EARLY RISER

Jasper Fforde’s first standalone novel is here. Hope it doesn’t feel too lonely.

released 9 august 352 pages | Paperback/ebook

Author rhys thomas Publisher Wildfire

It’s not often that you think, “If ever I bumped into that author in a pub, I’d buy him drinks for the rest of the night.” Why does Rhys Thomas deserve so many beverages? To thank him for The Unlikely Heroics Of Sam Holloway, possibly the best book about a geek written for geeks that’s ever been written.

Sam spends his days working in a warehouse and his nights fighting crime as the Phantasm, inspired by a) the superhero comics he loved as a kid and b) a family tragedy... but when he meets the woman of his dreams, his comfortable status quo is rocked.

Sounds straightforward, right? But there’s so much more to this story: layer upon layer of believable character building; the unfussy, pragmatic way it tackles mental health issues; lashings of laugh-out-loud humour; and, crucially, a central romance that feels so real you’ll recognise every relationship you’ve ever been in (good and bad). And Sam is one of us, from the way he idolises Dream from the Sandman comics to his choice of pals, who could just as well be played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

By the time Sam’s adventures have come to an end, your heart will have broken – but then it will swell with joy. This book is bloody lovely. Read it. Jayne Nelson