Motoring book review
Faster Than The Bullet
By Mike Breslin
ISBN: 978 1 67024 862 6
£11.99
Pie Shop Publishing
Before I even explain why, I am going to tell you that the latest novel by sometime motor racer and journalist, Mike Breslin, is my ‘Novel of the Year’ and for incredibly good reasons. The last time I reviewed a Breslin novel was with 2014’s ‘Pieces of Silver’, which was utterly engaging in its content. Yet, my most recent review was of his wondrously Walpoling ‘Road Trip: A Practical Manual’ that offered hands-on advice for any one of 50 proposed road trips around the world. Great fun! This time, Mike has combined his love of motor racing, notably from the Argentinian and Italian scenes of the 1950s, with a WW2 story that commences in Poland but involves time spent by the book’s ‘anti-hero’ (Ingo Six) in Russia and the UK. It is an extraordinary tale about a young soldier, roped into wartime exploits, none of which is particularly glorious, one of which becomes a tragic secret, from which he does his level best to escape. However, he is pursued in the post-war period and needs to balance his prodigious talents at the controls of a racing car, with a need to remain away out of public glare as much as possible. I love the way in which Mike involves his reader in every, excitingly nuanced element of the subject’s life. As Mike suggests, it is part-thriller and part-saga, which highlights the strident connection between military and motor racing during the post-WW2 period. It is never more obvious than to visitors at the annual Goodwood Revival, in Sussex, where militaria is every bit central to the stories promoted by the organisers, as motor racing is. Yet, this novel is not cliched in any way. The paperback is spread sweepingly over 435pp and is available through Amazon at a value for money price. I strongly recommend it, not least because I can perceive its movie potential.
