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Mellow Submarine
Michael Atchison, author
Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)
When his heiress fiancée Jenna vanishes, Mike McAfee falls under suspicion. When a tabloid trumpets his one-night stand with a co-worker, his world crumbles. His boss – Jenna’s father – fires him. The police grill him. The media devour him. To escape the pressure, Mike retreats to his childhood home. When a news crew shows up on the doorstep, Mike assumes the worst. But when he learns that Jenna has been living a secret life with an old boyfriend, Mike's reality changes instantly. With help from some old friends who have secrets of their own, Mike works to plot a new future even as he dodges a ruthless cable TV host and persistent reality television producers, all while feeding coins to the vintage jukebox at a sandwich shop called Mellow Submarine.
Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 7 out of 10
Prose: 7 out of 10
Character/Execution: 9 out of 10
Overall: 7.75 out of 10
Assessment:
After a months-long media circus, Mike McAfee's missing fiancee has turned up completely unharmed, but the spotlight and heartbreak remain. Fleeing Denver for his small Illinois hometown, Mike spends the next few weeks hiding out in the titular record store/sandwich shop, owned by his old friend Greg. There are few groundbreaking twists here, but ample humor and appealing characters -- not to mention an eatery every reader will want to visit -- make the journey enjoyable.
Date Submitted: August 02, 2016
Reviews
Tongue firmly in cheek, Atchison ventures into the realm of faked crimes and the ensuing repercussions. Ever since Jenna Kaye disappeared, her fiancé, Mike McAfee, has been scrutinized as the prime suspect in her supposed death. He flees to his hometown of Cameron, Ill., in an attempt to escape the limelight and sort things out. After Jenna’s discovered alive and well, having staged her own disappearance to run off with an old boyfriend, Mike’s life is once again turned upside down with the realization that his relationship with Jenna was a sham. While in Cameron, he reunites with old friends who are in the midst of recovering from their own life disasters, including Jill, an old flame from high school. A former one-night stand reappears, which complicates matters, as does the incessant flow of reality TV bigwigs with their own agendas. Atchison’s knack for snappy dialogue, sharp witticisms, and vivid characterizations of even minor characters make the far-fetched story a fast-paced delight. (BookLife)
