Safe Return Doubtful

Published 2024 – north of England literature

Myers is clearly a passionate and versatile writer. I wonder though that sometimes his passion gets the better of him and manifests itself as a sort of whimsical reminiscence in books like The Offing, The Perfect Golden Circle, and this.
This is perfectly enjoyable, but lacks that grit and dark dry humour of Beastings and The Gallows Pole where I believe he is at his best.

The narrative here concerns two protagonists meeting for the first time at a Northern Soul ‘weekender’ in Scarborough. Bucky is an American widower addicted to opioid analgesia who once recorded the type of single sought after by collectors and aficionados, rarer than gold dust, and Dinah, a Scarborough shop worker, whose passion for Northern Soul broadens the horizons of a life otherwise constricted by a joyless marriage.
It’s not Myers at his best, but as a love song to Northern Soul, it persuades cynicism to be suspended and duly rewards that effort.

My GoodReads score 3 / 5