world to revolve around his every whim.

Now, it is worth mentioning that the author’s preface says:

‘I would consider this book a dark satire. However, I understand that some things that don’t bother me, might bother you.

So, please visit my website at andrewmclinden.com to get a description of the topics covered in the novel before deciding if you want to proceed to read.’

At times, you think, ‘Gosh, yikes. Did you say that?’ But I would rather think that than that the author had pulled his punches. Characters such as Danny need to be explored in their full deplorable hedonistic glory . . . because there are people like that who exist in the world, and this dark satire bites at you, Danny.

“This is not how band people should be, though.

Part of the role profile in a band is that you should have an addictive personality, and probably a personality disorder, and a bad upbringing, and unresolved daddy issues, and a high sex drive, and poor impulse control, and creative ideas, and be susceptible to bouts of clinical depression followed by routs of megalomania, and have a great mug shot when you finally get put in prison for some mid-range misdemeanour. That’s what’s in the social contract you sign when you become a pop star. It’s what the people who buy your records expect to see and in some respects demand of you. You lead a life that’s founded on the Seven Deadly Sins, and you die a horrible early death around the age of twenty-seven.”

The book is well-written and plotted, and the characters (despite their lack of a soul) are deep and well-written.

Make no mistake, Danny is an arse. But what he says at times is relatable. So, well done to the author for creating such a divisive character.

The other characters shine through well, given that this is from Danny’s POV. I think they all have plenty of depth (or lack of it—if you get my drift) and are well-fleshed out.

I feel like I rocked with Danny. I rolled with Danny, and at times, I agreed with Danny. Despite Danny McAllister being a bit of an arse—a lot of an arse.

The book was a sad biopic of life on the road and how stardom, competition, jealousy, and addictiveness can all get you. I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, sensitive readers might find some of it a bit crass, so reader discretion is advised.

As Oscar Wilde said: “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.

Books are well written or badly written. That is all.”

This book is well written.

It might well be one of my favourites of the year so far. And for that, I award it a five-star review.

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint

It’s a Mogadon, not a mint.”

Reviewed by

JS Morton

Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

New In Books

The Next Big Thing is a blistering, unflinching ride through the highs and horrors of fame. Danny McAllister’s chaotic rise and fall is captured with razor-sharp prose and raw emotional depth, exposing the rot beneath rock-and-roll glamour.

Part satire, part tragedy, this literary gem delivers a haunting look at ego, addiction, and the price of relevance. Gritty, gripping, and impossible to put down—it’s a five-star punch to the gut.

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See the rapid descent of a Rock ‘n’ Roll frontman and how far he’ll go to cling on to the spotlight.

The stereotypical sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll frontman Danny McAllister sees change on the horizon as his bandmates begin to shine in their own light. Jealous, paranoid and determined to keep his place as the lead singer/songwriter in the band leads him down a destructive path with deadly consequences. Out of control and nostalgic for the glory days he didn’t quite have, Danny McAllister’s story is a little like watching a runaway train - it’s chaotic, out of control and you’re waiting for it to come to a stop to see how extensive the damage will be.

McAllister isn’t a likeable main character, he’s conniving, selfish and self-destructive. However he is interesting in a way that is morbidly fascinating. To continue the crash metaphor, despite knowing the likely outcome I still couldn't peel my eyes away. The narrow perspective of the writing means that as a reader I was as disoriented as Danny while he spirals lower and lower, the next time he scores providing a constant metronome to the story, the slope steepening as the drug use escalates.

Dark in nature, this satire of the music industry critiques how far people will go for fame. Through the storyline The Next Big Thing comments on jealousy of others' success, the eagerness to cling to its coattails like one of McAllister's “weekend wives", and to some extent how sometimes, the “bad guys” can still end up on top. Not a light, or fun read, but nevertheless engaging and thought provoking.