The dark cover with the grungy font and menacing dirty colors was the first thing that attracted my eyes to this book. It literally landed upon my lap, a book destined for my eyes only. The image on the cover gave a pulse of life, freedom and teen angst all symbolized with a picture of someone bending from a microphone, as if bowing to its power. The Singer by Cathi Unsworth, a mystery about the strange disappearance of a lead singer from an infamous rock band called Blood Truth told by English reporter Eddie Bracknell.
The two most perfect substances that get me hooked; music and mystery. My memory upon reading only the very first paragraph blew me away; the description of the band’s regular gig, the nature of the loyal disciples in the crowd, and most importantly, the viciously seducing vocals of the lead singer immediately clutched my attention with a choking hand. I was instantly addicted and didn’t know how to stop, but, the thing is, I didn’t want to. The late nights reading claimed my hours of sleep as I brought the characters, the England setting, and the legend of the band itself to life! Unsworth brought the reality of a true underground rocker life and perfectly worded it on paper; the drugs, the girls, the crappy travel and how it all fell from fame. The best part was how the mystery kept adding on and on; it was as if factors kept adding themselves to an unsolvable equation. My questions never stopped pouring out, so I never stopped reading. I thought the only way to end this enslavement was to reach the end, to find out how this mystery with so many loose ends all tied together.
I guess you could tag it as a thriller too then; the pages turning would suspend me on the edge, about to tip me over and make me crash, holding my breath as its hostage. However, I was sad I was clean once I finished reading the book. I missed the rush, the adrenaline, I got from doing dosage of reading day in day out. I felt an empty space that is still open today, and sadly, don’t think any other book will be able to fill. So I leave caution to all that think they might be brave and strong enough to handle the addicting drug called The Singer.