A big ‘Thank you’ goes to Anne Cater for
It’s the year punk rock was born, Concorde entered commercial service and a tiny Romanian gymnast changed the sport forever…
Archie Blunt is a man with big ideas. He just needs a break for them to be realised. In a bizarre brush with the light- entertainment business, Archie unwittingly saves the life of the UK’s top showbiz star, Hank ‘Heady’ Hendricks, and immediately seizes the opportunity to aim for the big time. With dreams of becoming a musical impresario, he creates a new singing group called The High Five with five unruly working-class kids from Glasgow’s East End. The plan? Make it to the final of Heady’s Saturday night talent show, where fame and fortune awaits…
But there’s a complication. Archie’s made a fairly major misstep in his pursuit of fame and fortune, and now a trail of irate Glaswegian bookies, corrupt politicians
A hilarious, poignant nod to the elusiveness of stardom, in an age when ‘making it’ was ‘having it all’, Welcome to the Heady Heights is also a dark, laugh-out-loud comedy, a poignant tribute to a bygone age and a delicious drama about desperate men, connected by secrets and lies, by accidents of time and, most of all, the city they live in.
About David F Ross:
David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and has lived in Kilmarnock for over thirty 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
‘Dark, hilarious and heartbreaking’ Muriel Gray
My Review:
Set in Glasgow (and often in a very Glaswegian dialect – meaning I had to read it in that voice too) – the East End – We follow Archie Blunt – down on his luck and always after a way to make it better by whatever means possible.
Having been sacked from his job at the Bus company for leaving his bus in the hands of a rookie driver, to chase after an old acquaintance, he soon wishes he hadn’t bothered after finding himself penniless and at the end of his tether. Drinking cans of Tenants and visiting his Dad, whos suffering
Archie lands himself a new job – chauffering Hank “Heady” Hendricks, a TV celebrity around, to where ever he wants to go and with whomever – much 70’s debauchery ensues and this, of course, leads to many a hilarious moment, but also the seedy side of showbiz – Archie Manages to get some local lads he’s thrown together onstage via blackmail involving local politician MP Big Jamsie Campbell, as well as a few other figures of high esteem, who call themselves ‘The Circle’.
Along with other characters WPC Barbara Sherman, investigating missing teens, Gail Proctor a journalist whos following Big Jamsie Campbell, trying to find something on him to let others know his true nature. And Archie’s sidekick Geordie. This makes for a great read. As well as some serious subjects being covered David Ross has managed to make them
A great book – that has a modern day twist to it.
Orenda Books is run by Karen Sullivan and
Thank you again Anne, Karen & David.
If you would like to but – Welcome to the Heady Heights – click the link here
ebook https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/David-F-Ross/Welcome-to-the-Heady-Heights/23602671
Pre-Order here: Published on 21/3/2019. https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/David-F-Ross/Welcome-to-the-Heady-Heights/23211403
