Fallen Star

by Ian Barker

The Fallen Boys were at their zenith when Zac’s luck ran out. How does the shock of being dumped from dazzling and conspicuous success into relative obscurity affect his fellow boy band members Karl, Ritchie and Leon? Accustomed to adulation, wall-to-wall glamour, sex and all the illusions of fame, the Boys find themselves in strange territory. No longer courted, with zero prospect of resurrecting the group, they find themselves facing harsh realities. Karl is driven to appear on chat shows and accept pantomime roles: all the P.R. exercises he previously spurned. Desperate for work he even auditions for a blue movie. Reluctantly, he participates in a TV reality series soon after he meets Lizzie Keating, daughter of an IRA bomber. Hormones and adrenalin surge as the challenges to their relationship surface: Karl’s father, ex-Army and implacable in his hatred for the Irish; Karl’s wandering eye; Lizzie’s refusal to play second fiddle to anyone.

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2009

About the author

I've always dabbled in writing since leaving school. However, I spent almost 20 years working in IT before discovering that writing about computers was easier than fixing them.

I'm a former editor of PC Tools and PC Utilities magazines and now live and work as a freelance writer in Greater Manchester, UK. I currently have two novels available: Fallen Star, a tale of lost celebrity; and One Hot Summer, a coming of age story set in the Britain of 1976.

Reviews

[Elizabeth Karr]

Great read! Highly recommended is my short review. More anon.

[TC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Karl Weston left school to join band The Fallen Boys at the age of 16. Since then he has had fame and adulation, women throwing themselves at him and the lifestyle that apparently goes with being a young pop star. It all comes to an abrupt end when the lead singer dies of a drug overdose.

All but dropped by the band's management company Karl is forced to make a quick re-assessment of his life, and has to lower himself to considering roles in panto and the like to keep himself afloat. His disapproving dad seems quick to get the digs in so when he meets the lovely Lizzie in a cafe she's a welcome distraction. Considering her father was an IRA member who blew himself up arming a bomb and his dad lost both legs serving as a soldier in Northern Ireland the chances for the two of them long term don't look great though. Their relationship is tested when he appears on a reality TV show and has to decide what is really important.

This book is a really good read, it was sweet and funny (very funny in places) and is an interesting portrait of fame and celebrity. I'm almost surprised we haven't seen the author's reality show on our screens yet. It was an easy read that I whipped through, helped by the quality of the writing and editing. The romance between Karl and Lizzie is one of the main threads, but I thought the development of the relationship between Karl and his dad was just as compelling. I did find the ending a little bit abrupt but may be that's because I warmed to the characters and wanted to see what would happen in the longer term. Karl never comes across as the big I am despite his stardom and Lizzie is worried about whether an ordinary girl, let alone one with her family history, will ever be enough for him. It was easy to like them both and want to see them get their happy ending.

I suppose if chick lit is about a female character and her challenges in life, be they romantic or job related, then this must be bloke lit (or lad lit) With that sort of label I probably would have passed on it as I generally don't read chick lit or romance, but lately between this book and Scratch in particular I think I'm going to have to revise my list of preferred genres again!

[D. Krauss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the worst scenarios in life is discovering you're not all that; indeed, you're being carried along, like, say, you're in a band and your frontman dies and then no one has any more use for you. The money, the cars, the girls, and, most importantly, the identity, all gone. Now what? Read this book to find out, but, forewarning: it ain't pretty.

[The Project · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh Karl. How I rooted for you, and wanted you to be so good and a real hero and you fell a little short. I loved Lizzie. She was relate able, she was honest and she was real. You probably see me use that word a lot but I guess that's because I am not reading a "paranormal" or even "suspense" romance, therefore it needs to be real to me. I want to connect with the characters because if I don't then their inner dialogues kind of bore me. So for Karl, he was a typical young man with a once fantastic life that had it all taken away because of an accident. He could have been so much better, but sadly this might be the way young men actually are. I will say for me, this book took me a little longer to complete because its an English novel. It's not been Americanized at all, but that didn't take away from it. This was a fun book and kind of a backstage look at the life of a once boy-bander.

--Brandi, The One Hundred Romances Project