What the heck did I just read?! This book is so hard to describe, it's a fun wackadoo journey that is both nostalgic and fresh! Secret agents? Check. Big classic rock band? Check. Bickering and teamwork? Check!

Drummer Rikki Thunder joins 80's metal band Whyte Python just as they are making it big. As they gear up for a world tour, Rikki learns that his girlfriend Tawny is secretly CIA, and they have been using the band to push their agenda in Communist held countries. They want to use Rikki as they make the new album and, on the tour, to help the CIA promote rebellion. Rikki's not sure he can do it- can he hide this from his hard partying bandmates, deal with his girlfriend who betrayed him, and be a good CIA asset- all without getting caught?

I really liked this book, despite it being slow and a bit confusing in some places. It had moments of humor, rock and rock behavior, and lots of 80's hair band moments. It was fun and I can already think of a few people who would love this book. This would be good for fans of rocker memoirs, spy novels, and general 80's lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy is a very highly recommended novel that blends tales of an 80's hair metal band with a Cold War PSYOP. This entertaining, fun book really is on a "satirical knife-edge between high-suspense and head-banging hilarity."

In 1986 Drummer Rikki Thunder (Richard Henderson) met his girlfriend Tawny Spice while putting out flyers for his band in Los Angeles. She soon manages to get him on as a drummer for the up and coming band Whyte Python. Rikki is thrilled to join the members of Whyte Python - lead singer, Davy Bones, shredding guitarist, Buck Sweet, and bassist, Spencer Dooley. The the band's success takes off. They have a hit single and are selling out clubs. Their album soars on the charts and they go on tour. He has a beautiful girlfriend. Life is good.

What he doesn't know is that Tawny Spice is actually Amanda Price, an undercover CIA agent with Project Facemelt. The goal is to propel Whyte Python to fame and get them to tour in eastern bloc countries behind the Iron Curtain. The mission is to inspire a youth revolution through American music. Rikki Thunder is thrust into the role of drummer and international spy as the band spreads "peace, love, and epic shredding across the globe."

Honestly, it was surprising how much I enjoyed this headbanging, shredding comedy. And yes, it is mainly a comedy, but there are some suspenseful and serious scenes too. The plot unfolds through the point-of-view of Rikki and Tawny. Readers should take note that the action is a little slow to take off but once it does it is definitely worth the wait. Expect a lot of name dropping of bands from the 80s.

The Whyte Python World Tour would make an excellent retro 80s rock 'n' roll movie. Thanks to Doubleday for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

The review will be published on Edelweiss, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Rikki Thunder is the superstar drummer for the world famous glam-metal band Whyte Python. He's also secretly working as a CIA asset in a Cold War operation to bring down the Berlin Wall. How does Rikki arrive in these circumstances fit for an 80s action movie fanboy fantasy? He was an orphan who was neglected at home and bullied at school, so he's (naturally) a formidable fighter without having exercised or played sports at any point in his life. His frustration with life as a youth led him to use music as an outlet for his anger and creative energy. Through sheer desire and practice time, he becomes one of the best drummers in the world. Next, he scores a bombshell girlfriend (who is infatuated with him at first sight) and deserts his former bandmates to try out for the more successful metal band, which welcomes the replacement drummer with open arms.

If this all sounds trite and superficial, that's because it is. Kennedy presents the book as a humorous adventure for adults who are nostalgic for the 80s, but instead, he delivers a Young Adult novel set in the 80s with a Cliff's Notes plot populated by one-dimensional characters. The romantic elements inspire eye-rolling, the action strains suspension of disbelief and the attempts at a unifying message or theme are so uninspiring, they're almost nihilistic. The Whyte Python World Tour is not the place to look for insights about 80s culture or how it influenced our collective perception of music, justice and heroism--it's not satire. It's less like the classic action films full of one-liners that we discuss with friends and more like the 85-minute runtime guilty-pleasure music montage movies that we put on in the background during workouts. Some chapters in this book are literally written montage sequences with fragments of narrative in paragraphs separated by ellipses and other chapters are comprised completely of corny song lyrics.

Kennedy blasts Whyte Python at his readers in true metal style--fast, gritty and visceral. The conclusion of the novel is satisfying enough, but it's difficult to find any resonance in the harmony of these static, superficial characters. Hints that Rikki could be called upon for future covert ops were disappointing to this reader, but to the right rock n' roll fan, this might be a fun ryde (see what I did there?).

A totally metal thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for the ARC.

4.5 cans of hair spray rounded up

I knew I needed to write this review, so I only had like, 7 beers and 2 shots.

What a fun romp through the mid to late eighties, hair metal, rock n roll excess, and cold war spy stuff! Rikki Thunder is a drummer for a go-nowhere hair metal band in LA when he meets the coolest groupie who helps him join the biggest up and coming band. Things that seem too good to be true often are, and it turns out she works for the CIA , who are trying to ignite revolution in Eastern Bloc countries through western music, specifically hair metal. I grew up with hair metal, so this book was right up my alley. It's mostly a lighthearted comedy with some action thrown in, but there are some heavy emotions tackled here and there (with humor, of course). My only real complaint is the way time progresses in the book. We think a few months have passed and suddenly Rikki says something like, "It was our first time at home in my bed in over a year." But it's a minor quibble. Rikki is a lovable quasi doofus and you can't help but cheer him on. Did anyone else sing the Whyte Python anthem, "Tonight, for Tomorrow" in their head when reading the lyrics?

If you dig this kinda thing, go check out the Whyte Python website! https://whytepython.com/

Fun fact: "Still of the Night" by Whitesnake is my karaoke jam.

Devil horns in the air to NetGalley, Doubleday Books, and Travis Kennedy for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

More YA simple than I’d hoped, an ‘80s, bro-and-I-was-like-dude stoner comedy when I’d rather the singer/lyricist be a gritty if ironic voice. It’s like Totally Kyle from the Amanda Show plus Russian spy infiltrating though that doesn’t start soon enough for me to stick around for the denude style.

Songs are cute and the foster care backstory
sweet but the pace isn’t doing it for me on top of the cliche MTV movie/doc moments. It’s not Motle Crue or GnR rowdy. There’s a love story with a blonde rock mag groupie girl.

To give an example of the humor, a band member asks for more drugs when captured by the sleeper cell, then air-guitars while looking at the clouds.

This was such a fun and wild ride with Whyte Python. The unique personalities of all of the characters made them incredibly entertaining as they all tried to accomplish different things. Money, fame, redemption… the life of a rockstar/CIA agent. Where can I buy tickets to the next world tour?

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for the ARC!