Tracking Back

Mary Eveleen (Guest Review) - 19 Aug, 2023

I loved the characters: Impatient, stubborn Sarah, who does not want to be back in Bolton running her late Trotters fanatic father's law firm, listening to her dad's colleague, Jim, who eats raw veg and leaves half of it in his teeth, and where her nosy mother, Helen, will be asking about Marcus, with whom Sarah has a not sure relationship in London. Things look up when the neat , kept her size 12 figure thank you Eileen and the far from neat Taylor, who imagines himself as an unemployed French or American private detective who retains a sexy charm, rather than an unkempt, sofa surfing, sacked police civilian worker who "always had a firm hold of the wrong end of the stick". The contemporary story is interspersed with Gerry's story, from getting a strip down wash from his mam in the kitchen sink in 1956 Bolton, worrying he won't know where to get off the coach in Blackpool, to fame as a top footballer for Bolton Wanderers. It drew me in from the start and has a nice finishing touch.

bernadette sweeney (Guest Review) - 13 Aug, 2023

This novel is cleverly written combining football and crime: though you don`t have to be a Trotters` fan to enjoy this caper! The plot has plenty of twists and turns with a lively pace befitting the urgency of tracking down ruthless criminals in and around gritty northern landscapes with Bolton as a key player. There is a vivid team of characters led by lawyer, Sarah, trying to find Gerry, a missing former Bolton Wanderers player, ranging from grieving veggie loyal, Jim, to my favourite, private investigator Taylor forever analysing and reinventing his world through the net of noir films and their seminal scenes : this makes for much hilarity. Indeed, the novel has slap stick, historical and musical moments (to name a few) with a cracking back track revealing what Bolton Wanderers FC was like before money became the `winner`. Female characters and old Trotters` players tracking back helping to outwit the gangsters take centre stage in the closing chase escapades which are very funny! The final scene is symbolically on the touchline at an amateur football match in Bolton in an encounter where a key decision has to be made by Sarah about her future.
The poignancy in the way this story ends in terms of family relationships, and personal responsibility in a world that has changed since Gerry were a lad makes for a satisfying end to a footballing adventure of the past and present.

bernadette sweeney (Guest Review) - 13 Aug, 2023

This novel is cleverly written combining football and crime: though you don`t have to be a Trotters` fan to enjoy this caper! The plot has plenty of twists and turns with a lively pace befitting the urgency of tracking down ruthless criminals in and around gritty northern landscapes with Bolton as a key player. There is a vivid team of characters led by lawyer, Sarah, trying to find Gerry, a missing former Bolton Wanderers player, ranging from grieving veggie loyal, Jim, to my favourite, private investigator Taylor forever analysing and reinventing his world through the net of noir films and their seminal scenes : this makes for much hilarity. Indeed, the novel has slap stick, historical and musical moments (to name a few) with a cracking back track revealing what Bolton Wanderers FC was like before money became the `winner`. Female characters and old Trotters` players tracking back helping to outwit the gangsters take centre stage in the closing chase escapades which are very funny! The final scene is symbolically on the touchline at an amateur football match in Bolton in an encounter where a key decision has to be made by Sarah about her future.
The poignancy in the way this story ends in terms of family relationships, and personal responsibility in a world that has changed since Gerry were a lad makes for a satisfying end to a footballing adventure of the past and present.