What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fall: A gripping new thriller for 2025 following a fallen pop star caught in a deadly mystery, unravelling dark secrets, betrayal, and the dangerous price of fame.
Johnny Klein is back! The new thriller from the music, film and TV legend.‘Johnny Klein is a great character!’ Kimberley Chambers The bigger the star, the harder they fall.
Johnny Klein, fallen ‘80s pop icon, thinks life is finally on the up. He’s basking in the luxury of the French Riviera – hoping his worst days are behind him.
But when a man falls from a window to his death in London, Jonny is forced to confront the darkest corners of his fame.
Thrust into a dangerous game of lies and betrayal, Jonny must uncover a deadly secret, before somebody else dies…
Johnny Klein, fallen ‘80s pop icon, thinks life is finally on the up. He’s basking in the luxury of the French Riviera – hoping his worst days are behind him.
But when a man falls from a window to his death in London, Jonny is forced to confront the darkest corners of his fame.
Thrust into a dangerous game of lies and betrayal, Jonny must uncover a deadly secret, before somebody else dies…
320 pages, Paperback
Published December 23, 2025
36 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Martin Kemp
13 books15 followersLibrarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 24, 2025
*Secrets*
This is the first book I’ve read by Martin Kemp, and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve just realised there’s a previous book featuring the main character, Johnny Klein.
Johnny is a former band member who’s fallen on hard times. He’s separated from his wife and has a daughter. Living above a restaurant, he makes ends meet by doing odd jobs.
Johnny takes a job to pick up two guitars in preparation for their auction in London. Initially, it seems straightforward, and the job is in France at a luxury villa owned by a fellow musician named Pete.
If Johnny had any inkling of what awaited him, I doubt he would have agreed to the job.
Now, we see Johnny bearing witness to death, being beaten up, being threatened and so much more, the whole fiasco is all about someone not wanting a secret to get out. Will Johnny get to the bottom of things while trying to save his life in the process.
Despite what he gets himself into Johnny is a likeable character
This is the first book I’ve read by Martin Kemp, and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve just realised there’s a previous book featuring the main character, Johnny Klein.
Johnny is a former band member who’s fallen on hard times. He’s separated from his wife and has a daughter. Living above a restaurant, he makes ends meet by doing odd jobs.
Johnny takes a job to pick up two guitars in preparation for their auction in London. Initially, it seems straightforward, and the job is in France at a luxury villa owned by a fellow musician named Pete.
If Johnny had any inkling of what awaited him, I doubt he would have agreed to the job.
Now, we see Johnny bearing witness to death, being beaten up, being threatened and so much more, the whole fiasco is all about someone not wanting a secret to get out. Will Johnny get to the bottom of things while trying to save his life in the process.
Despite what he gets himself into Johnny is a likeable character
June 10, 2025
Johnny Klein is back! I really enjoyed his adventures in the first book, The Game so was excited to see anew book in The Fall.
Former pop star Johnny is still living above Graceland, the Indian restaurant in London and still scraping by with odd jobs. He feels his latest job is a step up and is positive about his future. Sent to the south of France to pick up some guitars and bring them back to London, how much trouble could that cause right? Well it turns out quite a lot. It is the beginning of a series of events that put not only his life, but of those around him as well.
Even though Johnny is a bit selfish and makes really bad decisions, you can’t help but like him and want things to turn out for him. I loved seeing him with his daughter more this time as well as Mona the journalist. The Elvis themed Indian restaurant will always make me laugh. A great book set in a great city and around the music of the 80s and 90s, what is not to enjoy.
Thanks so much to Harper Collins UK for my early copy of this book to read. Out on June 5th.
Former pop star Johnny is still living above Graceland, the Indian restaurant in London and still scraping by with odd jobs. He feels his latest job is a step up and is positive about his future. Sent to the south of France to pick up some guitars and bring them back to London, how much trouble could that cause right? Well it turns out quite a lot. It is the beginning of a series of events that put not only his life, but of those around him as well.
Even though Johnny is a bit selfish and makes really bad decisions, you can’t help but like him and want things to turn out for him. I loved seeing him with his daughter more this time as well as Mona the journalist. The Elvis themed Indian restaurant will always make me laugh. A great book set in a great city and around the music of the 80s and 90s, what is not to enjoy.
Thanks so much to Harper Collins UK for my early copy of this book to read. Out on June 5th.
June 4, 2025
2nd book in the series focusing on aging ex pop star Johnny Klein and how he is faring now he is penniless and although still recognised for ‘selfies’ he can barely afford to eat
He is not faring well has to be said and gets involved in some dodgy dealings that cause him to be hunted by gangsters and puts his daughter in danger amongst other things
It’s a good read, unchallenging and easy to pick up and read and it does as it says it will as it looks back on Johnny’s days of 80’s glory which couldn’t be further away from his current reality
An interesting foreword from the author talking about the infamous ‘Blitz’ club and mentioning Boy George and Steve Strange
I cant think of much else to say tbh except it was very readable for me
He is not faring well has to be said and gets involved in some dodgy dealings that cause him to be hunted by gangsters and puts his daughter in danger amongst other things
It’s a good read, unchallenging and easy to pick up and read and it does as it says it will as it looks back on Johnny’s days of 80’s glory which couldn’t be further away from his current reality
An interesting foreword from the author talking about the infamous ‘Blitz’ club and mentioning Boy George and Steve Strange
I cant think of much else to say tbh except it was very readable for me
July 10, 2025
Second book from Martin Kemp about the former pop star Johnny Klein.
Another easy read and I enjoyed this as much as the first book. The storyline and characters are easy to follow and I enjoyed the dialogue. As with the first book, in my head, Johnny has Martin Kemp’s accent, just me?
Happy to recommend this one if you want something that you don’t have to think about.
Another easy read and I enjoyed this as much as the first book. The storyline and characters are easy to follow and I enjoyed the dialogue. As with the first book, in my head, Johnny has Martin Kemp’s accent, just me?
Happy to recommend this one if you want something that you don’t have to think about.
June 4, 2025
I was quite impressed with this author's first book in this series - The Game - although I did mark it a wee bit tame - so I was quite excited to see where he would take washed-out former pop star Johnny Klein next. And I have to say that he has taken it up a notch and, well, you'll see when you read it.
So... Johnny is asked to pop across to a posh house in the South of France to pick up a couple of guitars to bring back for auction. He is still trying to make ends meet, still living above a Brick Lane curry house, still being a useless parent. But he is trying. The task set him appears to be a simple one, but it turns out to be anything but. And becomes the catalyst to a whole world of pain, and lucky for us readers, a whole bunch of delicious shenanigans. The like of which I will leave you to discover for yourself. All at the same time as still battling his own demons.
I do like Johnny. Even though he is pretty much master of his own downfall, he does get kicked when he is down a lot too. He is a lousy father but his daughter still loves the bones of him, even though he lets her down time and time again. But this time it really isn't his fault all this happened. He does make a few very dodgy decisions which do cast him in a bad light but it'd be a boring book if he didn't so there's that!
The story is interesting and intriguing and all things compelling. It's tightly plotted and held my attention well all the way through, spitting me out at the end both satisfied and eager for book three. Which I guess means that the author did a good job!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
So... Johnny is asked to pop across to a posh house in the South of France to pick up a couple of guitars to bring back for auction. He is still trying to make ends meet, still living above a Brick Lane curry house, still being a useless parent. But he is trying. The task set him appears to be a simple one, but it turns out to be anything but. And becomes the catalyst to a whole world of pain, and lucky for us readers, a whole bunch of delicious shenanigans. The like of which I will leave you to discover for yourself. All at the same time as still battling his own demons.
I do like Johnny. Even though he is pretty much master of his own downfall, he does get kicked when he is down a lot too. He is a lousy father but his daughter still loves the bones of him, even though he lets her down time and time again. But this time it really isn't his fault all this happened. He does make a few very dodgy decisions which do cast him in a bad light but it'd be a boring book if he didn't so there's that!
The story is interesting and intriguing and all things compelling. It's tightly plotted and held my attention well all the way through, spitting me out at the end both satisfied and eager for book three. Which I guess means that the author did a good job!
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.
June 6, 2025
Coooooorrrrrr Martin Kemp has done it again! written another excellent book!
The Fall by Martin Kemp is the 2nd book in the Johnny Klein series and it was another excellent read. Johnny Klein is an aging ex pop star of the 80's, who is still living above Graceland, the Indian restaurant in Brick Lane London. He is now penniless but is still recognised by his old fans and still asked for ‘selfies’ He will do anything to get by. So when this job comes up he jumps for it especially as it is in the South of France to stay in a Johnny is asked to pop across to a posh villa, and to pick up two guitars and bring them back to London, for an auction.
What could possibly go wrong?
When Johnny gets there, the guitars are there when they should be but things escalate and things change from being an easy job to a complicated job, especially when he returns back to London there is a death, someone falls from a window which forces Johnny into uncovering a deadly secret before someone else dies.
WoW, This latest book was excellent - it was twisty and I just love the main character - Johnny Klein, now who couldn't fall in love with him?
I highly recommend this series. . . . . . Superb read.
Big Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for my ARC.
The Fall by Martin Kemp is the 2nd book in the Johnny Klein series and it was another excellent read. Johnny Klein is an aging ex pop star of the 80's, who is still living above Graceland, the Indian restaurant in Brick Lane London. He is now penniless but is still recognised by his old fans and still asked for ‘selfies’ He will do anything to get by. So when this job comes up he jumps for it especially as it is in the South of France to stay in a Johnny is asked to pop across to a posh villa, and to pick up two guitars and bring them back to London, for an auction.
What could possibly go wrong?
When Johnny gets there, the guitars are there when they should be but things escalate and things change from being an easy job to a complicated job, especially when he returns back to London there is a death, someone falls from a window which forces Johnny into uncovering a deadly secret before someone else dies.
WoW, This latest book was excellent - it was twisty and I just love the main character - Johnny Klein, now who couldn't fall in love with him?
I highly recommend this series. . . . . . Superb read.
Big Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for my ARC.
May 25, 2025
This is the second book in the series by musician, actor and now author Martin Kemp. Set in a world that the author will be very familiar with, our protagonist again is Johnny Klein, former band member of a world famous group and now living above an Indian restaurant, trying to keep his head above water.
The character of Johnny is really becoming a very likeable one. From book 1 he is still obviously very selfish and doesn’t always make the best choices as a partner or father but in book 2 he becomes almost the hero of the hour. Good writing and the characters have a really positive and truthful vibe about them.
The writing style is developing well and I enjoyed it and the plot. I would definitely like to read the next book in the series and hope that Johnny Klein’s next adventures will be available soon.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
The character of Johnny is really becoming a very likeable one. From book 1 he is still obviously very selfish and doesn’t always make the best choices as a partner or father but in book 2 he becomes almost the hero of the hour. Good writing and the characters have a really positive and truthful vibe about them.
The writing style is developing well and I enjoyed it and the plot. I would definitely like to read the next book in the series and hope that Johnny Klein’s next adventures will be available soon.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2025
Apparently, this is the second book about Johnny Klein — something I didn’t realize at first, but it definitely felt like I was missing some context. That might be part of why this one didn’t really work for me. I just couldn’t get into it.
Johnny, the main character, didn’t do much to pull me in either. He’s not exactly the most likable guy, and since I don’t have much interest in music or the whole rockstar lifestyle, it was hard to care about what was going on. The story was easy enough to read, but it didn’t hold my attention — I never really felt connected to any of the characters.
Overall, this just wasn’t my kind of book. Maybe fans of the first one or people into the music scene might enjoy it more, but I think I’ll pass on any sequels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
Johnny, the main character, didn’t do much to pull me in either. He’s not exactly the most likable guy, and since I don’t have much interest in music or the whole rockstar lifestyle, it was hard to care about what was going on. The story was easy enough to read, but it didn’t hold my attention — I never really felt connected to any of the characters.
Overall, this just wasn’t my kind of book. Maybe fans of the first one or people into the music scene might enjoy it more, but I think I’ll pass on any sequels.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.
June 12, 2025
Jonny Klein is still living hand to mouth when he is approached by a famous musician to go collect a couple of guitars from a villa in the South of France. This rapidly spirals into a revenge situation where Jonny is at the mercy of the Yakuza and a friend is killed. When his daughter, Chelsea, is also threatened Jonny has to find a way out of a difficult situation.
This is a thriller written by a famous musician/actor. Some books with that pedigree are good, some are awful. This is somewhere in the middle. It's a crazy ride with bizarre characters and plotlines thrown in but it's also rather fun to read. I suppose for me it's the sort of book which is a quick rush of light entertainment and is definitely a great choice for a holiday read.
This is a thriller written by a famous musician/actor. Some books with that pedigree are good, some are awful. This is somewhere in the middle. It's a crazy ride with bizarre characters and plotlines thrown in but it's also rather fun to read. I suppose for me it's the sort of book which is a quick rush of light entertainment and is definitely a great choice for a holiday read.
June 3, 2025
Johnny Klein is back, and yet again, trouble follows him, and as he wrestles with personal demons from past actions, his left wondering just who to trust.
Martin Kemp's background in the music and entertainment world really adds authenticity to Johnny's world, adding depth to the story throughout.
It was good to read more about Johnny's daughter Chelsea and learn that she's definitely more like her dad than she thinks.
This is a sharp,twisty read full of heart with a main character you can't help but love.
Perfect for readers of a quick but fulfilling read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the Arc.
Martin Kemp's background in the music and entertainment world really adds authenticity to Johnny's world, adding depth to the story throughout.
It was good to read more about Johnny's daughter Chelsea and learn that she's definitely more like her dad than she thinks.
This is a sharp,twisty read full of heart with a main character you can't help but love.
Perfect for readers of a quick but fulfilling read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the Arc.
July 8, 2025
The Fall is a continuous story from The Game. We follow ex-pop star Johnny Klein, who is so broke that he will do anything to make some money. His desperate antics attract the attention of gangsters, who begin to hunt him down.
Johnny has been tasked with traveling to the south of France to pick up two guitars that are going up for auction. It seems like a simple job, but considering it's Johnny Klein, nothing is ever as easy as it appears when it comes to making a few quid. This is where the real trouble begins.
September 19, 2025
Daft story but enjoyable
Story is full of holes! Very amateurish! Johhny is a waste of space! Mona ,his friend/ girlfriend is an idiot for putting up with him and the fact that the Japanese Yazuka got the wrong man is laughable as is the fact when they find out Rory isn't dead they will be after him! Johnny is not very bright,in fact he is a complete loser! How could he possibly live in an expensive villa in St Tropez when he has no income for its upkeep! If you don't take the book seriously it's quite enjoyable.
Story is full of holes! Very amateurish! Johhny is a waste of space! Mona ,his friend/ girlfriend is an idiot for putting up with him and the fact that the Japanese Yazuka got the wrong man is laughable as is the fact when they find out Rory isn't dead they will be after him! Johnny is not very bright,in fact he is a complete loser! How could he possibly live in an expensive villa in St Tropez when he has no income for its upkeep! If you don't take the book seriously it's quite enjoyable.
July 22, 2025
DNF. The accent they made the narrator use in the audiobook is highly irritating. Book was not interesting enough to make me overcome this irritation
Read
September 27, 2025Johnny Klein is a POS. Really unlikable character. Don’t like his relationship with his daughter or his ex or his gf. Brings about a lot of problems to a lot of people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2025
really good with well rounded characters. I hadn't realised it was the second in a series so I will go and read the first one
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews