My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Rubber Soul by Greg Kihn is a 2013 Premier Digital Publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Dust Bin Bob , a Merchant Marine and second hand shop owner meets John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney and form a bond when they discover his collection of 45 rpm records. These records are from the States and are not available in Britain. The guys hang out and listen to records and play music. They also hang out in clubs, drink too much, and John has a particularly wicked streak that often rubs Bob the wrong way. But, the guys remain friends through all the changes in thier lives.
Bob is mostly unassuming . He has a difficult home life with two older half brothers that are bitter towards him because thier father married Bob's mother so soon after thier own mother died. Bob gets the brunt of their anger and on one occasion John steps in and pulls Bob away from a nasty beating by his brothers.
This incident prompted Bob to keep his distance from his brothers. The beating seems to have been put in the past, but Bob's brothers have not forgotten and a plan to exact revenge is being plotted against the Beatles.
Meanwhile, Bob leads his own life and works hard with his own business . He meets a girl, gets married and starts a family. The Beatles are never too far from his mind though. He watches as they begin to get some recognition, go to America, make an appearance on TV, and tour around the world. Bob has several opportunities to help the guys out and they in turn help him as real friends will do. But, no one ever dreamed that Bob would swoop in and save the day for the Beatles and become an unsung hero.
I had NO idea what to expect when I started reading this novel. I am, of course, familiar with the author and his own musical success. I am also a Beatles fan. But, a novel featuring the fab four? I had no idea how that would work out.
Well, it works out great, as a matter of fact. The author does a great job of giving the Beatles personalities and dialog that is believable. I kept forgetting that Bob was a made up character. He is the real force behind the story. A guy that is a true blue friend and loyal to a fault.
The author did a a great job of capturing that magical time period when things were changing and the reader is seeing those exciting moments in history through the eyes of Bob as he tries to absorb not only the pop culture exploding with new music, hairstyles, clothes and attitudes, but through his own growing pains and the adult situations he had to deal with by becoming a parent, trying to build a business and dealing with his father's health problems, and of course the situation with his brothers. There was a stark contrast between Bob's life and the life of the Beatles, but there were also similarities.
Bob may have had a bit of a hand in helping with the Beatles music here and there, and of course he has a big role in helping them in Manila.
If you are Beatles fan it goes without saying, I think you will love this book. The stories about the songs they recorded early in thier careers and the references made will have you chuckling. If you are not a big Beatles fan or if you just don't know much about them, you will still like this book. There is humor, heartbreak, angst, family drama , crime drama, nostalgia, a little romance, and a lot of adventure.
I was entertained from start to finish and that's what it's all about. This one is an A+