The Fourth Step

by Karl Dallas

November 29, 1988. Maggie Thatcher's on the throne, George Bush Snr’s in the White House, our hero’s trying to make a crust writing about rock'n'roll. He wakes up with a hangover and someone whose name he can't remember in bed beside him. And his ex-wife's on the phone with some bad news about their son. He’s about to descend into the madness that is the drugs trade, involving tragedy, comedy, sex and murder.And, of course, rock’n’roll.About the DALLAS has been writing since he began composing poetry while still at the Bec School, Tooting, London SW17, at the age of 16. He also started composing songs a few years later, and his songs have been recorded by people like the Liverpool Spinners (The Family of Man), Ewan MacColl (Derek Bentley), the Dransfields (The Conscript's Farewell), June Tabor, and Chris Coe.He worked for many years as a reporter but began freelancing, mainly in the music and fashion fields, in 1956. He also ran his own PR agency for a while; among his clients were Pan Books, Topic Records, Billy Smart's Circus, and numerous event organisers.He worked as a record producer for Transatlantic, Island, and Sonet, and also for a time as a concert promoter, featuring artists like Marvin Gaye, Alan Price, and Fairport Convention.He retired from full-time journalism in 1999 to concentrate on creative writing, and has written five plays, the first of which, Into the War Zone, satirised his experiences as a Human Shield in Iraq in the run-up to the Anglo-American invasion.His latest play, a seven-hour epic on the life and death of Stalin, can be viewed on the Internet at It is the fruit of 12 years of original research.He lives in Bradford, West Yorkshire, where he moved with his wife in 1989. He had his last drink on October 9, 1979

507 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 6, 2010