The Last Gig in Wonderland
My latest novel, The last weekend in Wonderland, features 88 bands and artists, 28 songs, 22 albums and countless live gigs. Although a work of fiction, I’ve interw
The books!
OUT NOW!
FESTIVALS, FRIENDSHIP AND MURDER!!
After much plotting and planning, fourteen-year-old pals, Sid and Jimmy,
deceive their parents into thinking they have gone to a scout camp, when in
fact they are on their way to the infamous ‘Weeley’ rock festival to see their
favourite band. Their adventure ends in disaster and they are grounded for
life on their return home!
Now, middle aged and still affected by the consequences of their teenage
shenanigans, they decide to have one last fling, a reunion trip to
Glastonbury. Once again, things don’t go to plan and they are about
to be grounded again, this time by their wives!
Sex, drugs, rock ‘I’ roll, festival toilets, mayhem and murder all transpire
to make Sid and Jimmy’s last hurrah one that no one is going to forget!!
‘Toxic Tina’ is a dedicated nurse battling to do her best for her patients as austerity bites in the NHS. When not at work she’s determinately trying to salvage her chaotic love life, pinning her hopes on internet dating, despite the warnings from her dad. Tina’s perplexed when the Ministry of Health spends a small fortune on a luxurious new facility and her work life gets considerably more complicated when she’s put in charge of a therapy group which her patients call ‘Toxic Tina’s Good Poison Club’. Claire, known to her colleagues as the Ice Queen, is a rising star in the intelligence service. She’s thrown into the deep end when attendees at a NATO sponsored cyber security conference come down with possible food poisoning. The CIA believe the Afghani chef from the conference catering company is responsible and the Ice Queen is given responsibility to discover if the chef is a terrorist, or just unlucky. The chef, Mo, is a patient on Tina’s ward, meaning Claire and Tina’s world are set to collide. As Tina discovers her patient’s bucket lists could lead to potentially disastrous consequences, Claire is caught in a whirlwind of plots, blind alleys and obscure 1980s documentaries, as she tries to uncover the truth behind the poisoning. An extraordinary tale about the NHS, austerity, inappropriate behaviour, humiliation, obsession, bodily fluids, and of course poison! A rollercoaster of a story that is bang up to date.
Stephen Ross’ ordinary life unravels after a humiliating incident at a concert goes viral. Several old skeletons begin to emerge from his not so ordinary past. Whilst hurricane Irene engulfs New York, a meeting with an old friend gets dangerously out of hand as they reminisce about their time spent together years earlier in a war zone. Punk rock, torture, cultists, a one night stand and a missing ‘princess’, punctuate this wild and wacky debut novel. Not forgetting a string quartet!
About
Simon lyons
Having left his North London ‘sink’ comprehensive at the age of fifteen with few qualifications, Simon travelled extensively before settling down to family life and ‘blagging’ a living. A ferocious gig and festival goer, he always felt he had a story to tell and How to Kidnap a String Quartet, his debut novel, is an expression of his varied experiences of life and wild and whacky imagination. The follow-up The Good Poison Club is an exciting thriller set in a London NHS hospital. Simon’s latest novel ‘The last weekend in wonderland’ tells the story of two friends who as teenagers run away from home to attend a rock festival with disastrous consequences. Now middle aged ,they decide to have a reunion weekend at Glastonbury. What could possibly go wrong!!?
SEX, DRUGS, ROCK N ROLL AND LOO PAPER
THE POO’S AND DONTS OF FESTIVAL TOILETS My new novel The last weekend in wonderland centres around two music festivals forty three years apart. The infamous Weeley rock festival
Meet The Publisher
Blackstar promotions are proud to announce the inaugural publication from Starblack Press, the new novel by Simon Lyons ‘The Last Weekend in Wonderland.
Starblack Press is the new venture from Alan Galaxy and will be the publishing arm of Blackstar promotions, concentrating primarily on music related literature.
Hans Minnema
Even though it states that it is a book about two friends going to Weeley rock festival to see their favourite rockband Mott the Hoople and also to a reunion, it’s much more than that. It’s about childhood, growing up , family problems, work, sex, a lot of music, and how to grow up in the 1970s. It’s a funny book, sometimes sad, it makes you think about life, how things come and go. Above all, you read about a lifelong friendship between two friends. I definitely recommend the book, you can’t put it down until the last page.
Steve Hodgkinson
This story is both highly entertaining and enlightening in equal measure. It tells of Sid's journey from schoolboy to adulthood through his love for music and is written in a style that makes it impossible to put down until you have read just one more chapter. It has its moments of sadness, is sometimes shocking but mostly incredibly funny. For anyone like me who grew up listening to punk and new wave it is a must read. I absolutely love it. Stay out of the mosh pit Sid!
Josie Foster
I loved it. It's real, a caricature of what we got up to in the 70s as school kids. I spent most of the book giggling and thinking 'yep, know someone who did that, or at least embellished the tale to sound like they did that'. Simon has absolutely captured our age group, the teenage angst against the philosophical way we look at life today. We all have a Jimmy in our lives, or maybe we are Jimmy, but the brotherly love between the two guys shines out like a beacon throughout the book. That was written from experience of a lifetime of close, loving friendship. In summary, a well written story, a great read for our generation and should be essential reading for the young snowflakes of today.