Review ~ Ordinary Joe by Jon Teckman

The Borough Pres
July 2015





Ordinary Joe stars Joe West, a happily married accountant for a film production company, who gets himself in all manner of trouble after an accidental one night stand with leading lady Olivia Finch.

What would you do if…

…you were happily married

…with two gorgeous children

…and the most beautiful film star in the world walked up to you

…And it wasn’t a joke.

…Could you resist?

First of all, I have to say that I was completely taken in by this book cover. It's so bright and cheery that you can't help but want to peek inside to see what's going on ..and believe me when you do peek inside, you will find that there's a lot going on for the hapless Joe West, who is about to commit a sexual folly of epic proportions, something that will have repercussions for a long time to come.

We know very early on in the book that Joe, a very ordinary middle aged accountant,  finds himself in bed with a beautiful film star, it's the stuff of his dreams, the only problem being, that Joe is,....a) very drunk and.... b) very married...and, so, of course,  neither misdemeanors show him in a very good light. When his boss, Joseph Bennett, a man Joe despises,  finds himself unwittingly drawn into the whole sorry affair, well, ...you just know that therein lies disaster.

What then follows is a comedic story which at times reads almost like a farce, you can so well imagine everyone rushing round madly trying to set the just right balance of damage limitations. When I finished the novel, I realised that I had found most of the characters unlikable, but looking back, I think that's a deliberate ploy on the part of the author, and for me it worked well, as then, regardless of outcome, I didn't need to have any sympathy for any of them.

I read the book quickly, it's not one that you need to ponder over too much. And it did make laugh out loud in places, so my advise is just go along with it and enjoy a quirky and wry look at modern life.

About the Author

Jon Teckman was born in Northampton in 1963. He served as an advisor on film policy to both Conservative and Labour governments before becoming Chief Executive of the British Film Institute in 1999. ORDINARY JOE was born at an Arvon course in 2007, inspired by Jon’s experience in the film industry. A graduate of Curtis Brown’s creative writing programme in 2013 – tutored by Jeffrey Archer, Jojo Moyes and Tony Parsons – Jon was offered a book deal by Borough Press after sending in his manuscript through their open submission window. He now lives in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire with his wife Anne and sons Joseph and Matthew. ORDINARY JOE is his first novel and film rights have been sold to Trademark.

My thanks to Rosie Bathurst at Harper Collins for my copy of Ordinary Joe

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