A comedy thriller about overbearing mothers, toilet mishaps
and dogs that refuse to do as they’re told.
About Rob Johnson:
Even before I read his bio, I knew that Rob Johnson would be
an interesting person. His book told me that he just had to be. So here’s the
bio, and you’ll see what I mean:
Having worked
for several years as an administrator and publicist for touring theatre
companies, I decided to try my hand at writing plays myself. Four of these were
professionally produced and toured throughout the UK, but when public funding
for non-commercial theatre virtually dried up overnight I was forced into the
world of ‘proper jobs’ as my father liked to call them.
During this
period, I also made use of my Equity card and appeared in numerous TV shows as
a ‘supporting artiste’, otherwise and somewhat less attractively known as an
‘extra’. (Ricky Gervaise was spot on by the way. Just wish I’d written ‘Extras’
myself.)
I now live on
a 5-acre smallholding in Greece with my partner Penny, six rescue dogs and
three cats and divide my time between writing and growing olives organically
for oil.
About Lifting the Lid:
It’s taken me
ages to read this book. That’s not code for “it’s not very good”, honestly,
just bear with me. It took me ages because I wanted to read every word properly
- no skimming allowed - and because there have been so many other things on the
go recently that I haven’t been able to concentrate on it. And I wanted to.
Now that I’m
done, I’ve been wholly rewarded. The story is just so much FUN! Trevor is a
boring (yes) man with a boring job and an AWFUL mother who decides to chuck it
all in one day and buy a camper. So he and his dog Milly head off into the
sunset and look for adventure. He doesn’t get very far as the camper needs
repairs, so he books into a hotel for the night.
And so begins
Trevor’s adventures. His dear mother sets the police onto him simply because
she doesn’t like him much, and before he knows it, a private detective, MI5 and
group of crooks are after him as well. Quiet, boring Trevor can’t understand
what he’s done to bring the wrath of the good, bad and ugly down on himself.
All he did was break a cistern lid, that’s not a crime is it?
I loved the
story. It is entertaining, well-written, cleverly planned and expertly timed. The
separate threads of Johnson’s story are carefully prepared and then expertly
woven together to culminate at the finale. The characters are larger-than-life,
without quite slumping into the “caricature” pit. Johnson gives his reader
variety in mood, pace, setting and dialogue, never giving them a chance to
become bored or to be able to predict where the story is heading.
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