Mac Black

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Sep 08, 2013 Cheryl M-M rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would suggest reading Please… Call Me Derek to get a better feel of the writing style and Derek’s story. Actually based on the first chapter it might just be a good idea because of the completely bizarre situation the main character is in the middle of. You have to know Derek to understand why eccentric is the norm for him. Black has a very distinctive style. The humour is quirky and often whimsical with an underlying wit.

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Good Fun Once it Gets Into Gear, 4 Feb 2013 By Brett H “pentangle” This review is from: Please… Call Me Derek

I was looking forward to reading Just Call Me Derek as a little light relief from my recent reading which has been both heavier in content and longer. It is quite a short book and I rattled through it in about a day.

Frankly it did take me a little while to engage with Derek. Early on the tale hops around a bit and there is some about Derek’s early days and the kids he knocked around with, their resentment when the local patch of land they play on is taken over by the local supermarket, and various other excursions within the text which are not immediately obviously of relevance to the story. My initial impression was this was going to be a tale of juvenile exploits and I was not at all sure I was going to enjoy it.

However, the meat of the tale concerns a bungled robbery at Bishko’s, the aforesaid supermarket, which occurs many years later when Sweaty,

Err….call me Derek, is all growed up. The perpetrators of this crime are incompetent in the extreme, as, it has to be said, are most people in this story, Derek included. The only sensible ones seem to be Derek’s girlfriend, Sally and her mother Muriel and they get carried along by the farcical situations in which they find themselves.

Once the story gets going it is a lot of fun, quite humorous and an enjoyable read. Certainly a farce in the proud British tradition of Douglas Adams or Tom Sharpe, although the author’s writing style is not similar to either of these luminaries.

The rather strange ending is clearly a prelude to the next Derek book which will probably be more focused from the word go and hence should also be a very good read.

The order of the Derek series:

Please… Call Me Derek
Derek’s in Trouble
Derek’s Revenge
Derek’s Good Relations
Derek Takes Action