Perth.
It's thousands of miles from anywhere, it's got a rubbish Bell Tower, and not enough of the laid-back locals are being eaten by sharks.
Well, that's what expat reporter Paul Lewis thinks, but after a lonely Manic Street Preachers fan reveals her disastrously unlucky life suddenly nothing's the same...
Manic Streets of Perth - Where a snake-wielding robber is just the start of your troubles.
Gentler and warmer than Dave Franklin's other novels, Manic Streets is an easy to read comedy.
"The storytelling is deft, sweet and funny; Brookmyre-esque without the gore, and is recommended. Manics fans, especially Richeyites, will enjoy the frequent references to the band, and the recurring theme of Kim's obsession with Small Black Flowers." - Forever Delayed (Manic Street Preachers website)
"Franklin crafts the central players with great ease to such an extent that the hot and mundane Perth streets are secondary. In fact, this enthralling tale could be set in any Australian town or city." - Quest Newspapers
"The title may make Dullsville sound exciting, but the protagonist of Manic Streets of Perth is defiantly less than flattering about our fair city. Still, if you like fiction offbeat and on the edgy side, there's plenty of humour, pathos and plain speaking." - Scoop magazine
"I loved Manic Streets - there was a great story underlying a slightly madcap series of events and characters that really pulled the reader through. There are some great characters in this story - the self-pitying, slightly idiotic journalist Paul, Kim's father (sans both legs), the support group for people with very unfortunate names, and Kim herself. Kim's just fabulous - real - strong - vivid." - Australian Crime Fiction
Length: 67,000 words.
About the Author: Born in Wales, Dave Franklin published his first story in a national fishing magazine at the age of sixteen.
He emigrated to Australia in 1999 and made his living as a reporter, earning the distinction of being sacked twice by the same Perth-based newspaper group. He then spent nearly three years teaching English in Korea, during which the mortality rate of the children under his care remained at an impressive zero. He now teaches ESL to adults in Brisbane, helping (among others) Thai Lady Boys get to grips with their past participles.
The major theme of Dave's small, character-driven stories is alienation, the symptoms of which include male immaturity, misogyny, dysfunction, violence, xenophobia, self-destruction and a childish glee in winding up the politically correct. There are no car chases or explosions in his books; instead he prefers outlandish sex scenes while focusing on exasperated loners full of doubt.
People who like his work tend to see its humor (and disdain for his own characters) whereas his harshest critics take everything at face value. Indeed, some observers would suggest that the highlight of his writing career, which has seen him produce twelve books, remains being published in a fishing magazine.
