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Title/Author

Man on a Murder Cycle

Mark Pepper

Average Review Rating Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)
Book Details

Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton

Published : 1997

Copyright : Mark Pepper 1997

ISBN-10 : HB 0-340-69623-0
ISBN-13 : HB 978-0-340-69623-1

Publisher's Write-Up

Tom Roker's first novel was an instant bestseller. Since then he has written four more books - none of which have been published. Sadly, it seems his talent was a brief illusion.

Now, at last, he is making a comeback. Man on a Murder Cycle is a blockbuster. The dark tale of Milton, a vengeful biker, it perfectly recaptures the unique mood of his debut.

It's just a shame he didn't write it himself.

But the real author is dead, and Roker has covered his tracks so the trivial matter of who wrote what can be overlooked. Until, in accordance with the stolen plot, people start dying.

Despatched by a mad man on a big bike.

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Reader Reviews

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Review by Chrissi (310501) Rating (8/10)

Review by Chrissi
Rating 8/10
This is the first book that I have read by this author, although this is his second novel. It centres on an author called Tom Roker who, after a brilliant first novel, hit the doldrums and has basically stayed there, unable to find that erratic spark that sets good writing from bad.

It has become so bad that his wife has left him and he is about to have his latest offering refused for publication by his literary agent. His literary agent is about to withdraw her services from him and rubs salt into the wound by telling him that she has just received a manuscript from a new author who writes just like he did when he wrote his first book.

Tom borrows the manuscript and reads it, feeling aggrieved that he has lost his own talent at some point but admitting that this new author is very good. It all gets a bit macabre when we find that the man has died in a motorbike accident on the Isle of Man, and so now the book will not be published.

In a moment of self centred madness, Tom finds himself proposing that he take over the manuscript and present himself fraudulently as the author. The agreement is made and from then on things get very strange. The body of the dead author goes missing and events happen which mimic the strange occurences of the book. Tom, supposedly the author, is implicated because he wrote the book, but he is becoming increasingly worried.

The opening of the story grabbed me, right from the start, the description of the man on a motorbike travelling along the roads of the island, and from then on it takes a curious turn, you are unsure whether it is a supernatural thriller or the story of a lunatic out for revenge.

I shall not say, as the fun is in the reading. Mark Pepper has something of a Hutson-esque turn to his descriptions of gruesome happenings, if you like Shaun Hutson, then give this one a go, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Chrissi (31st May 2001)

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