Ossians

by Doug Johnstone

The Ossians are on the verge of signing a major record deal before setting off on a two-week tour of the cities & hitherland of Scotland, a tour expected to culminate in a defining Glasgow gig. On their travels there is a seagull massacre, hapless drug deals, a mysterious stalker, deadly snowstorms & random shootings.

Genres: Fiction, Music

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Doug Johnstone is a writer, musician and journalist based in Edinburgh. His fourth novel, Hit & Run, was published by Faber and Faber in 2012. His previous novel, Smokeheads, was published in March 2011, also by Faber. Before that he published two novels with Penguin, Tombstoning (2006) and The Ossians (2008), which received praise from the likes of Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Christopher Brookmyre. Doug is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He has had short stories appear in various publications, and since 1999 he has worked as a freelance arts journalist, primarily covering music and literature. He grew up in Arbroath and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh with his wife and two children. He loves drinking malt whisky and playing football, not necessarily at the same time.

Reviews

[Raven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another reissue, this time of Doug Johnstone’s second novel, The Ossians for your delectation and delight, and this one will knock you bandy. For readers of a more sensitive disposition, what is wrong with you? No, just kidding, but be prepared for bad behaviour, an unfeasibly large amount of drugs and alcohol, some unfettered violence and a bit of nookie, along with the aforementioned seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, and random shootings. So you need to climb onboard and prepare yourselves for the strangest and most surreal rock ‘n’ roll road trip you are ever likely to embark on…

Casting my mind over Johnstone’s backlist, of which I’ve read everything, The Ossians has always held a special place in my heart for its rawness and brutality as we witness the emotional and physical disintegration of a profligate but not unintelligent young man on the cusp of fame and fortune. Connor is one of the most complicated and divisive characters to appear in Johnstone’s work to date, as this swaggering libertine, along with his fellow band members- girlfriend Hannah, sister Kate and best friend Danny- undertake a debauched Homeric odyssey around the outer coastline of Scotland, which may end up in a lucrative record deal at its conclusion.

Thanks to an existing drug debt, Connor is tasked with delivering and receiving mysterious packages along the way, shadowed by a mysterious stranger, whilst spiralling into a haze of drink and drug consumption that would bring most other people to their knees. His mouth constantly gets him into trouble with regular kickings, his relationship with his fellow band members, and Hannah in particular, is becoming more precarious, and his penchant for existential and physical flights of fancy is playing merry hell with his sanity, as well as other people’s patience. He is a mass of contradictions, profanely railing against the shortbread box depictions of Scotland in one breath, and ruminating with great literacy on literature and popular culture in the next. He is the living embodient of Kurt Cobain’s quote that “They laugh at me because I’m different; I laugh at them because they’re all the same” He is insensitive yet sensitive, self absorbed but intermittently self aware, infuriating but strangely charming, and despite all of his failings, you do find yourself drawn to him. In typical lead singer style, his bandmates tend to pale in his shadow, but having said that, I think Johnstone had at this early point of his writing career, already showed his propensity for characterising the thoughts and feelings of female characters incredibly well, as we see Hannah and Kate caught up in Connor’s maelstrom and the fallout for both.

I really enjoy the trope of road movies and think this works incredibly well as the band encounter a myriad of weird and wonderful individuals as they traverse the unfamiliar outer reaches of their homeland. Johnstone captures the intrinsic differences between city and small town life, the boredom and yearning for escape for the young, the mediocrity and self satisfaction of those who have never ventured far, and those for who a night in the pub listening to a semi decent band and the frisson of a bit of physical violence at the end of the night provides peak enjoyment. There are dodgy characters aplenty in this one, as well as some good eggs and as they say all human life is here. As Val McDermid alludes to in the introduction, this is a state of the nation novel wrapped up in a musical odyssey as Johnstone ruminates on the essential nature of being Scottish in all its myriad ways from Trainspotting to The Proclaimers, the Ministry of Defence to the nuclear industry, from the legacy of Stevenson to Hogg to Ossian encompassing Scotland’s rich historical past and all points in between, culminating in a sociological and psycho-geographical ride accompanying the main thrust of the book.

As I have said before when revisiting Johnstone’s first novel Tombstoning there are signposts in place for the way that his writing has developed over the years and the integral themes and avenues of exploration that he circuitously returns to throughout his work. Although The Ossians is very different to much of his backlist, these little moments of foreshadowing later writing are there and Johnstone’s unerring curiosity and inquisitiveness about the world and our place in it is firmly entrenched here in the character of Connor. On a personal note this is one of my favourite novels by Johnstone as the unerring loucheness and mercurial disposition of his main character Connor along with the madcap and hairy situations he and the band find themselves in is a real draw. And what a soundtrack! Would totally recommend.

[Monika Armet · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ossians are an emerging Scottish indie rock band, hoping for their breakthrough. They are about to embark on a two-week winter tour around Scotland.

The band consists of Connor, his twin sister, Kate; his girlfriend, Hannah; and his best friend, Danny.

The quartet are looking forward to the tour, however, things don’t go as expected.

To start with, Connor is forced into delivering narcotics during his stops on the tour. He owes over £1000 to a drug dealer and has no means to pay him back.

During the tour, Connor gets himself into trouble on a daily basis. He keeps getting beaten up (honestly I lost track of how many times someone has whacked him in the face!), and then self-medicates with booze and drugs.

I won’t give too much of the plot away, but this book is a hell of a crazy ride (in a good sense). I loved the craziness of it, and all the things that kept happening to the band members.

Expect drunken Russian submariners (definitely not sailors!), shootings, drug dealing that goes wrong, bomb-testing sites, and even a horrific scene involving the seagulls.

The scenery in this book is stunning – Scotland at its best. This book is not to be missed.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read quite a few books by this author now and I have to admit I have become a huge fan of his work. The Ossians is one of the authors earlier books and actually felt quite different to his others.

As far as I’m aware all of this authors novels come under the crime/thriller genre and whilst there are drugs, guns and a bit of crime going on throughout this particular one, this felt more like a tale of one man’s road to self destruction and hitting rock bottom.

The story is told from the point of view of Connor, who with his twin sister Kate, are part of the band, The Ossians. I think for the group so far, even though not at the dizzy heights of stardom, they have pretty much lived the highlife of partying, fuelled with drugs and alcohol, and are making the most of the fame that they do have. The tour that they are going on is hopefully going to help them hit the big time but with a lead singer who seems to be spiralling out of control, their chances seem to be getting slimmer after each show.

Connor is a bit of an idiot, a selfish one at that, the drugs and alcohol are taking its toll not just on him, but the band as well as his relationship with Hannah who plays in the band. Through Connor, we can see just how much damage drink and drugs can do to someone and how reliant they soon become on them. Though he is a selfish idiot, there is still something of a likeable rogue to him that I think will draw readers and have a bit more empathy for him.

Through the bands tour, the readers are also taken on a tour of Bonnie Scotland. Readers will certainly come away from this novel knowing a lot more about the country as well as parts of it. Think of it as an enjoyable way to learn a bit of history. The author is certainly descriptive of the surrounding areas and you can easily visualise each place the band stops at.

I could very much empathise with Kate and Hannah as they watched someone they love spiral out of control. Though it felt like Connor was on the road to self destruction it is also very much a tale of self discovery as well. I certainly think there is a message in there somewhere and I very much enjoyed Martin’s role in it, Connors ‘guardian angel’.

The Ossians is a dark journey into a world of drink and drugs. I think it is one that can be enjoyed from young adults upwards. Yet another compelling read by one of my favourite Scottish authors.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re thinking of taking a tour of Scotland you can either flick through a travel brochure and gawp at all the picturesque places there are (and there are) or you could treat yourself to a copy of Doug Johnstone’s The Ossians. The difference? The travel brochure will present you with the skin of Scotland (photoshopped to within an inch of its life) but beauty, as the old adage goes, is only skin deep. If you want to get to the heart of Scotland read The Ossians. There you'll also find the kidneys, its sickly liver, the spleen, the intestines and the arsehole. Several arseholes in fact. One of the arseholes is the book's antihero, Connor Alexander, “an egocentric, introspective, self-absorbed, narrow-minded bigot” (his words), the founder and lead singer of The Ossians, “a shit, narrow-minded indie band, with pretentions of intelligence”—again Connor’s words, not mine, but you’ll get no argument from me on either count.

I, for my part, liked the book a lot. It was literary, intelligent and appealed to my sense of humour. It may not be his best novel—“the recently published Smokeheads is a real step forward in terms of style and voice” according to Dear Scotland—but just as its flawed protagonist is hard to dislike I also found myself willing to be more forgiving of his creator than maybe he deserved. The only way you’ll know is to find yourself a copy and make your own mind up.

You can read my full review on my blog here.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always think it's interesting when you find a new to you author who is a little further along in their career, knowing you then have the opportunity to go back and read books from their back catalogue. There is no way of knowing whether or not what you love about their later books will have been their from the start or something that has grown and developed with time. I can happily say that, with The Ossians, and Tombstoning before it, it is very obvious that with some authors, such as Mr Johnstone, that special something has always just been there, and the things that make up the man behind the books have always been present and informing the kind fo stories he has to tell. I of course mean the science and the music, and make no assumptions about any other parallels between the characters in his books and personal experience, espeically when it comes to The Ossians protagonist and lead singer, Connor.

Now, for a group who appear to be on the cusp of stardom, you'd think that they, The Ossians, have everything set. Just about to set out on an admittedly ill timed winter tour around Scotland, there is a promise of PR men, music execs and record deals on the horizon, and a legion of fans - or a least a fairly decent cohort - ready to cheer their successes. All assuming that everything goes to plan. Now just whose plan is the real question, as there is a clear disconnect between what each member of the band really desires, including their manager, and most definitely the 'needs' of the local drug dealer who Connor has found himself in hock to and who is now making demands in return for not prematurely ending his life.

And all of this is kicking off in the first few chapters of the book. I'll admit that the only other winter music tour that springs to mind was the Winter Dance Party tour of February 1959 and that didn't end too well for Buddy Holly, so alarm bells were ringing well before the group sets off on their travels. Add in Connor's strange attitude towards impending stardom, a tension between him and his sister, Kate, secrets being kept by girlfriend, Hannah, and best friend, Danny, pressures from band manager, Paul, to make the best impression on the press and music execs, and that previously mentioned threat to his life from dealer, Nick, and you can tell from the very start that this is going to be a somewhat of a pressure cooker kind of environment. All I was waiting for was seeing how long it would be before the lid was blown right off the whole situation.

I like what Doug Johnstone has done here. There is that constant pressure on Connor from the start and, fuelled by his own addictions to alcohol and casual drug use, exacerbated by a complex familial situation and amplified further by his anger towards the various audiences around the tour, we get to witness his slow but absolute breakdown. There is a blend of dark humour as well as some more poignant moments in which he really digs deep into Connor's psyche and, whilst he isn't always - rarely in fact - the most likeable of characters, I was completely invested in him, wanting to see if there was any way of his finding redemption and coming good for the sake of those around him. Capturing the various characters, bring to life their flaws and quirks, is something that the author has always excelled at and here it makes for compelling reading. I never felt that Connor was completely irredeemable, and that probably helped to keep my attention on the story, even at the times I'd quite happily have throttled him had he been a real person.

There are times when some of what Connor thinks he sees we can't really be sure if it is reality or a result of a fractured imagination, a man whose life is rapidly spiralling out of control, and this adds to the kind of threat that I felt building in the book. Nothing in this story signposts that there will be a favourable outcome for the group, it was merely a question of how long it will take to go south, figuratively and literally, and how big a mess it will be when things eventually come to a head. But given the time in which the book is set, the sense of life on the road, gigging to less than enthusiastic audiences, there is a sense of authenticity about the story. Each new town brings its own drama, from ill advised bird encounters, Russian submariners, and the excesses of drugs and alcohol, with each scene laced with its own mix of humour and drama that had me both agog at the level of stupidity and laughing at some of the antics.

This is not the book for folks prudish in nature. There is quite blatant and liberal drug use, an over reliance on alcohol and a fundamental failure of the so-called adults in this story to be able to communicate with each other. Which, in truth, makes it all the more believable. Yes, Connor is selfish and self destructive, and would test the patience of a saint. But he is so well written, so carefully created, that he is as addictive as the speed he uses as a crutch and I found I was absolutely glued to the page from start to finish. And if you want a few tips on road trips around Scotland, the places to visit so to speak, you could do worse than use this as a bit of guide of places to see, although I'd stop short of using it as a recommendation for things to do, and bare in mind that certain places - Dundee for example - have been through many years of development since the story was written.

Another fine example of Doug Johnstone's ability to craft a compelling, authentic story that encompasses his passions, and captures the many facets of human nature - the good, the bad and the drug addled ugly.

[Mary Picken · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ossians is a glorious novel. Dark, funny, sweary and awash with more drugs and alcohol than any 24-year-old would-be rock star should be dabbling in.

The Ossians are an Edinburgh indie band consisting of Connor, his twin sister Kate, Hannah, Connor’s girlfriend, Danny, a taciturn Northern Irish lad and Paul, their Manager and driver. The fantastically arrogant Connor is their frontman. He writes the songs, plays lead guitar and leads on vocals. Connor is a strange young man. He’s talented, addicted to drink and drugs, has a dead-end job in a record store, but he is intelligent, though sometimes, in this novel, that intelligence has to work hard to shine through.

The Ossians have achieved some minor success; they’ve been doing well and have attracted the attention of some notable A&R guys, so they are well on their way to securing a record deal.

Now they are embarking on a two-week tour of the North of Scotland, before returning to the Central Belt for a performance at King Tut’s in Glasgow, where a record label executive will be present to see them perform live.

This tour is Connor’s idea. He wants to see and understand more of the country he lives in and sings about. He can be scathing about his culture. The band’s name ‘The Ossians’ is ostensibly based on an eponymous third-century Scots Gaelic poet, whose work was apparently discovered by James Macpherson in the eighteenth century, but which was subsequently discredited. As Connor says;

‘It’s typical of Scotland that our oldest history and literature might not even exist.’

The band’s tour is a voyage of discovery for Connor, who hopes to find something of his cultural heritage on his travels. What he discovers is a country with a history that speaks to years of decline, poverty and neglect.

The novel’s structure takes the shape of the band’s journey; each chapter is the next town or city on their tour. But weird things are happening. First of all, there’s a mysterious figure who keeps appearing to Connor. It starts at the band’s Edinburgh gig before the tour begins, but the same figure keeps popping up while the band are gigging on tour, and Connor even thinks he sees the same guy on TV. Eerily, this guy looks like a younger version of Connor.

Also not helping is the fact that Connor is carrying a lot of pressure and a secret he can’t share with anyone. He owes money to a local drugs supplier, who, in turn, has made Connor his mule, giving him parcels to distribute and collect while he’s on tour.

At the heart of this novel is our (the Scots) obsession with our cultural identity. Doug Johnstone does a terrific job of exposing the Scottish cringe and the double standards we employ. Whether considering class divisions in St Andrews, the reliance of tourism on Scottish myths, folklore, and Woollen Mills, or even the exploitation of Trainspotting’s success, Connor points out the hypocrisy in all this faux cultural activity.

Connor, who would not look entirely out of place in Trainspotting, is nevertheless interested in what has gone before. Walter Scott, St Andrew are part of his cultural interests, alongside more popular contemporary cultural references. And certainly, the mysterious doppelgänger figure who keeps appearing to Connor owes something to James Hogg’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

The Ossians wears all this lightly, and Doug Johnstone’s sharp and incisive writing makes this band come alive with verve and personality. There are many glorious moments on this tour, including drunken Russians and a particularly crunchy moment involving gulls. Despite Connor being a complete arse, you can’t help but feel some empathy for him; this is a boy who thinks and feels deeply – confused and self-destructive, yes, but also self-aware and sharp.

Verdict: Beautifully written, funny and observant, The Ossians is a riot of excess, showcasing a country full of neglect, decay and hypocrisy. Connor is a glorious character, and The Ossians is an unforgettable road trip.

[Venky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drug addled, alcohol fuelled, expletives laden, yet with an abundance of artistic talent and verve, Connor Alexander is the brain behind, and the frontman of the rock band, The Ossians. Named after a mercurial, albeit obscure Scottish poet, the band is anything but inconspicuous. Formed with Connor’s twin Kate, his girlfriend Hannah, and best mate, Danny, The Ossians fast gain repute and key record companies from London are in pursuit to get the quartet signed.

Doug Johnstone’s The Ossians is an insane, raw, and savagely emotional roller coaster that follows the troughs and peaks of a spontaneous rock band and the unpredictable quirks and eccentricities of its lead man. Determine to reclaiming his Scottish identity by understanding the country’s nuts, bolts, and brass tacks, Connor comes up with a plan of organising an Ossian tour covering some of the most forlorn, isolated, bleak and windswept obscure regions littering the Scotland’s landscape. The band’s pliant manager, Paul, doubles up as their driver as he meanders through Arbroath, Aberdeen, Inverness, Thurso, Ullapool, Kyle of Lochalsh, and Fort William.

At most of the concerts, Connor guzzling gin and whiskey straight from the bottle, treating joints as perfectly ordinary extensions of his fingers and substituting speed for chewing gum, succeeds beyond imagination in intolerably irking perfectly random people, who use his face as a ready canvas for practising the art of mugging. Just when the rest of the band has almost had it with Connor, the brash singer gets involved with a dangerous drug dealer Nick….

Totally in the line of Trainspotting, Doug Johnstone’s work sounds and reads like its worthy successor. The hues and shades of Irvine Welsh leapt at the reader from many a page, passage and paragraph. One can in fact be forgiven in assuming that The Ossians is an unabashed homage to the inimitable art of Irvine Welsh. Cringe worthy language, unabashedly shameful deeds crescendo towards a conclusion that is sure to leave the reader reeling.

Whether it is a personal bias or whether some other readers have noticed the fact too, the one glaring and perhaps avoidable is a slight yet unmistakable ‘woke’ tinge that unexpectedly appears as the book races to its conclusion. The highlight of the book is the description and treatment of the gloomy environs of Scotland. There is not just an acceptance but a wholehearted embrace, a fiercely possessive spirit that seems to cock a snook at sceptics and sniggering elites. The indictment of urban decay and the permeations of such rot to even the innermost hinterlands is not so much bemoaned as unequivocally castigated. The contrast is brought out by the fact that although Connor calls Edinburgh home, his attachment is for the fishing town of Arbroath where he was brought up.

The Ossians, is a breezy, nervous and enervating read that leaves the reader not just in a state of excited exhaustion but also permitting her to introspect and reflect upon the weird and wonderful mindset of mankind.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Ossians, Doug Johnstone’s second novel, we follow the eponymous band – frontman Connor, his sister Kate, girlfriend Hannah, best friend Danny, and their manager Paul – on a whirlwind pre-Christmas tour of deepest, darkest Scotland.

Unbeknown to the rest of the band, Connor has been tasked with delivering some packages along the way, on behalf of a nasty drug dealer he owes a lot of money. The stress of this prompts him to partake in even more drink and drugs than usual, leading him to think and behave in ways that gradually isolate him from the rest of the band – who are also overdoing it (albeit to a lesser extent) and have developments of their own to handle.

Will The Ossians make it to the final night of their tour – a make-or-break Glasgow show with a record company bigwig in attendance? Will Connor complete his assignment to the dealer’s satisfaction? And just who is the teenage boy Connor keeps spotting everywhere, who looks like a younger version of himself?

I really enjoyed The Ossians! Originally published in 2008, it may be one of the author’s less crime-flavoured books, but I was hooked all the same, continually wanting to see where Connor’s bad decisions would take him next. That, and I do love stories that allow me to live vicariously through arty types, even ones who aren’t having a particularly good time of it.

Connor is a hot mess, a pretentious so-and-so, and his own worst enemy – yet just about endearing enough that I felt compelled to stick with him, hoping he’d come out the other side reasonably okay. It helps that he’s fully aware he talks a load of rubbish at times, owns it when he gets thumped yet again because he simply can’t keep his mouth shut, and genuinely loves and cares for the people around him.

A key theme of The Ossians’ songs is the authentic heritage of Scotland (as opposed to how it’s packaged for tourists and certain films/TV shows), and what it means to be Scottish. However, Connor becomes more and more disillusioned about these ideas as the tour goes on and he realises that a) he’s only previously seen a small part of the country, and b) parts of Scotland are so different from one another in terms of geography and population, it’s difficult to argue in favour of a national character, or anything all people who call Scotland “home” have in common.

This multiplicity of places The Ossians visit gives rise to many entertaining (and occasionally, shocking) scenes. They encounter all sorts of people who interact with them in many different ways, often leading to dark laughs. Even so, there’s a thread of crisis running throughout, as Connor is really not well, and one night, Hannah has a fit on stage, yet insists on completing the tour.

Something else that piqued my interest about The Ossians (and Johnstone’s first novel Tombstoning) is how well it captures a particular time, while it was still happening. For the characters in both books – in their 20s and 30s respectively – alcohol is an integral part of socialising and relaxing in a way it isn’t for people of that age now. I was in my first year of university at around the time The Ossians is set, and there was a massive drinking culture you don’t really get any more (the kids are alright, though they’re also poorer and have 3x the debts).

It was also, as The Ossians additionally reflects, a particularly rubbish time to be a woman, with the whole “indie sleaze” thing, rampant casual sexism, and the expectation that women coolly brush off men’s lewd remarks and behaviour, rather than call them out on it and risk being seen as a humourless, up-themself bra-burner.

The Ossians is an absorbing and darkly entertaining road trip story.

*I received a free copy of this book from Random Things Tours in return for an honest review.*

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am thrilled that Orenda decided to re-publish Doug's early books. I am a huge fan of his novels published by Orenda, and it has been a treat to read his early works. I was a little anxious at first, wondering if the voice would be the same. I really had no need to worry, both Tombstoning and The Ossians have been a pleasure to read.

I would have known this book was written by Doug Johnstone, even if I didn't know ... does that make sense??

Generally known for his crime fiction, The Ossians is more of a coming of age, road trip, hallucinatory novel, and whilst yet, crimes are committed, it is not a crime story. I turned over corners of pages that contained phrases that I wanted to quote, however, I turned over so many that I would have almost quoted the entire book!

The Ossians are a Scottish band made up of Connor, his best mate Danny, his girlfriend Hannah and his sister Kate. They are about to embark on a winter tour of Scotland - winter, Scotland - yes, that's just the start of some of the mystifying decisions that Connor takes, and actually, it's not by any means the worse.

Connor is told in the book that it sounds like he doesn't like Scotland, due to his lyrics and his regular rants. This novel does really feel like a love letter to Scotland, written by a person who doesn't like Scotland! However, I know that Doug doesn't hate Scotland at all, but what he excels at is showing the country in it's real light. Stripping it of it's tartan covered shortbread biscuit tins and the bagpipes and describing the issues and reality that face the ordinary people - behind the tourist attractions. It is done so so well, and Scotland really is a massive character in itself.

The story is gritty, and dark, with touches of poignancy and a lot swearing. Connor is a total fuck-up, his various addictions lead him into shit loads of trouble and he finds himself in the role of drug mule whilst touring, He has to pay his debts somehow. Whilst he is totally and utterly flawed and would drive anyone crazy, the reader cannot help but back him for some reason. He's so well created, along with all of the band members, and the supporting cast. Another Johnstone skill; the creation of realistic character who you often hate but always want to know what happens to them.

A gritty, drug-fuelled rock ’n’ roll journey through modern Scotland, blending seedy nightlife with clear and precise reflections on identity, myth, and culture. Dark yet compelling, it captures the nation with atmospheric beauty, raw energy, and an oddly joyful sense of chaos.

Highly recommended.

[Alyson Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the 2000s, Connor, his twin sister Kate, his girlfriend Hannah and his best mate Danny comprise The Ossians, a small unsigned indie band embarking on a low level 14-day tour of student unions and pubs around North Scotland. Three shows down and Connor has already been beaten up three times (it’s easy to see why!), one gig not even finishing due to Connor’s increasingly erratic and violent behaviour, and there’s plenty more to come. Added to this is the fact that Connor has been “persuaded” by his drug dealer to deliver four packages around towns on the tour due to owing him a large sum of money, and soon his behaviour and paranoia start to spiral out of control. He’s convinced someone is following him, having spotted the same character more than once but cannot place him. A stalker or a guardian angel? It’s a cycle of get drunk, take drugs, fight and repeat and a good job three of them had decent day jobs to fund this lifestyle. Particularly surprising was Hannah, a history teacher who I thought would need to be more circumspect about her behaviour. Connor is a prime candidate for the 27 club but without first achieving the fame of others before him. The reader has to wonder whether they will even make the end of the tour in one piece?
Having absolutely loved The Skelfs series by this author, I was really looking forward to reading this earlier work but unfortunately it did not grab me in the same way. There’s not much by way of humour, dark or otherwise, apart from some amusing Russians, and the Ossians came across as a bit sad, embracing the pretentious stereotypical rock band behaviour guaranteed to garner headlines but for all the wrong reasons in their desperation to be cool, original and the next new thing. There was one horrible scene involving seagulls which appeared gratuitous and nearly stopped me finishing the book. It’s a portrayal of Connor’s self-destruction, enabled by the others, and I’m afraid I didn’t like any of the main characters enough to really care what happened to them. A little different to the author’s later works, it certainly does carry a message of life lessons to be learned and plenty of food for thought, culminating in a great ending. 3.5*

[HisBookHerBook · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 🔵

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 by Doug Johnstone follows the titular band as they embark on a tour of the outer reaches of Scotland before returning to Glasgow for one final show, with the hopes of being signed.

Lead singer and guitarist Connor is a bit of a d*ck. He’s volatile and is a magnet for trouble. He seems to only care about himself and has little regard for the impact his actions have on those around him as he selfishly indulges in his multiple vices. He instigates fights whilst performing - fuelled by drink and drugs. One plot point has him frequently disappearing from his fellow bandmates - made up of his partner, his sister and his best friend - and being stalked by what he thinks is a guardian angel of sorts.

But Connor isn’t all chaos. He’s clearly talented and surprisingly well-educated, often diving into social and political commentary - whether anyone wants to hear it or not.

You spend the majority of the book inside Connor’s head, which due to the various substances he consumes, is a wild place to be.
It’s quite a surreal read. There’s an otherworldly vibe and at times, I found myself questioning whether what was happening was real, or simply a product of Connor’s spiralling mind.

𝐌𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
As we travel around Scotland with the band to various gigs, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 feels grimy and dirty. But due to the writing, it also feels raw and authentic, with a main character it would simple to brush off as just another tortured artist.
Although Connor verges on unlikable, he does have redeeming qualities and I found myself willing him on, hoping that as he hit the metaphorical fork in the road, he’d take the path of self-discovery, away from the destruction he seems destined for.

🎸🎸🎸🎸/5

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from the other books I’ve read from this author this is a newly reissued copy of a book first published in 2008. The Ossians are a Scottish indie band who are embarking on a two week winter tour. Told from the perspective of lead singer Connor this is a dark look at the wild and chaotic trip that ensues. The authors description of the places they visit on the trip are brilliant, I could almost have been on the tour with them.

Briefly, Connor has arranged this tour, hoping to increase their profile, which is good in their hometown of Edinburgh but not country wide, in the belief it will lead to a record deal. However, Connor is not the most reliable of people, addicted to drink and drugs and in hock to his drug dealer, he is self destructive and both his girlfriend and sister struggle with watching him losing the plot, big time!

Let’s be honest here, Connor is a bit of a numbskull, who is self obsessed with no genuine understanding of how his behaviour affects those around him. Despite that I couldn’t help but have a bit of a soft spot for him even though I wanted to give him a good slap at times. There is much here to warn against the obsession of those who will do anything to achieve fame and fortune. It’s a rather crazy, dark and dryly humorous look, at one persons life as it heads towards oblivion but compelling as you wonder just how it will end, for the band and for Connor. Sorry no spoilers you need to read it to find out. An entertaining read.

[Jacob Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doug Johnstone takes us on a real roller-coaster ride in The Ossians. This is one of Doug’s earlier novels, and I am so pleased that they are being republished. The genre is quite different to his later works. I feel it is definitely more of a coming-of-age story. The characters go on real transformative journeys that make this book such a compelling and immersive read.

We meet a band called The Ossians, who are about to catch their big break as they go on an epic tour across Scotland. Their lead singer is Connor, who is a little full of himself, and he isn’t afraid to push boundaries. But during their very first gig in the, Connor finds himself in trouble when he is approached by drug dealers, who he owes money to. From the very beginning, it seems that things are set to spiral out of control for the band, and this creates tension right from the start, making me wonder just when things were going to start to go wrong.

I loved the different strands throughout this book, and especially the stranger who appears to be following the band, and who appears particularly attached to Connor. This is a strand that really helps Connor grow as a character. Connor has some wild theories about who the person is, but it’s not until we get to the end of the book, when the truth is revealed, that we really see a change and a different side to him.

The band explore some locations in Scotland, which probably won’t be on any of the tourist information guides. This was another part of the novel that stood out for me. There were some tricky situations the band got involved in that left me wondering how they were going to get out of them.

Doug Johnstone really made me feel like I was travelling along with the band. The dialogue between the characters makes them come alive, revealing their personalities and makes this book such an entertaining read. The Ossians is another example of why Doug Johnstone is one of my favourite writers. I really, really enjoyed it.

[Bee Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know sex, drugs, rock n’roll. But what about seagulls, dead bodies and Russian submariners?

The Ossians is a gritty, chaotic coming of age tale about young Connor, the singer of a Scottish indie band on the edge of glory. Their tour is full of youthful arrogance, of indulgence and self-discovery - and it goes off the rails into absolutely majestic madness.

Each setting felt pulled from the fuzzy tequila-scented memories of early 20’s, the dive bars, the gigs so loud you can barely breath, dark sticky rooms and bad decisions. It reeked of desperation, of passion to succeed and make your mark.

But their career-defining tour becomes something you’d read about in a book - drug deals, stalkers, fights, shootings and even stranger occurrences. Connor and the band were a complex lot - fuelled by a mixture of ego and love, superficial yet vulnerable at once, the archetypes of the struggling artists without falling flat.

This book was originally released ten years ago, and it still packs a hell of a punch. Best read with low lighting (if you can) and pint of cheap beer.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m sure there must be people out there who have lifestyles like this but I really struggle to imagine it, especially as Hannah is a school teacher. This concert tour goes from bad to worse. How many times can one man get punched in the face and keep going? Knowing the places they went to, I felt as though I travelled with them. Scotland is a beautiful place, even in December, but they made a good job of hiding it. I’ve been to Corrour and walked round Loch Ossian and it was difficult enough when dressed properly so I’m amazed Connor survived his hike and as for Michael just appearing!? It wasn’t always the cheeriest of reads but there were some laughs and we can all hope…

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ossians are a 'rock' indie band from Scotland. They have a local following in Edinburgh where the four members live.
Their manager and lead singer organise a tour of Scotland which should result in a record deal.
Connor is an alcoholic drug addict and owes serious money to his dealer. Things go seriously tits up.
Another great read from a new favourite author.

[Ray Smillie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of Doug Johnstone only relatively recently discovered him so I have been checking out all his work. This is just interesting. You can see the development of his writing style which is okay here, in only his second novel and how much I know he has improved over the years since this was published. Cannot truly recommend it.

[Sally Boocock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a big fan of Doug Johnstones books I was excited to read this early one which is being republished in April. It did not disappoint in any way. What a journey The Ossians go on. Not one I would choose to take but a really good read nevertheless. It's a journey fuelled by alcohol, drugs and rock and roll. I can heartily recommend this book.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story but was deeply frustrated by the main character, Connor, the gifted lead singer of the Ossians who throws it all away during a mid- winter tour of Scotland in a haze of drugs alcohol, petty crime and self-loathing.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book telling the story of a fictional Scottish indie rock band - the Ossians - and the trials of the lead singer Connor Alexander as they tour Scotland in winter in preparation for their big break when a record company agent comes to assess them at their concert in Glasgow. Set in the first decade of this century it is set in contemporary Scotland of that time. Well worth reading.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first started to properly enjoy music in the 1980s and whilst reading this book I was remembering a few of the bands who were popular then. Not just for their music but also their lifestyle. The Ossians were typical of many of them. It was fairly common to see news coverage of a band member having addiction problems. Connor, described as brilliant and broken was a fascinating example of many of them.
The band are touring Scotland but Connor is also having to dig himself out of a hole that the other members of the band, which include his sister and girlfriend are unaware of. All they see is him furtively answer a phone then disappear, always returning under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The amount of alcohol he drank made me cringe, I don’t think I’ve ever read anything where a character has neat gin for breakfast! He isn’t the only band member though who is under the influence , all of them drink too much and take drugs. Unlike him though they know when to stop.
Connor was a character I should have disliked but found it difficult to. His issues were evident, he alienated nearly everyone he he spoke to but I also had sympathy for him. I think this is because he knew his faults and could see the damage they were causing him and those who loved him. I could see his vulnerability and guilt caused by his addiction.
As well as racing about Connor’s troubles there was also the wonderfully fascinating glimpses of various towns in Scotland, I have only visited two of these so it was great to experience them.

[Emma Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

🩵 Blurb-
Connor is 24, brilliant, broken, and out of control. He’s the swaggering frontman of The Ossians, a Scottish indie band on the brink of signing a major record deal.
Desperate to make their mark, they head off on a two-week winter tour across the cities and hinterlands of Scotland – a last-ditch attempt to find fame, purpose, and themselves.
But the tour soon spirals into a surreal, chaotic odyssey. From seedy bars and snowbound towns to a final, defining Glasgow gig, the band hurtles through a whirlwind of seagull massacres, botched drug deals, a mysterious stalker, radioactive beaches, bomb-testing ranges, epileptic fits, riotous Russian submariners, deadly storms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings.
Raw, darkly funny and wild with energy, The Ossians is a gloriously anarchic story of rock’n’roll obsession, national identity and self-destruction, and what it means to belong – in a band, in a country, in a life unravelling at speed.
💚 Review-
This was such an interesting and entertaining read, from the very first page I was hooked and I kept reading until the end as I wanted to know what happened. The story was easy to follow and well written and even had me laughing at times. I loved the author's writing style and there was a good cast of characters. Overall a brilliant novel that I highly recommend to other readers. I look forward to reading more by the author.
💝 Thank you to Random Things Tours, the author Doug Johnstone and the publisher for my proof copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Andy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doug Johnstone's second novel is indeed write what you know; the national tour of fictional Scottish indie band; The Ossians.
Doug has taken his experiences of his own band; Fence Collective regulars Northern Alliance, and embellished them with carousing Russian sailors, stalker-esque fans, drug dealers and the standard full-of-shit lead singer.
My personal favourite piece in the book is his loving description of Cafe Drummond and the, happiness personified, bar supervisor Rachel. Unnamed obviously!

[Matthew Yeldon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read about an indie Scottish rock band touring the country in hopes of making it big. Cue the sex, drugs, and booze, and a good dose of misadventure. I love how quintessentially Scottish it is and how Johnstone writes, but I was hoping for a more meaningful conclusion involving the entire band, and not the focus on the sole band member. An entertaining read that would’ve benefited from a stronger ending.

[Bob Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual reading material but I liked the idea and it turned out to be a really good story. I enjoyed the travelling round Scotland and the descriptions of all the towns and places. The story itself was a drug fuelled odyssey by an indie pop group with loads of booze and bad language but it hng together with Connor the main character ranting and raving his way around Scotland. A good read.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brutally honest view of Scotland, awful weather, grim towns full of drunken, boorish morons. Sadly the over sentimental ending let's this book down, the anti hero deserves a far nastier ending. The standard of writing is variable but settles down in the middle of the book - not as good as Hit & Run but far less dire than Smokeheads.

[Bridget Weller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Get this man an editor! The first two chapters of this book suck. Really suck. After that, it is actually quite good, so persevering was worthwhile.

[Mad · Rating 3 out of 5]

overall an enjoyable read, funny and entertaining. I was dissapointed at the neat ending after what was a very messed up story...........real life would not have ended so 'nicely'!

[Amy Venema]

It was an alright book. The saying, never trust a book by its cover is completely true for this book. It was not what I expected at all.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, life on road (on a very low budget tour of Scotland! Ha!)