I’ll admit, I picked up The Payola Chronicles half-expecting another rehash of the same old rock & roll myths—rebellious teens, Elvis’ hips, and maybe a footnote about Alan Freed. What I got instead was a gloriously seedy alt-history where the Mafia and CIA play puppet masters to an entire generation’s soundtrack. Justin Stamm’s blend of mob lore, speculative history, and screenplay-style storytelling makes for a wild but enlightening read.

The book’s core premise that organized crime and intelligence agencies colluded to manufacture rock & roll as a cultural weapon sounds like the kind of theory you’d drunkenly debate at 2 a.m. But Stamm backs it up with enough real-world connections (his own family ties to figures like Jimmy Alo help) that you start side-eyeing your old Chuck Berry records suspiciously. The protagonist, Nicky Carbo (a.k.a. Joseph Kelly), is a war-scarred mob underboss with a philosopher’s brain and a talent for playing both sides. His struggles with PTSD and a messy love triangle add surprising depth to what could’ve been a straightforward gangster romp.

That said, the screenplay format takes some getting used to. I loved the snappy dialogue and cinematic pacing, but there were moments I wished for more about the real payola scandals, more about Meyer Lansky’s role, fewer abrupt scene cuts. Still, Stamm’s clearly done his homework. Is every claim here airtight? Probably not. But that’s almost beside the point. This more a reminder that cultural revolutions rarely happen by accident.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early look!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mountain Vista Media for an eARC copy of The Payola Chornicles by Justin Stamm.

I was excited initially because I loved the cover, and I must have missed the part that stated it was a screenplay because I was not expecting that at all. So this wasn't a book that I was really enjoying, and the introduction section gave too much information that I didn't really care for. There wasn't much to get me invested and the screenplay only reminded me of other Mafia type television shows. Maybe it will be better on screen, I'm not really sure.

Great cover, great pictures, great story. However, it is much more fun to watch a movie than reading a screenplay. Thankfully, the author adds information about how to read a script. Yet, it would have been nice, had he published a novel-novel. Or is this still to come?