The Loner
An amusing and exciting tale of student life in Liverpool in the mid-sixties. Mark is a nervous student. He is ruled by an overwhelming, irrational fear of people - particularly girls - which shows itself in a bad stammer and a terror of heights.
Fiona is the girl of his dreams, but she is in a steady relationship with a lifelong boy friend who lives in Scotland. Mark realises he is never going to get anywhere in life or love unless he undergoes a complete personality change. He is befriended by Bob who has a passion for potholing (and free love), and a plan is hatched. If Mark can beat his fear of heights - an escapade down a cave or two should sort that one - maybe he can also overcome his fear of girls and win Fiona......
So begins a whole series of madcap adventures, featuring a yacht race, horse riding, underground adventures in Yorkshire and Mendip caves, dances, parties and some wild and riotous student incidents, often involving too much alcohol and close shaves with the law.
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Signed paper back copies of The Loner can be bought or ordered from Hoppers store at Malton
REVIEWS:
Gazette and Herald 23rd December 2009 - Review by Bill Spence (also known as best-selling author, Jessica Blair)
"Mark Flitley is a successful lawyer with his own boat which he is racing with a new crew member, Carol, who seems slightly familiar to him. She is intrigued as he tells her that as a young man he was a lonely youth with no friends and who had to see a psychiatrist in order to help him to stop stammering and gain confidence .He relates the story of his life, his unhappiness at school and university during the 1960s until joining a potholing club started to change his attitude and future. Dances, parties, alcohol and close shaves with the law all contribute to his story and at the end of it Carol tells Mark about herself and reveals where they met before.
This book, by a local author, is a pleasant read with characters that came alive, though it takes a little time to become familiar enough to care about them. The reminiscences of the sixties are strong, though atmospherically probably rely too much on the music, and as the book is set in Liverpool, there could have been more about the music from that city, rather than from America. Nevertheless, the feeling for the period comes alive through Mark and his friends and I am sure that this will be a popular book with readers from that generation."
Author Harriet Vyner says: "Having once been persuaded into potholing in China (the language barrier having allowed our hosts to think me an expert) I was curious to see whether the shock and awe of that experience would be captured in Paul Andrews' novel ‘The Loner’ – it was in abundance. The descriptions of the caves almost made me want to attempt the experience again – especially as the lead character Mark, was attempting it from a similar position of terror. I thought it was clever and convincing to have this lead character be somewhat unsympathetic at times, whilst I could only empathise with his lack of confidence. Student life in sixties Liverpool was amusingly described – and like the descriptions of potholing – it almost made me nostalgic for the all night parties of youth. However, nowadays, I prefer a good read – which ‘The Loner’ very much was."
Harriet Vyner author – ‘Groovy Bob’ and ‘Among Ruins’ (both published by Faber and Faber)
Lt. Dan Bull, Royal Artillery, when stationed at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. "Speaking of paperbacks, just finished Loner by your man Paul Andrews: whilst it was badly edited (referring to school rugby team as the First XI and not the first XV in the first chapter grated through the rest of the book) and some of the passages were exceptionally long and dull (his Greek Class, some of the pot hole descriptions) I actually quite enjoyed it and wanted to get to the end and find out how Mark sorts himself out. Quite an undertaking writing and getting a book published and whilst it probably won't win him a Pullitzer you have to be impressed."
Tom Tyson, Barrister-at-law, Leeds "The Loner captures the bizarre blend of humdrum punctuated with intervals of exhileration which comprise the early stages of a career in the law. A sharply observed, thrilling and suitably comic court scene is both authentic and entertaining - from the nerves of the accused to the brash self-confidence of the dapper barrister, culminating in the excitement of the eventual verdict which I will not spoil by revealing here"
