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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.
In a Nutshell: Contemporary drama, humour, sometimes dark.
Fat Boy was not what I expected from the blurb - it's actually an experimental sort of structure, more a series of short stories, poems and scenarios than a novel, though they do tie up later.
The setting is mostly the English West Country, though it may not be one you recognise, with its humorous and fantastical characters.
Joseph Cobb clearly has much creativity and a good eye for the absurd, leaning towards observational humour. I think this book has potential, though it needs further editing. There are many delightful turns of phrase, amusing metaphors, funny situations and comic book characters, but some areas felt a little 'first draft', with lazily structured sentences and rambling paragraphs that simply needed more attention. The book as a whole comes over as somewhat haphazard, as if the author's many imaginative ideas have been splashed across the pages without much thought for cohesion; I couldn't work out, at first, what I was supposed to be reading; was this a book of short stories? Was Chapter 2 related to Chapter 1? I even looked at other reviews to see if it was just me, but they were all one-liners, so didn't afford any insight. Chapter 3 was written in poetry format, about yet more characters who appeared again later in the book. The poems were amusing and well put together, for the most part.
To sum up, I'd say that that Fat Boy has much to commend it, but I would recommend further redrafting to tighten it up, and perhaps the assistance of an experienced content editor to streamline and cut the superfluous, thus highlighting its strengths.
Thank you Terry.
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