The Singer

by Cathi Unsworth

The legend goes like Vincent Smith met bandmates Stevie Mullin and Lynton Powell at a Sex Pistols concert, where he tried to kiss Sid Vicious' bass guitar and got a bloody nose. Together they formed Blood Truth, and for a while they caused a sensation wherever they went. Six months later, the band fell apart, and Vincent disappeared.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Music, Mystery, Noir, Thriller

462 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Cathi Unsworth moved to Ladbroke Grove in 1987 and has stayed there ever since. She began a career in rock writing with Sounds and Melody Maker, before co-editing the arts journal Purr and then Bizarre magazine. Her first novel, The Not Knowing, was published by Serpent's Tail in August 2005.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cathi Unsworth’s The Singer is an epic of the punk era mixed with a detective story and a little bit of the gothic (with a conclusion straight out of Poe and Wilde). In many ways this is not a crime story (or doesn’t feel like one for most of the story) but a story of the dreamers and the damned (pun intended as that band features quite a bit in the book) of the punk generation, but Unsworth always writes like a crime novelist focusing on a street level view of history filled with grit and grime and sense of place from Punk era London and a scary America in the 70’s to early 2000’s “murder capitol” Camden and sleazy, debauched Lisbon. This a really despairing book in the end (and most of the time up until then) but Unsworth proves her whole hearted love for the music, so you will want some Sex Pistols, The Damned, Birthday Party, and Siouxsie and The Banshees around to blare loudly when your done.

[Nigeyb · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Peace, on the back cover, describes The Singer as "the Great Punk Novel". As a man who is passionate about music, and lived through, and loved, the punk era, this augured very well.

The book is firmly based within the UK punk, and post-punk eras, so plenty of real bands and songs feature in the story. Part of the fun of the book, for those steeped in the musical history of the era, is trying to work out who Cathi Unsworth modelled some of the fictional characters and bands on. For example there's a photographer who appears to be a combination of Kevin Cummings and Anton Corbijn, and one of the main bands draws heavily on 1980s indie favourites The Cocteau Twins, whilst another has elements of The Birthday Party, amongst others.

At first The Singer felt enjoyable if a little hackneyed, however as the story progressed, flipping between the early 2000s and the late 1970s/early 1980s, it became progressively more compelling, and by the end I was racing through the book's 450 pages keen to find out how it all ended.

A strength of the book is the range of diverse and distinctive characters, all of whom, to one degree or another are looking back at the past, many damaged by their personal histories, and bringing their own interpretation of what happened and why.

Cathi Unsworth evokes the punk era very powerfully and also convincingly places the tale in a range of places which include Camden, Portobello Road, Little Venice, Stoke Newington, Pigalle, Montmartre, and Bairro Alto. I know all of these places and she does a great job of describing each location.

Ultimately The Singer is a genre piece, and part of the grand tradition of crime fiction, although that said the book's conclusion owes more to gothic horror. Cathi Unsworth's dark tale convincingly evokes the punk era (and early 2000s) via an exciting, original and unexpected story.

After I'd finished I reflected on some of the more implausible aspects of the story, and how some of the writing felt rushed, but to dwell on that is to downplay the book's many strengths. This was a great read, my first book by Cathi Unsworth, and not my last. I will be reading more very soon. 4/5

Thanks to GoodReads hombre Mark for another interesting recommendation (over at TPHAS).

[Ian Mapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

They do suggest that you write about what you know.

And Cathi Unsword - ex music journalist - knows her late seventies, early 80s music.

This book is simply superb. Best I've read for a long time and will be my book of 2016, I'm sure.

A split time narrative shows a music journalist in 2001 investigating the short career of a fictional punk band, Blood Truth, and their enigmatic front man, Vince.

There's a lot of fun to be had as fact and fiction merge. The real bands bring back memories but part of the joy is working out who the fictional characters are based on.

Here's my thoughts on a few...

Vince has to be Nick Cave
Sylvana and her band have to be Liz Frazier and the Cocteau Twins
Donna - could she be Julie Burchill?

Great fun.

There's also a real story here - the seventies punk scene is wonderfully evoked. Modern Day Camden is addressed and a lot of references to places made me smile. The characters are superbly drawn - with back stories making them very believable.

Strangely enough the book reads like gothic / horror fiction and this works well. The book very much reminded me of the film Angel Heart - which is no bad thing. You wonder how it's going to end and I'll give nothing away but say that it ends unexpectedly and very, very well.

Can't recommend this one highly enough. You should read it.

[Paul Forster · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I enjoy the punk and post punk world crafted here and the characters there was something missing. I have a feeling a decent editor could have tightened this up and made it sing (no pun intended).

The reveal at the end was also underwhelming and expected.

A yarn I wish was more ripping.

[Snoakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Singer is a gripping belter of a novel. Told in two timelines it follows the story of Blood Truth and Mood Violet - two bands to come out of the post punk scene of the late 70s early 80s.

One thread tells the stories of these bands from their formation through their respective successes, TOTP appearances, tours and their inevitable messy ends. The other thread is set in the early 2000s as aspiring writer/journalist Eddie Bracknell starts to write a book about the band with the ultimate aim of tracking down truth behind the mysterious disappearance of Blood Truth's enigmatic lead singer, Vincent Smith.

It's a riotous read - Cathi Unsworth obviously knows the era and the music well and entwines real characters and events into her fiction in a convincing fashion . There's fun to be had too from spotting the inspirations for some of the main characters too - Vincent Smith has more than a little Birthday Party era Nick Cave about him whereas Sylvana, the lead singer of Mood Violet brings to mind Liz Fraser of Cocteau Twins. Add a sprinkling of Julie Burchill to Donna's character, and you know you are in for a ride. A hugely entertaining tale of how the music industry chews up the talented and unwary and spits them out.

[Allyson Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed being swept up in the dark drama of this book. It evokes this particular time and place so well-- the intersection of dying days of punk and early goth. I found the two narratives to be a bit odd, especially the first person-- hence 4 stars. I wished somehow that could have been handled more elegantly but ultimately I gobbled this up.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vast improvement on her debut novel - this has real depth and moved along at pace. Some great characters drawn from the UK 80s underground music scene. A good few seem very familiar as they appear to drawn from the pages of Sounds / NME.

[Clare Trowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this book - really loved it. A rollicking read but so well written with great characters. One for all you Punk, Goth and New Wave fans out there!

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh man what a story! the noir! the punk! the music! vince! donna! sylvana! eddie! what a tangle web Unsworth weaved. Set between modern times and the early 1980s this tells the story of two up & coming bands in the early English punk scene and Eddie a modern day music journalist pinning for a scene he was never part off. Eddie is trying to write about the mysterious disappearance of Vince a charismatic singer of Blood Truth along the way he discovers a whole lot of truth and then some. The end is a real kicker. I have to say Unsworth has a real knack for creating characters that are so raw and real and just jump at you. I just loved Vince a bad-boy incarnate, a lover incarnate, a real sonvabitch incarnate. I was completely mesmerized by Vince even till the very end, even after I knew all he had done. I like bad-boys and I loved Vince Smith. Which brings me to Donna, Donna was also dynamite character. She was smart, driven and gutsy. She totally imploded after her encounter with that sonvabitch Smith but all the while it was a total show. Plus, at the very end she just got me good she is so damn awesome. I just found her to be so relatable because she was deeply flawed, and she was driven, she wanted a career but she was derailed. This book is a must read and I must say I have become a fan of Ms. Unsowrth. Also any book that makes references to and quotes from Goodfellas is a win.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally reviewed as part of a 5 book round up.

Last but not least on the holiday reading is The
Singer By Cathi Unsworth who I bought it from at
the Suarez Seance at the Horse Hospital a few
months ago a night celebrating Derek Raymond
this is a great London Rock and Roll Mystery
roll of a book that was hard to put down and
follows the story of two fictional bands Blood
Truth and Mood Violet who its claimed within
this book are in Blood Truths case the founding
fathers of Goth and come not from Leeds but from
Hull and formed after meeting at a Sex Pistols
gig and who at the height of there fame and
notoriety the singer dissappears after his wife
the singer of mood Violet dies of an OD in
Paris, 20 years goes by and over too many drinks
in too many familiar london haunts that I have
drunk in our intrepid reporter pieces together
the whole story. Its a great rivetting read that
blends reality with fiction to make a totally
believable story written by an author who worked
on all the music papers worth reading when I was
younger from Sounds to NME etc.. If you like
great Rock and roll fiction this is a must.

[Kathy Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters were brought to life in this story. I felt transported to the late seventies punk rock movement in Britain. The dialogue was spot on, and I found myself regurgitating British phrases in everyday life while reading this novel. I was captivated by the story telling and enjoyed the intriguing back and forth: present searching into the past and past moving towards the future to move the story along. The ending derailed the whole story and I feel compelled to reread the entire book as the main character did not turn out as I'd hoped. Perhaps I should have seen the end coming, but I always want to believe that people are inherently good despite evidence to the contrary.

[catechism · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably more of a 4.5 (a few typos and some odd POV shifts), but I'm rounding up because man, I thought this was great. It's the story of a journalist who gets obsessed with an early British punk band whose lead singer disappeared off the face of the earth 20 years ago. The journalist decides to write a book about the band and the search for the singer, and the book switches back and forth between the first-person POV of the journalist and an occasionally strange third-person POV flashback, from the various characters on the scene at the time. I saw the ending coming, but that was really interested in how the hell we'd get there, and the twists and turns the story took didn't disappoint.

[Kamakana · Rating 3 out of 5]

she knows her era and subculture, though the way the plot unfolds is long, slow, dense, with familiar cliches of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, with weird chemistry of the band and always, always, the woman who becomes the focus of their dissolution. and she is the sole sympathetic character. i could have enjoyed it more if only half as long. definitely, a punk ending.

[Denali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rated solely on how many times it made me miss my bus stop. A mystery/thriller/music history/cultural commentary/story of fan/fame/romantic obsession. A well told story with interesting characters and a great series of revolving points of view held together by a modern day narrator who serves as a great reader surrogate.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a placeholder for a more lengthy review to come, but in short this was a fun read, a nostalgia trip for this former DJ, and thank EVERY DAMN STAR IN HEAVEN that the twos at the end was not "surprise he's a vampire!"

ETA: Review here: http://www.stillweirdzine.com/2016/01...

[Manda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ex-music journo Cathi Unsworth may have written the best crime novel I've read all year with The Singer. It's like Jon Savage's England's Dreaming meets Velvet Goldmine meets Cold Case with a chilling shocker of an ending, and I absolutely could not put it down.

[Svein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice noir novel set in Englands punk/goth scene in the late 70's. Being into punk rock it was good reading a crime novel set in an enviroment I already know something about, but I would recommend it to all who like crime fiction.

[Reb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is utterly brilliant and I will definitely be buying her other books.

[Dj · Rating 5 out of 5]

best novel i've read with music (punk rock) as the axis of the story.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me till the end to really figure out the mystery.

[John Treanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting depiction of the punk rock and post-punk era, with some noir thrown in. A good read with a great surprise ending.

[Sophie Carsenat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am blown away by Cathi Unsworth. Dark, deeply authentic, intense crimewriting. I've just ordered all her books and cannot wait to read them!

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not even close to being as good as Unsworth's Weirdo book. Sort of disappointed since I loved Weirdo.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5, it was a good plot and I enjoyed it but a lot of it wasn't well written and the language was kinda repetitive.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed her book, Weirdo, but found this one somewhat tedious despite a pretty good story. Set in punk era.