Billy is desperate to escape. It's 2016, and as a grave-digger, he's working the ultimate dead-end job. To make matters worse, he's a virgin, and there's no hope of him meeting a girl any time soon. The only women at work are in coffins.
Billy's home life isn't any better. In the evenings, he observes his dysfunctional family: his granddad's engaged to a woman half his age, his dad's become obsessed with boxing, and he suspects his mum is having an affair. All the while, celebrities are dropping like flies and Britain is waiting for the EU referendum. Everything is changing, and Billy hates it.
Billy's life gets a jump start when he falls in love with Eva. Just as things are looking up, Eva travels back to her home in Switzerland. But Billy won't give up that easily. He gambles everything for a chance to be with her again.
When things start to go wrong, Billy's journey across Europe involves hitch-hiking with truckers, walking with refugees, and an encounter with suicidal cows. But the further he goes, the harder it is to be sure what he's chasing - and what he's running from.
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(@NeemTreePress, 24 September 2020, 276 pages, ebook, copy from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed, #BlogTour 21 October via @RandomTTours)
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This is the author's debut. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. I decided to take part in the blog tour because this book sounded like a lot of fun with a series side as well which sounded perfect to me. There's a lot of adventure packed into the book which is the perfect blend of humour and tragedy. Billy is a great character, so real and well-written. I liked being inside his head. Billy is looking for love (aren't we all) and finds himself embroiled in madcap antics with a crazy bunch of people, suicidal cows and also walks for what seems like forever with a group of refugees. Billy is sort of helpless but in a cute and enduring way, you can't help root for him and hope he finds what he wants. I loved the humour in the book; it's been ages since a book made me laugh so much. There are serious moments as well.
