Info
Written By: Philip Rennett.
Published By: Pea Arr Books.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a physical copy of the book for the purpose of this review, also thanks to Random Things Blog Tour for adding me to the tour.
Overview
Set over five days of late summer, Paths Not Yet Taken is 340 intriguing, compelling pages of crises, action and emotional drama, punctuated by dry observational humour.
A breezy satire that offers hope to us all... eventually.
In a Midlands food warehouse, a Government visit goes badly wrong. The prime minister vanishes without trace before he's had the chance to wave his German sausage at the gathered media. The consequent nationwide search creates massive issues for government, the security services, a local police force, and for a keyboard terrorist who finds the missing man.
Chaos ensues involving drink, dogs, guns and golf. And that's just at one small end-of-terrace house. Elsewhere, a van explodes, a prospective leader loses it before he's even started leading, and an assassination attempt goes badly wrong. Twice.
Ultimately, one man's spur-of-the-moment decision is the catalyst for others to reflect on their own lives and to consider decisive actions of their own.
Just try not to think about the sausage.
Overview taken from the official book press release.
Review
As soon as I saw the cover and blurb for this book I just had to read it, I love a bit of dark satire or what I call working class comedy you know something that you live everyday and you find funny because you witness it yourself and for someone that works in a warehouse/factory (myself) I found the relevant warehouse quips in this book refreshingly funny as I pretty much relate to the situation on a daily basis.
The book centres around a chaotic storyline that you feel could actually happen in real life, the Prime Minister is on a visit to a food warehouse to promote / launch a new food initiative that the government is taking part in and as you know a politician is always willing to be around a photo opportunity, but this opportunity goes a bit west as come the end of the day when one shift finishes and everyone begins their journey home the Prime Minister cannot be found and a hectic manhunt ensues.
The characters of the book shine through with the main character Simon Pope shining through, he felt scarily real in the way that I saw a lot of similarities in his character to myself, especially the wanting to get home after a long shift for a good brew and shower and a fuss of the dog. I feel that the realistic rawness of the book and the public feeling towards politicians at the moment (I won't go into that here) the book itself will resonate with the readers.
I personally think that Philip Rennett perfectly captures the working class world and gives it a sprinkle of comedy that would make the book a perfect pick me up for those working the daily grind.
Summary
Time now then to put my thoughts into a summary, overall I really enjoyed the book it felt like real life and the characters were just like the average Joe you would probably come across on a daily basis. The story itself was funny but still kept that realistic edge whilst still giving that bit of action to keep the book flowing. The smaller size of the chapters were perfectly sized meaning you can easily blast through the book without it feeling too much of a slog. Personally I feel you should definitely pick this book up especially if you work in the warehouse or factory industry.
Verdict-Out of 5 ⭐
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
EXCELLENT
I give Paths Not Yet Taken an excellent full marks score of 5 ⭐ it's realistic, rawness, comedy, action storyline line perfectly blends genres to create a book that will provide the perfect anecdote to those working the lines, I would definitely like to see this adapted for screen at some point.
Note on The Author
Philip Rennett's writing career started in 1970, at the age of eleven.
"I found my mum crying with worry about how we were going to pay the bills. She thought we were going to lose our home," he says. "I noticed that some comics published letters and offered prizes for the star ones, so I started writing."
Phil's first letter won a star prize in The Victor. "I thought it would be some money," he laughs, "I won a table tennis set."
Undaunted, he did more research in the newsagents, wrote to the football magazine Shoot and won a £2 postal order, which he gave to his mother. She gave him a big hug, then put the money in his savings account.
"I realised I could make money doing what I enjoyed. I spent my entire working life writing, firstly for my employers and then for clients," he says.
His career started as a public relations officer for a police force in the Middle East. Experiences included crash-landing in a plane whose pilots forgot to lower the undercarriage; flying in another plane with a dead body knocking against his leg; and gate-crashing a reception at the Sultan's palace where he bumped into the UK prime minister and the Sultan.
In an unrelated incident, he spent a couple of uncomfortable minutes sitting in his Volkswagen Beetle while three very angry soldiers pointed guns at his head through the open driver's window.
Opting for a quieter life, he returned to the UK and worked in newspaper advertising before starting his own public relations consultancy, which he ran for thirty years.
After decades of news releases, case studies, articles, advertisements, websites, award entries, major bids, mail shots and newsletters, he started writing for himself when he retired in 2020.
A keen if mediocre sportsman, he took up golf after his right knee decided it didn't want to take part in more physical sports any longer. Missing the thrills of his early working life, he also goes storm chasing occasionally in Tornado Alley.
This review was part of the Random Things Blog Tour please check out the other bloggers on the tour
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