Back Up

in 1967, the members of Pearl Harbour, a little known British rock band all go on holidays separately after recording an album in Berlin only for each of them to die under different circumstances within days of each other. Very few people connect their deaths to each other and those that do end up dead themselves.
Forty three years later a man hit by a car leaving him unable to communicate except through blinking is taken to hospital after being hit by a car. The book traces the history of this man and how he was involved with Pearl Harbour and the secret behind their deaths. A fascinating story with lots of historical musical figures of the generation included. The story slowly unwinds exposing the truth along the way with an ending that for me I did not see coming. Thoroughly enjoyable.

This is a French translated novel that does an extraordinary job in charting musical history from the beginnings of rock and roll through to the drug fuelled haze of the 1070s, informed by a wide variety of seminal musical tracks from the era, such as the likes of Chuck Berry, The Who and The Beatles. The settings shifts from Germany, France, Britain and Belgium as it trawls through the life and history of a man in a coma. It blends fact and fiction as we journey into the past to arrive at the truth in the present. In 1967, the four British members of the rock band Pearl Harbour complete an album in Berlin. Within a period of a week, all the members of the group die in four separate incidents, all in a different manner, and all in different places with the police deeming them as non suspicious. Only the families of the members are concerned, otherwise these deaths are largely unnoticed, and those who do see them as noteworthy end up dying.

The narrative is delivered from the perspective of a range of characters as it moves back and forth in time from the past to the present. Forty three years later from these events, in Brussels, an unknown homeless man steps in front of a car in the front of a station. Named X Midi after the station, he is diagnosed as being in a coma. Trapped in locked in syndrome, we come to understand who he is as we find out about his history and life right up to his arrival in 1967 in Berlin through his memories. At a rehabilitation centre, he communicates with his physiotherapists through blinking! This is a thoroughly compelling conspiracy thriller built up around an interesting concept amidst a fabulous musical background. I loved the gripping and intelligent story, finding it highly engaging and entertaining, with believable twists until the final reveal. Highly Recommended! Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.