Review: What Casts the Shadow? by Seth Mullins
★★★★½ 
What Casts the Shadow? (The Edge of the Known Book 1) by Seth Mullins is an introspective novel about Brandon Crane, a metal musician with a lot of hope for the future, but facing demons and darkness he must overcome. His band “Edge of the Known” are forging ahead, but Brandon’s negative thoughts, spurred on by an abusive father, threatens to make everything come crashing down, as the violent part of him is threatening to overtake his life. When Brandon meets a wise mentor, Saul, he might finally be able to put his life together.
What makes What Casts […]
Twenty-somethings Ellis, Bax and Chloe set out for a roadtrip only to quickly find they have no money. Busking to get by, Ellis eventually makes his way to Los Angeles and into the cut-throat music business, and all the highs (literally) and lows you find there. A story as much about friendship as it is about the music industry, Long Plastic Hallway is a generation-defining book that’s as fun to read as it is for these characters to live.
Spiritualized is a raucous rock and roll mystery, part of Victor Levine’s Spec Time Trilogy series of books, which follow the exploits of Jon Cells, an aspiring rock star (based on a real person and real musician). Spiritualized acts as a kind of prequel to Vaporized, taking place four years before, over four days in 1978. This novel covers everything from coke deals, to cow mutilations, to New Age Buddhists, to rock stardom, to Hollywood filmmakers, and more in this spirited and literary epic novel.
Elliptical: The Music of Meshell Ndegeocello by André Akinyele and Jon O’Bergh is the tribute to musician and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, and is purported to be the first comprehensive overview of her work. The bulk of the book is about André Akinyele’s personal experience discovering her music, while Jon O’Bergh contributes more factual information about her recording history.
