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Afterlife by Sean O'Brien


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A bit of a slow start at the beginning. But that's only because O'Brien is building the suspense to the climax. After that the story of a group of university and art students, particularly four, three of whom were aspiring poets, Martin Stone, his girfriend Susie, Alex and his girlfriend Jane.

It is a story of when these four having a stoned time working on their small magazine, in some late 70s, living in some English countryside. It should have been very idyllic, all the drugs and sex. But things started to go wrong when an American Diane, armed with her camera, and a pair of destructive Germans, appeared on the scene. With Diane following them and filming everything, the Germans wreaked havoc during a party, in which they secretly drugged the wine, causing mass hallucination and destruction of properties, of historical papers, books and paintings.

Afterwards things went form bad to worse, for Jane. She had a nervous breakdown, and was killed in a burning building, but somehow circumstances seemed a bit suspicious. Jane had succeeded in getting published before Alex, who became jealous.

Years later they all met again to celebrate the re-burial of Jane, who had gained posthumous fame. Alex had written a falsified account of what happened that time in the 70s with her and their friends. Alex finally had his comeuppance from the most unlikely source, at the end of the book, something you'd have to read without my letting on who.

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