Blast From the Past

### From Publishers Weekly

British stand-up comic, playwright and author Elton (Popcorn) brings a new, if unconvincing, twist to the term "sexual politics" in his fifth off-the-wall novel. Polly Slade is a stereotypical leftist activist, but, ? la Bridget Jones, she's also sadly single. When Polly was 17, she had a brief and improbable sub rosa love affair with American Captain Jack Kent, who was stationed at the airbase in Greenham, England where, in the '80s, there was a year-long demonstration against American militarism. Polly, radical protester-for-peace in the bloom of her punkish pulchritude, is shortly abandoned by the ambitious Jack, whose pursuit of army life cannot be derailed. Now 16 years have passed and Jack has risen in the U.S. ranks, in line to become the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Polly's career hasn't been so steady, as she passed through anarchist, feminist and labor support groups. She's dated both politically correct and lying married men. But now she's got a stalker, Peter (whom she nicknames "The Bug"), a former client at the Office of Equal Opportunity where she works. When Jack comes to London and looks up Polly, whom he's never stopped loving, his quest coincides with Peter's escalating harassment. The collision of Polly's loneliness and nostalgia, Jack's egomaniacal personality and "The Bug's" psychosis, which Elton sets up deftly enough, doesn't quite gel. Kent, part Manchurian candidate, part Rambo and overall a blatant symbol of U.S. political corruption, doesn't make a credible figure, especially when his enduring passion for Polly turns deadly. Elton's condescending asides about Polly's ultra-leftie politics render his heroine ridiculous. While the combination of U.S. and British politics, thematically linked with sexual obsession and blood-thirsty ambition, is a promising melange, these characters haven't the mettle to engage most readers in their violent and melodramatic love games. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

### From Library Journal

Elton's new novel is a black-humor take on the stalker-thriller genre. Sixteen years before this novel begins, an unlikely pair have a passionate affair in the confines of England's Greenham Common. He was an up-and-coming U.S. military man, and sheAknown at the time as Sacred Cycle of the Womb and MoonAwas a peace protester. Now Gen. Jack Kent is up for promotion as head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and she, now simply Polly Slade, is a social worker in England. One of her clients, known as "The Bug," is stalking her, and when Kent shows up on her doorstep one morning, it seems that Polly is up against a pride of men who need her. Those expecting social commentary from Elton (author of the popular British TV series Blackadder) will not be disappointed; the 16-year gap allows him to skewer some of the less savory political elements of the Eighties, including Reagan and Thatcher. Those looking for a John Sandford thriller, however, might find that the author's wit dilutes the frightfulness of the stalkings. Elton's current popularity, plus an upcoming movie version of his earlier novel, Popcorn, should make this a popular book with patrons of most public libraries. *-ABob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO * Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.