Its unmistakably a Dan Brown tome, from the now usual page at the front declaring FACT - and then telling us that he's been a clever Mr Brown by using real artwork and real literature and really believable plot devices for his breathless (again) page turner. Ok, so the believable plot devices bit isn't a claimed fact to be fair, but hey, lets be honest, there totally could be high tech billion dollar yachts cruising the Med staffed by very rich and very stupid 'soldiers of fortune' as they plan a plague on all our houses. Sure there could.
Its into this maelstrom of media hype, frenzy, critical napalming and spotlight of public intrigue (Fiat Lux) that for the fourth time I have, like a masochistic moth dancing over the hot glass of a bulb, once again decided to try and make some sense of it all and produce a guide book to a novel. INTO THE INFERNO is an apt title for the guide after what has been a baptism in the flames of several hell's over the past (and first) week of the putting together of my guide. Everything that could go wrong or get in the way or just plain bad luck happened. Twice. No boring details I promise, suffice it to comment that its been seven days of realising that even after 8 books and ten years in the business, it still has the capacity to leave you scratching your head in numb astonishment and disbelief that the 21st century is still three centuries away for much of the publishing industry.
In some cased, quill and ink are yet to be phased out for the new fangled pens and pencils. So bottom line, several days lost but invaluable lessons learned and this week should see everything back on track as my local corner shop sells more jars of instant coffee, Haribo Golden Bears candy, chewing gum, and my newly found favourite snack which is a Polish import of rather addictive chocolate covered heart shaped soft ginger biscuits with a hidden gem of jam like stuff in the middle. If I could pronounce them I'd give them a plug here, but it may take a few more blogs before I can get it right. Needless to say, all intended plans to eat healthy and keep to a strict regime of food and exercise has been replaced by lots of 'sleep is for the week' affirmations, and a work desk littered with the aftermath of what resembles a Morgan Spurlock documentary on eating only things that are really bad for you for a whole month.
I downloaded my iBooks version of INFERNO on the morning of the 14th. Then also bizarrely went and purchased a hardback copy from my local emporium of literary delights later in the day. 10 hours later I'd read the long awaited thriller and though its in my opinion, not as interesting as Da Vinci Code, I think this one is going to be a slow burner and start to ignite some fires along the way as people begin to digest its nuances and the little digs at Catholicism that are now de rigour for Mr Dan. That elderly nun who taught religious ed at his school must have really made a big impact on young Dans life
More later. But for now, I need to go and stock up on bags of thingies that I can't spell but can eat by the bucket load.
Simon Cox
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