{Review} God's Jukebox by Will Beattie

ASIN #: B007ZHV9U6

File Size: 463 KB

Page Count: 257

Copyright: May 5, 2012

Publisher: Will Beattie

Book Summary:

(Take from Goodreads)

Music Industry A&R man Zach Laudon watched as the remains of his life burned down around him. The dreams he built and lived, in the space of one week, had been ripped away, leaving nothing more than ghosts and shadows.

Finding himself seeking the only salvation he could at The Toucan public house - a tiny Guinness goldmine in London's Soho Square - with a shaman-like barman pulling prints from the tap that snaked down behind the bar under the streets of London all the way to the darkest heart of Africa, where the Guinness flows down a volcano like molten lava filtered through a river of ice before it settles into a pint glass, Zach had no idea his prayers were about to be answered.

A chance meeting with a mysterious old man offering Zach his shot at redemption - to go back in time via the soundtrack to his life and make the one choice, the one difference, that could undo all the carnage and chaos, to get back his beloved Evelyn, and resurrect his career in the music business.

The chance for Zach to reclaim him dreams was in his hands, but would his life ever be the same again?

Fate, destiny or Divine Intervention - Zach was about to find out just what his life means - all he had to do was play God's Jukebox.

Kathy's Review:

I guess from the title I was expecting something a little bit more inspirational, or with some moral to it. And maybe it did get there at some point. Zach is watching a rewind of his life, set to music, and his tour guide is a bartender who seems like he might be the Big Guy upstairs. At the end of each song/chapter, the bartender and Zach review what happened and the bartender often offers some life advice.

I liked the gimmick of naming each chapter after a song in Zach's life, marking a significant moment or turning point for him. But from there I became bored in the plot about his job in A&R, his horrible boss and his attempts to get the best of him. There was an event in his childhood that was interesting, but it never came back to it ... that was disappointing. It seems like it would have affected Zach's future, but it's not explained or explored in more depth.

Then, the significant action between Zach and girlfriend Evelyn comes late in the story, and I think it does a disservice to this part of the plot to not introduce it sooner. I wish I had known more about this, rather than all the chapters about the A&R business.

For a book with "God" in the title, there is a lot of language and adult situations, so that's just a caution for those of you out there who find this offensive.

I liked this premise, but as I said, the plot spends too much time in some places and not enough on others. The theme of looking back on your life and what you could change, and how it might affect the outcome of your life, is one I've explored in my own writing, and it's a subject that always intrigues me. So for that reason, I could relate to this story. I'm not sure what group of readers this would most appeal to. I guess those who have looked back on their own lives and wondered "what if" - you will appreciate this the most.


*An ecopy of the book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.