Set in the world of wine and retail sales, this book is laugh out loud funny! The main character, Felix Hart, is a man of dubious morals who always manages to land on his feet. The writing is brilliant. The book is fast paced, and will hold the readers attention. Highly recommend! I am a librarian, and this is the 104th book I have read this year, and I would place it as #1 for me.

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. The book opens with Felix Hart being interrogated by an unknown 'authority' to the point he feels he's not going to get out of the meeting alive. From here, Felix tells his life story from being an orphan expelled from a prestigious school, and his decision to do work which he enjoys – drinking wine.

Felix gets into some terrible scrapes yet always seems to come up smelling of roses. His career in the wine industry prospers and takes him around the world drinking fine wines and dallying with the ladies. Felix is a very likeable character even though he's a cad and a drunk much of the time.

The language is a little ripe at times and there are a few rude scenes but so hilariously executed. Excellently written and brilliantly plotted.

This is a really good, laugh-out-loud book! Yes, it's far-fetched; yes, you need to suspend your sense of reality but yes, you will laugh. Farce, thriller, political commentary, self-help guide and above all, a drinking companion, this has it all.

Stafford-Bow has thrown everything at this tale and, for the majority of the book, I found myself thinking he'd thrown too much at it, in particular, I did not get the need for the interwoven "interrogation" story which just felt like it was there for the ride, then all became clear. Very droll.

Not one to leave around near the kids but do read it while they're out, preferably with a good glass of wine in hand - just don't spit!

Thoroughly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and author for the ARC.

A book that made me laugh out as it's full of humour. It's really entertaining and fun to read.
You will find that the main characters and the situations are irresistible and it's hard to put this book down.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Thistle Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC

Corkscrew is a standalone novel and one filled with comedy and farce about the wine tasting and buying industry.

Felix Hart is a rogue and a scoundrel and it comes as no surprise that he is being questioned for dubious practices. But as with all stories, the tale must be told from the start. So begins a tale about how Felix was kicked out of school for ‘spreading his wild oats too liberally’ and being introduced to the world of wine. Felix soon learns how to manipulate the people and the system and works his way up to being a buyer for a large chain of stores. As he becomes set to offer the biggest Asti Spumante deal in history, he finds himself embroiled in some crazy schemes taking him to many places all over the world. Added to that we have his test to become a Wine Minstrel and the secret powder he had mixed in South Africa. By all accounts, Felix shouldn’t be alive with what he has put his body through. Yet here he is at the start of a new adventure.

You have to suspend all belief when you take this story on. Just put aside preconceived notions about what alcohol does to the body, what animals in the bush do and do not do and about the sucking effects of sunken toilets. If you can look past that you will literally laugh out loud as you enjoy this book. Sometimes you need something in life like this that will take you away from reality and just have a good laugh. Since I’m from South Africa and can understand the Afrikaans use in the book, I was often in tears at some of the things said. As much as Felix was actually a terrible person, I enjoyed his character so much I wanted him to get away with everything he got himself involved in! He seemed to genuinely believe that nothing he ever did was wrong or really his fault.

I highly recommend this book as a light-hearted read filled with fun, craziness and lots and lots of alcohol.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review the book.

At first this was an amusing tale of guy who seems to have everything he touches fall apart. This starts in high school being thrown out the same day that he learns he is to be a father. Somehow he manages to fall into a pile of ___ and come out smelling like a rose.
He goes on to work in a wine shop and ends up running the place. Promotions keep elevating him as he does manage to think outside the box. After a while, though, it didn't seem amusing any more, but rather, you know he will get out of whatever situation he has gotten himself into, but I didn't care anymore. After 1/3 of the book I'd had enough.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The background of the global wine trade makes for interesting and easy reading. However, the main plot has some farce-like implausible events that I did not find particularly funny.
The sleaziness of the protagonist and his group of contacts were well portrayed in the novel, none of them were particularly likeable.
I am sure that the authors background and experience were important in developing the characters and the plots.
I am not sure whether I would recommend this book to friends or colleagues and sadly can only give it 3 stars.

I loved this humerous, actually laugh out loud story of a wine connoisseur. So much trouble he gets into and out of. After losing a scholarship to school, he gets a referral to a wine shop from a Professor along with with a "herbal" medication that will restore his energy. After finding his boss dead in the bathroom, he is promoted to the management position- at another store where robberies are the norm. He sells wine with questionable techniques and if a lady is involved so much the better. After winning a contest that sends him out of the country, he is promoted again as a buyer. He is kidnapped by the CIA, the FBI or the mafia? He spills everything that has happened in his life and is offered another job, that he can't refuse. I am so looking forward to the next book in this series of mishaps. The death in the bathroom shouldn't be funny but it is as described, as are the robberies. For a great laugh, this book is it. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review.

This is a funny novel that takes place in the world of wine.

Felix Hart, our main character, is an orphan that starts working in the wine industry and after many adventures and ordeals ends up being interrogated by the authorities. This is not a spoiler as the book opens up with Felix being questioned.

The story is told from the point if view of Felix and is over-the-top funny. Sometimes the situations were a bit absurd for me but I understood that the author was trying to make a point.

Overall, I liked it and recommend it to lovers of wine and readers of contemporary fiction.

I received this book via the publisher for an honest review.

As a young-ish canadian who does not drink or like wine, im not sure why i decided to read the book. I was attracted by the blurb of the book. I kept waiting for the book to get funny, maybe I was not made for British humour. As the title says, the highly improbable, feels right. I can't see how any of this could be true or even possible but again, i know nothing about wine. There are the red's, white's, rosé, ice and champagne. That is the extent of my knowledge on wine.

I feel like I am bashing the author but im not, just expressing my point of view.

Cartoonishly over-the-top romp through the British alcoholic beverages industry. Excellent first novel by whoever Peter Stafford-Bow is in real life (no author photo provided). As its subtitle intimates this book is nearly an exposé; and as outrageous as main character Felix Hart's memoir-as-police-interrogation-confessional is, his story is both gripping and hilariously informative. Felix boisterously humps his way up the ranks and around the world from vineyard to vineyard, and Stafford-Bow artfully employs colorful slang, epithets and expletives in various languages, a send-up of the MW qualification, even obscure research on ostrich sexual confusion - just shy of gilding this rip-roaring lily.

When I first thought about reading this book, I was hesitate. A book about wine...I don't even drink how could I understand...but don't judge a book by it's cover. Even though it is about wine, the Author put his own spin on it with laugh out moments, some scary moments that ended up so funny. I was literally laughing out loud and had to stop and reread the part to laugh all over again. This book has it all and a lot I wasn't expecting. The main character Felix Hart is a riot. Felix Hart got kicked out of school and found himself as a wine buyer. What this man went through to sell his wine isn't your everyday go into a store and try to get a contract, no this man went over the hills and everywhere. The one guy he worked for I didn't like and can't believe how together Felix remained. His under the breath moments were the best. I loved his drunk moments and the part with the ostrich or emu. I highly recommend reading this book about wine and the crazy moments to make a buck.

Thank you Net Gallery, Thistle Publishing, Peter Stafford-Bow, and David Haviland.

I absolutely loved this book and was surprised how I fell right into the pages.

Cherie'

Where shall I begin? Pour myself a glass of wine and sit down to write a glowing review would be a good start.
This book is every bit as funny as the other reviewers are saying. I sometimes laughed so hard I had to stop reading.
What I liked about the book: English is not my first language, so I like reading this kind of books to learn more of the language (I'm a fan of Wendy Holden too). It is, underneath all that is happening, actually quite informative and I learned things about wine I didn't know. The author really knows how to work out characters and how to work out a complicated (and sometimes ridiculous) plot in a way the reader keeps reading because it suddenly sounds so right.
I keep giggling when writing this, and not because of the wine because it is 11.25 now and I'm drinking coffee... I hope this author will keep treating us with more stories.

I received a pdf from Thistle Publishing. Thank you for brightening up my week!

Orphans, human trafficking, drug-addled hippies, safaris, dubious trans witch doctors, evil capitalist corporations - this book has it all. And yet, it somehow manages to stay cheerful and funny. Felix is a highly successful wine buyer for a major British department store chain. His humble beginnings and the snootiness of British society barely deter him as he rises steadily and through international adventures.

The entire tale mocks the rigidity of British aristocracy, the snobbery of wine circles, the unbridled greed of large corporations, while keeping a perfectly straight face. The bits in Africa and later, with the Somalis are particularly gruesome in their casual racism and violence. That's the only reason I'd give this 3 stars instead of 4 or even 5. Barring the Brit condescension to all things non-white, I quite enjoyed this book. In trademark British humour, the story sails on merrily and ends up in a neat bittersweet-and-still-laughing ending.

It takes a lot for me to laugh out loud while reading a book- but I was chuckling, gasping, shrieking and absolutely delighted with this book. This hilarious and well-written spoof or satire features Felix Hart, who shares his amazing story with us in the first person. He is a pleasant, devil-may-care bon vivant who knows that the wine glass of life is always half full. When he gets knocked down by zany circumstances, he always rises to the occasion. Literally.

When he realizes that a career in the wine business will gratify many of his desires, wine and women in beautiful countries, he sets his mind on succeeding in the corporate world. His story of his life and adventures, spiced with many creative characters, will charm you. Just don’t drink wine as you read this gem of a book, as you may find yourself laughing and sputtering wine all over! This is a page turner and not for the sheltered soul.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

A rather jovial and interesting tale told with much gusto and swag, about Felix's introduction into the wine buying business. Filled with innuendos, sexual conquest, drugs even death and a hold lot more. Felix seems to be one of those guys who go about without much care in the world, except drinking having a good time and thinking about his next sexual conquest. A bit of a sleazeball who turns his back on his responsibility as a father but embraces the responsibility of the running of a wine establishment. Mmm, a clash of principles, I believe. This was a curious and interesting read for me and Felix's exploits was just as much.

Got a copy of this book through the publishers.It's a book with s lot of humour and action that will please most readers,also giving us a working knowledge of wine.
A very relaxing read.

This is a laugh out loud book! I had a very hard time putting it down.
The main character is a young man climbing his way up the corporate ladder in the wine business. Along the way, he has some of the most outrageous adventures.
This book should appeal to anyone who enjoys wine, or movies like Sideways, Somm, or Cement Suitcase.
I sincerely hope that this book is turned into a movie! As I was reading it, I could not help but imagine a young George Clooney as the main character.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.