Mind Bomb - Revised third edition

by Luke Mitchell

It is said that when death draws near you your entire life flashes before your eyes. With perhaps only seconds to live, that's what happens to Hamish Macleod, except the life he sees is not his own but that of his rebellious twin brother. The moon was rising. Hamish strolled along the beach. He came upon a solitary coconut palm and decided to sit underneath it. Click! The sound heralded the arrival of a ten-second eternity. Red light flashed in his brain. A torrent of adrenaline screamed through his bloodstream and in those ten flesh-creeping seconds he recognized who he was Hamish Macleod, the man who had just sat on an unexploded landmine. His mind spun into fast rewind. The night Angus and Hamish were born on Scotland s holy isle of Iona, a gale raged across the west coast of Scotland. The tempest killed their father, and giving birth to twins took the life of their mother. Storm and tragedy were destined to mark both the twin brothers lives in very different ways. Join Hamish and Angus Macleod on a sex, drugs and rock and rolling helter-skelter ride that will transport you into dimensions beyond the known in Mind Bomb.

309 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 3, 2007

Reviews

[Angel Catharian]

This was a magnificent book, though it ended rather abruptly. I feel like there could be a whole other book from the point where the story left off. That's a bit of a shame, but other than that it is great. Funny and fast paced and entertaining. It's a story about twins from Scotland who were separated at birth but meet again later in life. One of the brothers sits down on a mine and cannot move and spends the time remembering the other brother's life story as a drug dealer. Particularly the part where Angus and his two best friends are experiencing LSD for the first time is absolutely hilarious.
Read this book and wait with me for part two :)

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, let me say that my review of Luke Mitchell's Mind Bomb is completely biased. I've now read it five times and am looking forward to reading it again. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but there you go.
I've read the hardback and the paperback editions and the paperback is much better edited. So, if you decide that you want to be mindbombed I strongly suggest you save yourself some money and go for the paperback edition.
The story is lived through the mind of a Scottish bloke called Hamish. He is sitting on an unexploded bomb in Cambodia. He travels through time and thinks about his life and his twin brother who is a lovable kind of anarchist guy living in Sri Lanka. What follows is a ridiculously funny, sometimes tragic and pretty over the top journey through the swinging sixties. What stands out for me in Mind Bomb is this huge beating heart that beats out the rhytmn of life right through the story. I'm quite an emotional person and I've cried reading this book, even on the fifth go.
I am Scottish and I haven't met a Scottish person who does not rave about this book after having read it. On that level maybe English people will understand us Scots a bit better after reading this novel.
There is a lot of swearing in the second part of the book and I really enjoyed that, but then again I like swearing.
One thing you won't find out unless you buy the hardback is that all profits from the sale of this book go to Cambodian land mine victims. So even if you buy the book and don't enjoy it you can still feel good about spending a wee bit of money to help those less fortunate than yourself.
Mind Bomb rocks!Trainspotting