Bert Murray's Blog, page 2

Available For Pre-Order Now: Through the Riptide

Finally the sequel to Amazon bestseller, Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled...

Through the Riptide

They were once best friends at Elerby University. Now it is twenty years later and Colin and Karl are chasing the same younger woman in the Hamptons.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WIRSU4G

Through the Riptide is coming soon...

Hamptons
Beach
LoveTriangle
Romance
Sequel

COMING MAY 2015...


READ BOOK ONE FIRST:
http://amazon.com/Colin-Preston-Rocke...

Excellent, thought-provoking book that's set to become a classic, 5* review by author, Geoffrey David West

Rock'n'Roll Suicide

Excellent, thought-provoking book that's set to become a classic

This is a really really genuinely good book. It makes you think. It makes you angry. And it makes you sad. Most of all it makes you think: "I've been there, I know just how he's feeling."

The most absorbing aspect for me was the character of Colin Preston, the Beatle-music-obsessed hero. Even though he doesn't profess to be a particularly good guy, he can't help his true character coming out in the way he behaves and the things he does and the way he treats other people.

It's an account of teenage Colin finding his way forward at a confused time, of his all-consuming passionate love affair that takes over his life and that makes him blind to realities. We've all fallen in love and things have gone wrong, but this book encapsulates precisely the way that love can chew you up and spit you out, and you're powerless to stop it.

Like all basically decent people, Colin is bemused and confused by treachery, falseness and other people's selfishness. We feel his shock and misery, and his deep deep unhappiness and confusion. It's largely about the sad hopelessness of true love, and also about cruelty. But it's also about the realities of life and how they smack you in the face: what do you do when your friend is better looking than you are, more attractive to women. It's a fact, and it's hard to get used to. And this must resonate with thousands and millions of men who've felt and thought: "Why does the other guy get the girl, when he's not even nice? Why can't I get girls when I'm a nicer person than he is?"

'Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled' put me in mind of that classic 'Catcher in the Rye'. There's the same teenage angst, the same struggle for a man who just wants to do the right thing, yet winds up at rock bottom. It has the same passion and feeling in the pages that makes you want to read on. And it's a weird kind of coincidence that the man who shot John Lennon happened to be obsessed with that same book. Maybe John Lennon's music reaches out to a certain type of person, and always has done.

All the characters live and breathe. I liked the older lady teacher who Colin befriended, but the masterpiece of the book, for me, was the character of Chester, the weirdo outcast who no one likes, but whom Colin befriends and tries to help. Chester is a sad character, but, as far as he can, Colin does the decent thing and helps him all he can, and we feel for poor old Chester, the type of person we've all come across, and most of us avoid. The crux of the story is what Colin did for Chester. At the time he met Chester, Colin had everything going for him, yet still made the effort to be friends with the loner, because he's a nice, kind-hearted guy, who just wants to do the right thing, and reach out to pull someone out of the gutter if he can. He helps Chester and he goes on helping Chester.

While it's an easy very accessible read, it's got many many ideas in it that are profound and get you thinking.

I hope there's a sequel. I want to know how Colin gets on 20 years on, and I really hope he's happy.

If you like Beatles music you'll like this book, but you'll like it even if you don't. The music plays an important backdrop to Colin's moods and feelings, but the moods and feelings are vividly described anyway and you soon build up a rapport with Colin.

This book seems like a real classic to me, something you remember for a long time afterwards. Anyone who's interested in love, relationships, treachery, decency and the sadness of loss and the excitement of new relationships, or of someone entering adulthood and not knowing how to handle it, will like this book.

It's absorbing, and it's heart warming. Most of all it's got a lead character you can really like. It's a feelgood book that really makes you think. Start reading it and you won't want to put it down. Don't miss it, I believe it's going to be a classic.

"Murray draws Colin with immediate emotional pungency, and he doesn't lose the beat"...Kirkus Review of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled

Murray charts a lustily tormented story of first love and heartbreak.

It's September 1985 in the bosky precincts of Elerby University (though it conveys the intimacy of a small liberal arts college) in upstate New York. Colin is entering his sophomore year with a lousy love life and a lousy relationship with his father, but he does have a good friend in Karl (a handsome natural athlete who has a way with women) and in the Beatles—"when you love a band so much that its songs fill the empty spaces inside your head and heart." But along comes Jasmine, a serious dish with lips like butter, who really gets inside Colin's head and steals his heart. Murray's writing is phonetic; Colin's voice lifts from the page—young and inexperienced, star-crossed and love-lost, which will come true soon enough as Jasmine drops him like a load of bricks and proceeds, that very afternoon, to have sex with Karl, into whose room Colin charges without knocking, looking for commiseration and finding betrayal: "'Yes! Yes! Don't stop'…the girl demanded loudly. Her voice sounded familiar." Murray draws Colin with immediate emotional pungency, and he doesn't lose the beat even when the situations turn slapstick. Nor does he tidy Colin up, rather letting him sink into a great morass of self-pity from which he must drag his own sorry butt toward whatever measure of salvation a decent, immature young man can find. Yes, the Beatles do offer the solace of shared experience, of meaning and even a little direction, but it is Colin's slowly gathering circle of friends—a very human society of odd fellows, including a dorm-cellar-dwelling delusional, a dark and mysterious Spanish professor on the run from her demons, big-hearted Big Ty and sweet Liz—who help illuminate the road ahead. Some of the sex scenes carry informational overload, but even then it is more humorous than cringing, perhaps even another epiphany that Colin collects: "There was no disappointment with Twinkies. You knew exactly what you were getting. Unlike Jasmine. Unlike love. Unlike life."

A coming-of-age story with plenty of sting, where love is not only blind, but it blindsides.

—Kirkus Reviews

"a kind of hard-core Catcher in the Rye"...Review Of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled by Dan's Papers (Long Island, New York)

"With Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled (Davanna), first-time novelist Bert Murray manages a feat that seems to have escaped many writers, mainly women, who try for a Young Adult readership but wind up delivering predictable, generic, forgettable adolescent chick lit. Murray, who delivers here a kind of hard-core Catcher in the Rye, has a good ear for the lingo and speech rhythms of bright 19-year-olds, particularly young men who, despite their vulnerability looking for love, obsess about scoring. The story, set in 1985 at a leafy, upscale college in the Northeast, is full of references to rock that serve as mood markers, especially for the protagonist, Colin Preston, for whom The Beatles are almost substitute friends. An intelligent, likeable guy but (and who isn't at this age) troubled by a first serious love and ambivalent about his parents and career, undergoes "an education in the geography of the human heart." The story has engaging authenticity, though the unfortunate title may be off putting. For sure, though, the depiction of the extent to which sex, drugs and drinking consume many college students should be sobering, considering the continuing rise of the cost of going to college. One sympathetic teacher, who befriends Colin, cannot compensate for what older adults might well see as the questionable value of higher education."
—Joan Baum, Dan's Papers

"a true coming of age story, ripe with fascinating characters and valuable life lessons." author, Jen Selinsky's 5* review

5* Colin Preston Came of Age

August 5, 2013
By
Jen Selinsky (U.S.A.)

"Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled" is the story of nineteen-year-old college sophomore, Colin Preston. It is fall 1985, and Colin has started his second year of classes at Elerby University. Bored with the monotony of his everyday life, Colin wants things to change. His wish comes true when he meets and falls instantly in love with the beautiful Jasmine. The two of them begin a whirlwind romance, and despite their differences, (one being that Colin is a Beatles fan and that Jasmine likes Jim Morrison)Colin strives to make the relationship work.

As Jasmine's mood swings gets more severe, fighting ensues. Not even Colin's best friend, Karl, seems to be giving him any good advice. Just when things couldn't seem to get any worse, Colin gets a nasty shock, which sends him on a downward spiral. Through the help of his friends, Big Ty, Liz, and Mrs. Vesquez, Colin starts to rise out of the pit of despair. The latter of the three is instrumental in teaching young Colin to take life as it comes rather than obsessing over those who have done him wrong.

"Colin Preston" is a true coming of age story, ripe with fascinating characters and valuable life lessons. The novel is also a must-read for classic rock fans because of all the references to the timeless music created by The Beatles and The Doors. I had a difficult time putting the book down until I was finished reading, and I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of classic rock and stories about youth.

Please Enter My Goodreads Giveaway For Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled!

Enter the contest today to win a free paperback copy of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled!

Sara F's 5 Stars Amazon review of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled

Sara F's 5 Stars review of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled

August 6, 2011
By Sara F.

Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled (Paperback)

Rating - 5 stars

This is a great book for anyone who has ever felt like an underdog. Before you know it you become immersed in the main character, Colin's, life during his sophomore year of college. As cliche as it sounds the characters and places in this poignant novel come alive: from Colin's hippy, self-centered, trust-fund baby girlfriend, to his critical but seemingly well-intended father, to his outcast friend who dresses up like Napoleon, to his dorm room where he lies and thinks, listening to Beatles songs whose lyrics mirror his circumstances and emotions, to the campus bar that becomes his haven. This book is full of surprises, humor, and pain. It is easy to get into and after the first 50 pages you will not want to put it down. The short chapters keep your attention. If you liked Catcher in the Rye, The Outsiders and Prep you will love this book. Kudos to the author on an amazing first novel.

Author Lee Holz on Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled

Author Lee Holz's 5 Stars Goodreads review of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled

Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled is Bert Murray’s impressive debut novel. Beautifully written, it is a coming of age story that should resonate with everyone who has been a college sophomore, dealt with college friendships and known the agony and ecstasy of first love. Murray captures the immaturity, impulsiveness and neediness of adolescents and balances them with portraits of intelligence, sensitivity and caring. The book is often funny, sometimes poignant and always entertaining, a great read!

- Lee Holz

(Read from November 06 to 07, 2011)

Ina's 5 Stars review of Colin Preston rocked And Rolled

Ina's 5 Stars Goodreads Review of Colin Preston Rocked And Rolled

I literally couldn't put this book down. It captured me from the first couple of pages and kept me interested till the end. While reading, I almost felt like I was in college again and experienced all those emotions that were once so important and volatile.

I loved references to the music and if you are Beatles fan you will LOVE this book!

Anyone who had a crush in college should definitely read this book and it will make you feel again and experience again those crazy irrational actions that you were willing to take just to be with that person.

This is defnitely one of my favorite books and I look forward to reading more Bert Murray's creations!

(Read in April, 2011)