Sex Drugs and Rock & Roll!

Being a lover of rock music, I was excited to read this novel about a female rockstar! I was expecting a Daisy Jones vibe, but this was way more grittier and darker…which I dig.

A suspense filled book that was spoken by the protagonist, Gal, in dual timelines from today and when she was living that rockstar lifestyle! I loved this character.

She begins having flashbacks of suppressed memories that slowly reveals the darkness of that lifestyle and how it can affect her moving forward.

I would say not to go into this book expecting a strong thriller/mystery. It read more like a suspenseful woman’s fiction novel.


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Clea Simon’s latest suspense thriller, Hold Me Down, is set in a world I’m really fond of: the Boston local rock scene of the previous century. It was loud, and filled with all kinds of misfits and savants, and Clea has accurately and enthusiastically captivated the spirit of “la rock d’antan.”

Her protagonist, Gal, is a formerly-star-bound singer/songwriter who was nearly done-in by the lifestyle. But she comes out of her self-imposed exile to attend the funeral of a beloved bandmate. And that’s where the mystery begins. This is a richly detailed suspenseful thrilled with strongly developed characters, a shifting point-of-view (the ‘90s and the present).

Gal is a sturdy protagonist, curious and rough-edged. She’d spent her post-musician years away from urban life in the northern woods with an understanding boyfriend met at rehab. However, once Gal is back in the mix, figuring out the murder, she dives back in to the most compelling parts of her life as a musician. As she unravels the murder mystery, she finds new opportunities to understand her own demons and angels as a singer/songwriter.

Many chapters of Hold Me Down end with a cliff-hanger, and the growing cast of characters who may have been responsible for the murder are well-drawn and realistic. And Gal struck me as a character who could definitely sustain another storyline. Well done! ( )