J.A. Landry has a writing style that puts you right into the scene and gets right under the skin of his characters. The story is very interesting, especially if you're curious about a survivor’s tale from an insider about sex, drugs and rock and roll on the road. I can see young adults as well as boomers getting into Fool Star. I couldn't put it down, and may even read it again!

L.G. – Freeport, ME

 

When I bought the book I began reading it right away. Simply stated, I could not put it down, and I finished it within two days. J.A. Landry spins a dynamite adult fiction tale, his writing style puts the reader right into the story, and the characterizations and dialog are just right. It’s a very unique and fun read. I am now reading it out loud to my wife and she loves it, too! I can’t wait until Eaves Drop and Above Beyond are published and available. J.B. – East Rochester, NH

 

Fool Star effectively plumbs the depths of its characters in ways that spiral toward an understanding of the people they were and have become. Set against a backdrop of life on the southern rock and roll club circuit, and big dreams almost-in-the-grasp, it weaves together a set of characters' lives and fortunes in often unexpected, sometimes sad, sometimes hilarious, and always thought-provoking, ways. Childhood moments, both lived and stolen, evolve into adult character traits, desires and sometimes undoings in both necessary and unexpected ways. Tony, the main character, and most times protagonist, falls from an introspective early grace, undone by years of hard living, drug abuse and personal struggle, to become a sociopath who is driven by an unnamed ambition that completely overtakes his humility. Those he loves dearly, slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, become impediments, and his emotional withdrawal from the world around him is punctuated by a set of final actions that leave the reader stunned but not disbelieving; the changes in Tony are complete and profound. As I read Fool Star my emotions ran a surprisingly broad gamut in response to the lives and actions that spun together; it is a ride through a southern rock and roll band's career that is at once believable, frightening in its implications and entertaining. This is a book I will read a second time.

D.S. – Brunswick, ME

 

Author J.A. Landry takes us behind the scenes as Tony struggles with his advancing schizophrenia that seems to be kept in check only as the band's success is reached. As the band unravels so does Tony, and when alcohol, drugs, and guns are thrown into the mix the desperate end is in sight. As the band struggles, we hang in there with them wondering how long before it all falls apart. When Tony falls apart so does the band and suddenly no one is safe including his own relationship with his girlfriend Pression. As the stucco of the band peels back to reveal the veneer behind Landry shows us, that the band is like his woman, "she wore a little history in the lines of her face, the scars of her body, but hers you had to look real hard to find, and once noticed, add to her being" or in this case revealing too much causing the demise of everything Tony holds dear. It's a rough ride but worth hanging on for as Landry twirls his readers through the psychotic tour of a bohemian rock and roll star.

M. S. - Tucson AZ

 

I couldn't put this book down! I have always had a fascination with what it was like "behind the scenes" in a rock and roll band...All my questions were answered! The ending in particular was excellent. When the ride is over you are left wanting more! I can't wait to read another J.A. Landry book! :-)

B.B. Tucson Arizona