Dark Lustre 4

by Roy Wilkinson

Tommy Quantox returns to Germany to inspect the site of the 1936 Olympics, and beyond. He flies forth a fist and enjoys pivotal conversation with the one and only Pamela Budeaux. This is in no way folderol crapola.

Tommy heads south and west, to Berschtesgadener Land. Where Hitler oversaw his "Mountain Court". Where Tommy's cryptic Bavarian conductor awaits. Food is available at the Goldener Bär, while beauty and peril are both apparent by the shores of Königsee. The arctic char is stuffed and branches might fall. Things are not what they seem. People also. Even below the burgh of Bad Reichenhall, puzzling charades are played out - in the Bavarian boozer, over beer and hot ox.

80 pages, Paperback

Published July 1, 2021

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Roy Wilkinson is a British music journalist and band manager.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

The art and conspiracy yarn continues its ramble, still liberally spiced with mild perplexity and fascinating trivia - including the origin of the League of Gentlemen catchphrase "It's a shit business". Not that the League are ever named, and nor are the Wilkinson-affiliated rock band whose lyrics crop up more than once. One of my suggestions when said outfit made the (alas, understandable) decision to ditch 'British' from their name was that they should instead borrow a new moniker from one of the many fictional bands to populate Dark Lustre, and there's another doozy this time out - Iron Currywurst. But it doesn't even have to be a band name already, they could just grab a phrase: Past Written In Incandescence; Augustiner Lagerbier Hell; Like Beacons Seen From A Ship At Sea; Endless Iridescence From The Concrete Duckpond; Hexentanzplatz; Everything Was Forever (Until It Was No More). Any one of them more appropriate to the vast yet playful yearning of their music than the landfill limpness of 'Sea Power'.

[Russell Barton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately it feels like Roy has lost his way with this instalment. I as surprised to discover, when this and the subsequent volumes were late, that he hasn’t finished the project, or at least made better inroads, before he started to publish it. As much as I admire the risks he’s taken I worry that the conclusion won’t match the journey.

[Trevor Knott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edufiction…..another dose of edufiction…great stuff

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continue to be fascinated by this series. Also, this instalment featured a line that is a great summation of the Sea Power (and extended universe) appeal: "This was rock music and this was where it was going - to a fisherman's hut at the end of the world, accessible only at high tide."