1999 - Steal My Sunshine
Front Cover Design (by Maya Harrison)
It’s the dawn of the New Millennium!
It’s 1999, the year 2000 approaching fast, promising a fresh start and opportunity for all in a rejuvenated Britain. In Blair's Cool Britannia there’s a digital revolution underway and the sunshine’s bright for anyone who dares to step into it. The queue to be the next dot com millionaire is growing by the minute, but that’s if you can get the funding and the Y2K Bug doesn’t mess it all up…
“Leo Harrison evokes the carefree impulsiveness of young adulthood whilst describing brilliantly the private torments of self-doubt, relationships and unworldliness, against beautifully choreographed set pieces.”
The New Millennium
Fourteen years since we last saw them, Fortune, Julie, Danny and Ben are all grown up and living their separate lives. Things are on the up and the future is looking shiny. But beyond the white light an inky shadow looms. Each carries a secret, but one of them doesn’t even know it yet… and who is the strange man guiding our old friends back together and into the darkness?
Fortune
“Awesome presentation, Fortune.” Keith runs manicured fingers through a blow-dried bouffant. His silver fox highlights are tinged blue by an Yves Klein original hanging on the wall behind him. He leans forward, a star-spangled smile stretching his lips. “I think I speak for everyone here when I say we were all super impressed with your investment memorandum…”
The Total Eclipse
Piccadilly Circus with countdown clock. (Photo by Oliver Wald)
Ericsson T28
Inside The Queens pub in Crouch End
Bagley's King's Cross
Terry the Talent's business card
Munich - Olympic Stadium
The Glassblower Pub
Single yellow Nike LDV trainer
Bagleys, King’s Cross
“Sweat beads Fortune’s brow and sheens the purple brickwork of the Main Room. Close to a thousand are dancing as if their lives depended on it. Girls in halter necks and Boom Cortina bell bottom hipsters, hands in air; boys gurning, baggy shorted, Supermen. It’s a Coke advert from the 70’s put through a dayglo rinse cycle. They holler in each other’s ears, invites to warehouse parties in Hackney Wick, but no-one can hear a damn thing over RAM Trilogy’s Mind Overload, its throbbing bass threatening to strip the paint from the walls. It’s the real thing…”
Julie
“Eventually I told him the truth. I told him that I needed to be normal. That I adored him. That I wanted to marry him, have his children and live together for ever and ever and ever… He went totally quiet for what seemed like hours. Finally, he reached out to take my hand and said, all Jarvis Cocker cool, ‘I’ll see what I can do…’”
FHM Cover
Thomas von Tafeldrehen Business Card
Flamingos at the Kensington Roof Garden
Milton Keynes Bowl
What is Retinitis Pigmentosa?
Monte Carlo
Ship with Containers
Ben
“Ben is stuck in traffic. Another bedtime missed. The usual delay - caused by the never-ending roadworks on Kentish Town High Street - has been compounded by some old wino who’d been poleaxed by a 214 up near the Tube. In the road ahead he can see two policemen directing drivers around the stranded bus and an ambulance stopped akimbo in front of it. Somewhere in the gap between the two vehicles, a life hangs by a thread.”
BASF C60 Tape Cassette
Tony Blair in Parliament
The Pharmacy Notting Hill
Prospero and Ariel at the BBC Broadcasting House
Bose Wave System
Party Time at No 10
Portraits of Prime Ministers on the Grand Staircase in Downing Street
The Langham Hotel
Steps of the National Portrait Gallery
Blair in Parliament.
“How are you, Ben? You’re looking a little peaky today.” Tony Blair delivers his clipped words then rests the pads of his fingertips together in a wide steeple. He leans back into his chair.
“I’m fine, sir,” Ben replies, shuffling forward. “Just getting over a bit of a summer cold, that’s all,”
“Good. Good. But, Ben, you know, in here I’m Tony… none of this ‘sir’ business when we’re in private, please.” An unfathomable smile on his lips, he taps his fingers together. “Is this our first one to one?”
“Kind of, yes. We did have a coffee together, back in ‘94 when you were standing for Leader.”
“Ah, yes, I remember, you’d not long been married as I recall. How is everything at home?”
Ben feels his mouth drying. Does the PM know? Are people watching him?
Danny
“One by one, the items are ticked off. A bunch of keys. To fit locks that no longer exist. A cigarette lighter. Quarter filled, white. One South Atlantic medal. No ribbon, tarnished. One cube of cue chalk. Crumbling. Mixed coins. One pound and seventy-nine pence worth. And a single silk pocket handkerchief. To never forget.”
Parkhurst Prison
Julie's Silk Handkerchief
Clare's Ford Ka
Ladbroke Grove Station
The Future's Bright, The Future's Orange
The Ladbroke Grove Crash
The Albany Pub
Sir Theobald Turner's Business Card
London Eye Under Construction
Y2K Bug.
“Danny needs to get cracking. He pulls the sheet of instructions from his back pocket and unfolds it in his lap. “Let’s do this…”
He surveys the screen and takes hold of the mouse, just like Anastasia showed him. He locates Start then selects Run from the drop-down menu. He types MSCONFIG in the box where it says Open: and clicks the OK button.
He recalls Anastasia’s voice: ‘You see, this loads the System Configuration Utility, and it all looks like you really shouldn’t be here unless you know what you’re doing. So, the fact they’ve already picked up the phone and called De-Bug Me Backwards, means just that: they haven’t got a clue!’”
Contact
“The operative raises the camera to provide a higher viewing angle. His hand grips the joystick tighter then freezes as little by little what lies beyond the foot is revealed. Black track suit bottoms with Kappa logos running down the outside of each leg. A Prodigy Firestarter top. A single yellow Nike LDV trainer laid on the corpse’s shoulder. Then, finally, a face, or what remains of it.”
The Viaduct Pond Hampstead Heath
Chequers
The Long Gallery, Chequers
The Black Mausoleum, Edinburgh
Japa Beads
English Sparkling Wine
Magic Mushrooms
Studio 2 Abbey Road
Christmas Number One.
“… At Number Three, and sooo nearly claiming his fourth Christmas Number One – simply incredible - it’s last week’s top of the pops, here’s Cliff with the Millenium Prayer…”
They’re smoking now, all four of them. Even with the open window a thick fug fills the room. No-one says a word as they chuff away, waiting like the condemned for their fate to be sealed.
“And that was Cliff Richard, Millenium Prayer…” Cue the Top Forty jingle music. “… Annnd, we’ve got a new entry straight in at number two…”
“It’s us,” Ben mutters as if his heart is going to break.
Totality
“Not sure but it’s only a two-and-a-half-hour flight, Dan. That’s why we’re on Concorde. The Time Machine they call it because it’s the only plane that can land in the USA before its departure time in the UK. No chance of making it otherwise. Good thing they had everything ready to roll. All that cash has been in a vault for weeks just waiting for the call.”
Concorde - the Time Machine
Trump Tower, NYC
Handover of the Panama Canal 1999
The Exhibition Zones in the Millennium Dome
Boots the Chemist's Body Zone
Millennium Dome Celebrations
Opinel Knife
Broadmoor Hospital
Millennium. December 31, 1999.
“Fortune’s defence of the latest dot com big idea is cut short. Danny is striding towards them, arms waving in the air like a drowning man trying to catch the lifeguard’s attention. They see his wet cheeks and a smile that can’t wait to tell its story...”
Reviews of 1985
Sex and drugs and rock and roll and suspense and laughs and tears... do it!
*****
Cracking fun and well observed nostalgia filled romp through a London I almost forgot. The clever multiple lead narrative structure keeps you hooked. I guess slightly reminiscent of train spotting, but not as harrowing.
I liked the roller coaster of emotions and fast pace. A page turn can take you from high drama to a belly laugh. My complaint is probably that at times I wanted to kill Fortune for his utter stupidity, but I am guessing that’s exactly what the author intended.
No shortage of swearing and sex and drugs and rock and roll, but never gets too much. Did it in a few days and can’t think of a better holiday read. Hope someone makes a boxset of it, very filmic.
The must-read of the summer
*****
With characters so well drawn, you will feel as if you knew them yourself, on a journey so compelling, you won't be able to put it down. Do yourself a favour and buy it now!
A witty, engaging and moving piece of fiction.
*****
Fantastic book, made me nostalgic for an age I didn't even live through!
Prepare for twists and turns, mishaps and misdeeds. A proper laugh out loud novel that takes you through a summer in the lives of some seriously compelling characters.
Its a page turner, you won't be able to put it down.
This really is a stunning debut novel
*****
The most readable page-turner I have read in recent times, dramatizing the surreal events of a memorable year. The four Camden friends and their convoluted relationships are so recognisable, and their descent (from a low start) is so hilarious and tragic.
It captures the anarchic chaos of the year and culminates on an unbelievably believable high. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but it should be essential reading for anyone who lived through 1985 and has any memory of Dingwalls, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, LiveAid or Sinclair C5s. In the midst of it lies possibly the most traumatically joyful portaloo incident you could hope for.
Great characters who have stayed with me and a great turn of phrase. As the cover design hints at … never mind the bollocks, here’s the real picture of 1985.