Michael A. Duffy – Gavin and The Bodysnatchers

I’m thrilled to be bringing my review for Gavin and The Bodysnatchers by Michael A. Duffy today. Thanks to Hygge Book Tours for my invitation.

When Gavin’s retro joke shop fails and his wife, Marie, leaves him, he finds himself at a crossroads in his life. Seeking a fresh start in employment, his existence is then blighted by tyrannical boss, Bryce Brimstone – a man who seems to bestow misery on everyone he meets. Eventually wishing the dreadful guy dead, it seems that Gavin is not the only one who shares that daydream.

But how might a monster be nobbled? With rat poison, a meat cleaver maybe, or even by the imaginative use of cling film? Or how about by using an app on your phone, one that makes sorting assassinations as easy as ordering a pizza?

Then again, who would want to enter a traumatising world of murder investigations, kidnap, cannibalism, organised crime and ice cream van drama? Surely best to stay well clear?

‘Gavin & The Body Snatchers’ – a tale of be careful what you wish for. A better life is all very well. But not if it KILLS you!

This is a dark comedy thriller,and it had my ribs hurting with laughing too much. A proper Northern tale that I appreciated from beginning to end.

Gavin, after failing at running a joke shop, finds his wife has run off with a footballer, so decides to try to move forward. He does this by taking a call centre job. A call centre run by Bryce Brimstone, who Gavin discovers he would like to see dead. This is where the story really heats up!

Gavin ultimately becomes entangled in something he could never have imagined. Resulting in an absolutely crazy whirlwind of a read. Gavin is just in over his head, and I couldn’t stop either smiling or laughing, depending on which part of the story I was reading.

Micheal A. Duffy has brought characters that made me feel I could have known them, very believable, and real. It did help that it was set in a town not too dissimilar to my hometown. I felt at home…in fact, since I have finished the book, I have discovered that Brimstone Mill is based on a converted Mill in my hometown. No wonder I felt like I did!

The sense of place is, for me excellent, I felt like I had been transported from my world into another one that was almost like deja vu for me.

The fact that it’s also a thriller doesn’t detract from the humour within the story. I was also intrigued to see how everything would work out… crazy as this is, it did leave me in suspense and turning the pages at a speed that meant I had finished this story way before I felt ready to leave Gavin and the madcap novel I had some sort of Northern affinity with!

Such a funny, crazy and madcap read that I would be really happy to see a follow-up soon, please! If you need to escape from the real world and want fun but intrigue too, please give this book a go. You won’t be disappointed!

Author Bio

Born in the North West of England, Michael A. Duffy’s formative years were shaped by the cobbled streets and colourful characters of a declining Lancashire Mill town. When he became old enough he escaped off to Merseyside to watch his favourite footy team, Liverpool FC. Then he became a student in Manchester in the late Seventies, becoming heavily involved in the indie music scene, playing in bands and writing for both national and local music magazines.

Once his head had been turned by the bright lights of both Liverpool & Manchester, he reckons that he could never return to his dreary though charming Cotton Town roots. So he then moved to and fro between these two far more exciting Northern cities, embarking on a glamorous working life. Well not particularly glamorous, but he did have a few jobs anyway. Varied stuff like English teaching, commercial management and then marketing, each work-life chapter claiming to result in varying degrees of enjoyment and success.

So, as he observed life in both Lancashire and Merseyside, he eventually assembled the mosaic fragments of characters he shamelessly stole for the basis of his two novels, ‘Sixth Beatle’ and ‘Gavin & The Bodysnatchers’.

He now lives on Merseyside with his wife, Sue, occasionally visited by their grown up kids – none of whom wish to listen to Michael’s later life singer-songwriting efforts, nor indeed hear him wax lyrical about his next novel idea, you know, the one that’s sure to be the Next Big Thing!

7