Cocaine Book

Phil Strongman's debut as a novelist is an exhilarating journey through the cocaine culture of a select subset of London life. We are offered a little fashion, some tabloid journalism, drug dealers, media folk and a lot of ligging against a backdrop of passion for popular music and the club scene. The author clearly has enough familiarity with all these subjects to write about their eccentricities and predictabilities with an engaging affection and humour. Reading the book is reminiscent of a certain pattern of drug taking. You begin with a feeling of controlled anticipation, amused by the strange situations presented to you, if slightly suspicious of some of the characters that appear. However, suddenly and without warning you find yourself truly alarmed at the turn of events, unsure as to how you arrived there and repelled by what is happening, while being unable to stop. The plot leads you from one artificially induced high to the next, but somehow remains a secondary issue; as in all things where they take hold, the drugs dominate. This book is no Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It is not so dangerous or obsessive, but it is entertaining. Our hero's highs and lows and repeated assertions that he is "definitely going to give up the coke" will surely keep you reading to the end. --Louise EllisonRead More