Music City Madness - Jason Melby

                              Within the first few paragraphs of Music City Madness, I had a good idea that I would enjoy the book. I was hesitant about whether the story would interest me because the music industry doesn’t hold any attraction for me whatsoever and most definitely not the country music genre. Also, the cover isn’t an attention grabber, in my opinion. Then I started to read it and the book opened with Abby starting yet another school and coming out with these humorous quips and I knew I would give the book a decent chance. I’m so glad I did because the story is excellent. There’s action, romance, humour and even some mystery.

                Leland is a down on his luck musician who can’t seem to catch a break…or a job…no matter what he tries. His girlfriend works at McDonald’s just so they can pay the rent while Leland pursues his dream. His thirteen year old daughter, Abby, is starting a new school, trying to deal with puberty and trying to fit in. Then there is Melissa, a once hot country music star who needs to make some money quickly so that she and her two boys can keep living the fancy lifestyle that they have become used to. However, Melissa had an accident a few years ago and is now hooked on opiates. There are numerous other characters that all combine to make a really well written, fast-paced story. The characters are well developed and Abby was the most believable thirteen year old on paper that I have read in a long time. The style of writing makes the book easy to read and it really takes the reader into the story. There is one section about a storm that left me not wanting to put the book down until I found out what happened to each character involved. One particularly sad event was very touching because the author managed to make me really care about the character. As well, even though I have no interest in country music or the business, I did find myself enjoying some of the information about how the industry works.  This book is well worth reading, even if you don’t like country music or know anything about how record labels work.

                I read this in digital format and it worked perfectly. As I said above, I didn’t really find the cover to be particularly enticing.