Vicious

by Jeff Gomez

In the fall of 1970, Lou Reed walked away from rock and roll. He left the Velvet Underground, and New York City, returning to Long Island. He moved in with his parents and got a job as a typist at his father’s accounting firm. He told friends his career in music was over. Vicious takes an imagined look at what happened to Reed after he quit his band, and before the successful solo career that began in 1971.

The story follows Reed as he finds himself drawn into a strange case at his dad’s office. Someone’s trying to claim the possessions of a dead man. One item draws Reed’s a painting by Andy Warhol, given to the murder victim by the artist himself. Reed resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery, only to discover that he–and his songs–are somehow at the center.

From the country clubs of Long Island and the Factory scene of Manhattan, to the haunted corridors of Creedmoor State Psychiatric Hospital and the gritty Lower East Side, Vicious is a wholly original and loving look at a little known period in the life of a legend.

157 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 23, 2022

Reviews

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conceptually, this book is utterly fantastic, Gomez is either a Lou Reed/VU superfan, or did an insane amount of research to write this. Technically, it falls a little flat, especially in characterization; if the words “Lou Reed” weren’t written every fifth line or so, the main character would be flat enough that you wouldn’t know it was him. Considering that he was known to have an unmistakable curmudgeonly personality, this is a rather large flaw in what would otherwise be an excellent novel.

[C.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know how I learned of the existence of the book - probably from a promo email sent by either Amazon or the publisher. But as a massive Lou Reed/VU fan, the idea of a novel with Lou Reed is trying to solve a murder mystery had me intrigued. I went into the book wondering how the author was going to pull this off, and came out of it throughly satisfied by the quality of the writing, the research behind it, and how fast-paced the story was. I read it in two sittings in less than 24 hours, and to be honest it may have actually been closer to 14. If this book doesn’t get adapted into a movie soon, there’s something wrong with the planet.

You don’t need to be a Lou Reed/VU fan to enjoy this book. If you’re the type of person that likes both Lou Reed and murder mysteries, you’ll love the shit out of this.

[Tom C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I'm a big Lou Reed fan and I like the premise: after quitting the VU, Lou moves back home with his parents, works at a typist in his dad's office, and gets embroiled in a murder mystery. The author did a good job of researching Reed, Warhol, and the Factory (though his explanation of how "Vicious" was penned goes against Reed's account of Warhol supplying the opening lines). However, outside of the presence of Reed & co., it's basically a workaday potboiler, a thriller without as many twists as readers expect from books in that genre.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

A low-key noir thriller that just happens to feature a fictionalized Lou Reed as the protagonist. It's an easy read, and Velvet Underground fans will enjoy all the inside references (Jonathan Richman even puts in an appearance).