THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES opens with a young German teen, Hen, listening to the music of her all-time favorite band, The Lightning Bottles, on the eve of the five-year anniversary of the tragic disappearance of the group's star singer, Elijah Hart, who allegedly died in a drug-induced haze in the frigid Icelandic waters though his body was never recovered. The current whereabouts of his band and soulmate Jane Pyre, who is the unrecognized genius behind the group's famous lyrics, are unknown as she disappeared shortly thereafter to grieve, rehab and escape the ire of angry fans who blame her for Elijah's demise. It’s imperative Hen contact Jane because she has a secret, a clue about Elijah's disappearance. Imagine Hen's shock when she realizes the woman moving into the isolated property next door is none other than the despised woman herself, Jane. When Jane catches a girl spying on her, Hen shares her secret, and the despondent woman and teen fan embark on a trip that carries them and readers across a continent in a frantic search for the truth about Elijah’s disappearance. What they discover will either save or finish destroying a fragile, disillusioned, heartbroken Jane.
Unfolding through highly effective past/present chapters, THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES allows readers to experience Jane and Elijah's rocky journey first-hand from the early days to the day he disappeared in Jane’s own words as she relays their tragic ill-fated story to Hen. In the present, readers travel with Jane and Hen as they follow clues that carry them back to the places where main events occurred in Jane and Elijah's lives. The pace escalates as they go through the motions setting a desolate tone that soaks through the pages like the tears shed over the lyrics of heartbreaking songs woven throughout. While Jane and Hen carry the story, there’s a strong support cast adding another intriguing layer to the plot line. What happened to Elijah? Did he die in the icy sea off Iceland as believed? Or is he out there somewhere, alone and scared waiting for Jane to save him yet again?
Stapley takes readers on a highly atmospheric,
hauntingly beautiful, yet painful trip paying homage to the world of
rock'n'roll, capturing the power and essence of the music scene in the
'90's - the music, fame, parties, addiction, groupies. Greed and jealousy,
along with the endless drug and alcohol induced days and nights, took its toll creating
toxic working relationships. The author's expert ability to weave a dark
mystery into this story takes it to another level as does the emphasis on
themes of misogyny, inequality in the workplace (especially the music industry)
and the blistering cost of fame on both individuals and those who love them.
THE LIGHTNING BOTTLES is an epic, brilliantly rendered, character driven mystery and ode to music. A story of fated love, jealousy, guilt, pain and loss. A time when stars rose and fell quickly, and music was everything. A visual masterpiece, this book would be fantastic on the big screen. Highly recommended to fans of star-crossed romance, mysteries and ole time rock'n'roll.
Synopsis:
Jane Pyre was once one half of one of the most famous rock ‘n’ roll duos in the world, The Lightning Bottles. Years later, she’s perhaps the most hated (and least understood) woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate) Elijah—even if Jane was the one who wrote the songs that catapulted The Lightning Bottles to instant, dizzying fame, first in the Seattle grunge scene, and then around the world. But then Elijah disappeared and everything came crashing down. Even now, years after Elijah vanished, Jane is universally blamed and reviled by the public. In an attempt to get some peace and quiet, Jane rents a house in a remote part of Germany where she knows she won’t be disturbed. But on the day she arrives, she’s confronted by her new next-door neighbor, a sullen teenaged girl named Hen who just so happens to be a Lightning Bottles superfan—and who claims to have a piece of information that might solve the mystery of what happened to Elijah, and whether he is, in fact, still alive and leaving messages for Jane after all these years. A cross-continent road trip about two misunderstood outsiders brought together by their shared love of music, interwoven with flashbacks to the beginnings of Jane and Elijah’s love story and meteoric rise,
No comments:
Post a Comment