Ever since that damn COVID-19 entered my life I hardly
had time concentrating on anything else, like this blog of mine, for example,
which I have been running for quite some time. I even contemplated giving it up
since my free time these days has been mostly spent recuperating in bed instead
of enjoying a good book or watching a good flick. But now that I have finally regained
some sense of normality by working part time at the hospital again I can
happily say that I do intend on continuing with The Sleaze Factor after all. Talking
to you guys via my little reviews is too important to me, and quite honestly, I
just can’t see myself abandoning this precious ship of mine. So without further
ado let’s get right down to business.
Last week I caught the much-appreciated The Go-Go’s
documentary. Seeing this girl group again and witnessing their rise and fall through
interviews and archives made me realize how important their music was, and
still is, in an industry controlled mostly by men. THE THUNDER GIRLS (2019, Pan) by Melanie Blake reminds me of The
Go-Go’s, four talented women who make it big and lose it all when one of them decides
to go solo during the heights of their success in the late ‘80s. It’s easy to
imagine the hurt, the jealousy, the betrayal that the rest of the women felt
and still do in 2019 when they are asked to regroup for a once in a lifetime
performance at the Wembley Stadium. They may be now older but, boy, far are they
from being wiser—that is until they are forced to put the past behind when trouble
comes a-knocking.
I really enjoyed THE
THUNDER GIRLS. It is well-paced and has a fair amount of characterization
in between the bitchery. And trust me, there is a lot of bitchery, enough to
fill—pun intended—an entire stadium. Secrets, lies, revenge, obsession, there are
no dull moments in this first time effort. First time by the Melanie Blake
name, that is. The author has previously ghost-written two celeb fiction titles
which shall remain nameless to protect the guilty ones. This may probably be
the reason why THE THUNDER GIRLS
barely feels like a first novel. Blake always keeps a tight rein on her clear-lined
plot, and once the reader hits the mid-section mark, the roller-coaster ride gets
even trickier. I can’t say I was always surprised by the many revelations but I
sure was intrigued by their swift and girl-powered denouements. Yes, THE THUNDER GIRLS is certainly worth the stops. It’s definitely up
there with the strongest of the glam-fiction novels. If you love this
endangered sub-genre as much as I do (which hopefully the success of this book
will revive), then dig in, my friends, just dig in.
You can get a copy of THE THUNDER GIRLS wherever books are sold.
Until next post—Martin
