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Revolution Number One
Portugal, 1973. Ed Scripps has left his homeland to seek his fortune. After a promising start to life abroad, Ed loses his business to a political revolution, his wife to a sexual revolution, and his best friend to a spiritual revolution. As turmoil rages around him, Ed must outwit drug barons and a killer cult if he is to live, never mind win his wife back and save his best friend. Can he survive and thrive as the world around him turns upside down?
Revolution Number One is a fast-paced, engaging novel that lets you experience the world's coolest revolution through the sharp eyes of a not-so-innocent abroad.
Revolution Number One is a fast-paced, engaging novel that lets you experience the world's coolest revolution through the sharp eyes of a not-so-innocent abroad.
279 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2017
2 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Zin Murphy
4 books7 followersZin Murphy has lived and worked in Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, Angola, Hong Kong, China and Thailand, as well as his native UK. A retired international civil servant, he now lives mostly in cyberspace.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 30, 2019
Take a young Englishman with the conviction that everything that happens is for the best, add good looks and ambition, place him in Lisbon on the eve of the 1974 Carnation Revolution and you have Ed Scripps in Revolution#1. Against a backdrop of the breaking down of the established order in Portugal, where students elect their lecturers, get high on pot and sex becomes the national sport, we follow the adventures of Ed. While he schemes to make money, Ed cuts a swathe through the hearts of women with the ease and nonchalance of a Flashman.
When he seems to be on the point of success, Ed's world begins to crumble, just as the momentary high of the Carnation Revolution is replaced by disillusion, high inflation and unemployment. The old system under the dictator, where money and influence can buy you anything, persists. The novel seamlessly interweaves the changing fortunes of its characters with the changing events in the country.
The author's smoothly humorous style, laced with the images, smells and lifestyles of 1970s Portugal, makes for a pleasurable and convincing read. I recommend it.
When he seems to be on the point of success, Ed's world begins to crumble, just as the momentary high of the Carnation Revolution is replaced by disillusion, high inflation and unemployment. The old system under the dictator, where money and influence can buy you anything, persists. The novel seamlessly interweaves the changing fortunes of its characters with the changing events in the country.
The author's smoothly humorous style, laced with the images, smells and lifestyles of 1970s Portugal, makes for a pleasurable and convincing read. I recommend it.
October 9, 2019
Murphy is clearly a fan of Portugal's 1974 "Carnation Revolution", but he is content for it to serve as a backdrop for his tale of a young man who naively thinks he can set up a flourishing business there while the old order is rapidly crumbling. He ends up struggling to survive as he gets into deeper and deeper hot water. Oh, and he marries in haste and doesn't repent even when his wife leaves him for another woman. Plus there's a mysterious character who, to start with, is either a clandestine revolutionary or a police spy, and resurfaces as the leader of a cult that imprisons our hero's best buddy. Love, sex, deadly danger and derring-do, all in the heady atmosphere of 1970s Lisbon. I loved it!
December 14, 2017
I am the author, and I hope to say something about my own book that will help the reader to understand it better. A question that repeatedly gets asked about books is “What genre is it?” Well, this one is something of a “genre-bender” in that it combines a love story with elements of a thriller and a mystery, set against the historical background of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution”. Although, for me, the political aspect is the most important, I have kept it firmly in the background. The book can also be seen as part of a long tradition of novels featuring an Anglophone abroad, but it is relatively unusual in having a businessman as its protagonist.
I lived in Portugal in the 1970s, and I have forced Ed, my leading man, through some of my own experiences, such as not getting paid by the University for months on end, but I have given him a very different personality: a business-oriented man of action. A friend even likened him to GM Fraser’s character Flashman. If so, he is a vulnerable Flashman. The female characters tend to be strong and independent, at a time when that suddenly became a clear option. You may wonder at my giving it five stars. Even though I know it is far from perfect, I believe in my own work and I think there is much in it to give you, the reader, enjoyment and food for thought, and that this novel will back up my claim to be a writer of good reads.
I lived in Portugal in the 1970s, and I have forced Ed, my leading man, through some of my own experiences, such as not getting paid by the University for months on end, but I have given him a very different personality: a business-oriented man of action. A friend even likened him to GM Fraser’s character Flashman. If so, he is a vulnerable Flashman. The female characters tend to be strong and independent, at a time when that suddenly became a clear option. You may wonder at my giving it five stars. Even though I know it is far from perfect, I believe in my own work and I think there is much in it to give you, the reader, enjoyment and food for thought, and that this novel will back up my claim to be a writer of good reads.
February 25, 2021
This book surprised me. With a title like Revolution Number 1, you would think it would be very exciting and... well.... revolutionary. Instead, you’re shown life through the eyes of Ed, the English opportunist that's somewhat ambitious, but really, he’s just taking things day by day - whatever might put him in the best situation, he does that. It’s a very pedestrian story, and one that is oddly comforting and easy to read. For about 70% of the book, it kind of felt like nothing was happening. Yes, things were happening, but it was seemingly at “life speed” - nothing extraordinary, all digestible, and certainly not something you would think a book should revolve around.
And yet, I loved that. The setting of Lisbon and the surrounding area was breathtaking, and living the life of a young Englishman there lended a sense of gratitude throughout. Some days in Lisbon might be worse than others, but Ed adored it and always knew that it was far better than the alternative of cold, rainy England. The book was sun-drenched in 70’s sepia tones.
In line with that, Ed is a character you can’t help but like: an uncharacteristically positive English bachelor with a boyish charm (even when he’s married he still seems like a bachelor). His story wasn’t a traditional page turner, and yet it felt effortless to turn the page.
Overall, this book was so smooth and enjoyable - a wonderful, soft place to land after a hard day at work. I can’t break down beats or plot devices in this one, because as I said, it’s not meant to rise high and sink low. It’s simply meant to entertain and provide a window into a certain place and time, through the eyes of a not-too-special but generally likeable individual.
And yet, I loved that. The setting of Lisbon and the surrounding area was breathtaking, and living the life of a young Englishman there lended a sense of gratitude throughout. Some days in Lisbon might be worse than others, but Ed adored it and always knew that it was far better than the alternative of cold, rainy England. The book was sun-drenched in 70’s sepia tones.
In line with that, Ed is a character you can’t help but like: an uncharacteristically positive English bachelor with a boyish charm (even when he’s married he still seems like a bachelor). His story wasn’t a traditional page turner, and yet it felt effortless to turn the page.
Overall, this book was so smooth and enjoyable - a wonderful, soft place to land after a hard day at work. I can’t break down beats or plot devices in this one, because as I said, it’s not meant to rise high and sink low. It’s simply meant to entertain and provide a window into a certain place and time, through the eyes of a not-too-special but generally likeable individual.
January 14, 2019
It is 1973, and the hero of this story, Ed Scripps, has left England to make his fortune in Portugal.
Portugal, though, is on the cusp of revolution and when it breaks out it seems at first as though it will benefit Ed. He has a keen eye for the business opportunity, and a winning way with the opposite sex, and as the revolution unfolds Ed manages to both win hearts and begin to make money. It looks as though his future is assured.
But as the revolution begins to lose impetus and high ideals give way to the familiar corruption of the old regime, Ed’s life begins to implode as well, reflecting the collapse of the new ideals in the face of a harsh economic climate. In an attempt to recoup his business losses, he soon becomes involved in drug dealing and begins to move among the shady figures of Portugal’s underworld, among whom he is hopelessly out of his depth.
As his monetary struggles increase, he then finds he has lost his wife to another woman, and then his best friend Mark is sucked into a mysterious and vicious cult and Mark’s wife appeals to Ed for help.
With danger seemingly lurking around every corner, Ed decides he must do the right thing.
A realistically complex character, certainly neither wholly black nor white, Ed has few scruples about making money from drug dealing or being serially unfaithful to whichever woman he is with at the time, yet the reader never fails to cheer for him, so sympathetically is he drawn.
This is a thoroughly convincing portrayal of time and place, and a great read that draws you in from the start.
Portugal, though, is on the cusp of revolution and when it breaks out it seems at first as though it will benefit Ed. He has a keen eye for the business opportunity, and a winning way with the opposite sex, and as the revolution unfolds Ed manages to both win hearts and begin to make money. It looks as though his future is assured.
But as the revolution begins to lose impetus and high ideals give way to the familiar corruption of the old regime, Ed’s life begins to implode as well, reflecting the collapse of the new ideals in the face of a harsh economic climate. In an attempt to recoup his business losses, he soon becomes involved in drug dealing and begins to move among the shady figures of Portugal’s underworld, among whom he is hopelessly out of his depth.
As his monetary struggles increase, he then finds he has lost his wife to another woman, and then his best friend Mark is sucked into a mysterious and vicious cult and Mark’s wife appeals to Ed for help.
With danger seemingly lurking around every corner, Ed decides he must do the right thing.
A realistically complex character, certainly neither wholly black nor white, Ed has few scruples about making money from drug dealing or being serially unfaithful to whichever woman he is with at the time, yet the reader never fails to cheer for him, so sympathetically is he drawn.
This is a thoroughly convincing portrayal of time and place, and a great read that draws you in from the start.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews