Brilliant, propulsive narrative from James Yorkston - was a cliche to listen to his music whilst reading him, but sometimes a cliche is good… A gritty focus on one man and his somewhat challenged circumstances, keeping a loss-making hotel open and dealing with ‘events’. This is not always an easy read - I occasionally felt almost sick as I was reading not from the violence, but from nerves related to poor decision after poor decision. That was the point I was really invested in Tommy Bruce and his hotel…
A lot of the dialogue is in the vernacular, and I could hear the accent in my head whilst reading. It really brought it alive but I suspect it could be offputting for some. Thoroughly recommended

Tommy is singlehandedly managing a rundown perthshire hotel in a small village which is off from the main tourist routes. The description of the hotel is very accurate because it reminded me of some of the depresssing hotels I have come across in this part of the world. Villages that used to have several hotels reduced to one or none.
He was brought up in the area but has little contact with anyone from his past and his life is going nowhere with no prospects.
Suddenly into his life arrives Fiona who manages to put much needed spark into his life and the hotel business. She also hails from the same village but also comes with plenty of baggage and soon Tommy is plunged into a nightmarish world of manipulative ex-cons and drug dealing. There does not seem to be any escape from his living hell and everything looks very bleak.
It is not a synopsis of a cheery read and it starts at 100mph and never really slows down. So it is in your face from the opening pages and I felt I had taken an emotional battering reading the whole book.
I was wondering how the tale would finish and surprisingly it was more upbeat than I could have imagined. But overall it is still a tough read and not really my cup of tea.
Thanks to NetGalley and Verve books for the ARC

As emotionally tumultuous as any of Douglas Stuart’s books, this one had me hooked from the get go. A real peek into a gritty Scottish narrative that is as full of heart as it is full of heartache. Really enjoyed the narrative voice and was gripped from the get go.

Thanks to James Yorkston and NetGalley for this ARC!!

Tommy (the) Bruce is a youngish man (though he’s ageing rapidly). He’s running an isolated hotel in Perthshire in the Scottish Highlands.
When I say ‘running’ a hotel, it could be said that he’s actually running it into the ground. It’s a downtrodden place, off the beaten track, and was left to him by his parents, and Tommy hasn’t carried out any repairs or improvements to it since his parents died, consequently its squalid, and in total disrepair. Tommy however, barely notices, he’s too busy drinking away what little profits there are. He’s up to his eyes in debt, his customers take advantage of him, and in addition to all that, he’s fair lonely here at the back end of nowhere.

Life would have carried on in much the same way if Fiona (Fi) McLean hadn’t walked into the lounge bar one night, and almost faster than a rat up a drainpipe, she had also moved into the hotel, was working behind the bar, and also worked her way straight into Tommy’s bed.

Fi brings a breath of fresh air, not just to Tommy’s life but to the hotel too, even managing to get him to do some general decorating and even cleaning every day - quite the miracle!

Things begin to look up until someone from Fi’s past enters their lives - someone who sees Tommy as just a great big soft lummox, and from there on, their lives take a terrifying turn for the worse.

Author, James Yorkston has written a cracking storyline, with a flawed but interesting character in Tommy, and it’s impossible not to like him. Our Tommy will have you rooting for him right the way through his dreadful ordeal, and trust me he faces the darkest of times! Excellent.

This book has it all! Gripping storyline, hopefully moments but then such darkness too. It was a real emotional rollercoaster. Written beautifully and I shall be looking for more work from this author. Definitely one of my highlights this year!

Hapless Tommy Bruce, drifting through his life running the hotel he inherited. He obviously feels he has no right to be happier or thriving. Into his unhappy existence comes Fiona. As the weeks and months unfold Tommy finds there are people and things he cares about and feels responsible for. This helps him dig deep and survive when events take a terrible turn.
Strange how I went from being very frustrated and angry at Tommy to really rooting for him to succeed.

‘Tommy the Bruce’ by James Yorkston,takes the reader on an emotional perilous journey in a reluctant hero’s shambling search for purpose.
Tommy is a young man ageing rapidly,anesthetizing himself with his own stock of cheap hospitality’s booze ,lost in a ‘hand me down’ life,struggling to run his dead father's hotel in the isolated Scottish Highlands.Desperately unhappy in his existence yet feeling trapped in his apathy,as it seems there are no other feasible options,as the building gradually decays around him,like his meaningless existence.Everything changes on the day when a young woman,Fiona comes into his bar for several gin and tonics.Much to Tommy’s amazement Fi turns his feelings about what matters most in life about completely.
This is a vivid cinematic tale of a lonely wasted life languishing in a backland verge of Scotland's countryside.The darkly humorous tale deals compassionately with the issues of loss,identity,family and fatherhood in the dour Celtic tradition of facing boundless misery,self medicating alcohol misuse, and useless wanna be gangsters.
Many thanks to VERVE Books and NetGalley for a pre-release copy.

I love scottish novels especially with the lingo included, this is sharp, witty, emotional and addictive. The story is exciting and unpredictable. Writing at its best.

This is definitely going to be in my top 5 books of the year!.

Tommy (the) Bruce is running a downtrodden hotel in Perthshire, left to him after his dad's death. Tommy's existence, and future, seem pretty bleak with only a sparse gathering of customers as his friends.

That all changes when Fi(ona) enters his life, finally giving Tommy some hope and a chance of happiness. However, the happiness is short lived when some people from Fiona's past enter their lives bringing danger......

This book really takes you through the ringer. Hope, despair, joy, happiness, fear, grief and sadness all live on the same page. Tommy is definitely one of those ordinary heroes who you will desperate to see have a happy ending. Whether he does or not? Well, you'll need to read.....

Thanks to VERVE Books | Oldcastle Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5!! I absolutely love my Scottish fiction so was over the moon to be approved this on NetGalley - thank u! Tommy the Bruce sounded exactly like my kind of read - brutal, depressing but also funny with the wonderful Scottish dialect - and I got exactly that!

From the start I knew I was going to love Tommy. James Yorkston has created a fantastic character in Tommy and although he is a bystander, a bit lazy and oh there’s the alcohol problem you can’t help but want good things for him. There were so many points I was infuriated by him though, I was desperate for him to stand up for himself, even to Fi (who I actually quite disliked). But I feel like the story was very real, and you could tell that Tommy had a heart of gold and wanted no conflict. James Yorkston’s writing is vivid, I could easily imagine the settings in the book; the pub, the run down hotel and not forgetting the cludgie (which I think is my new favourite word 😂). Told in Scottish dialect, this brings the story to life even more. You just know things aren’t going to go smooth for Tommy and when Fi’s ex-boyfriend is released from prison it brings a whole lot of trouble to Tommy’s door.

What did I read? What did I think I was going to read ? I had no idea but thanks to Netgalley I have discovered a new author and this book packs a punch! Think Elmore Leonard crossed with Irvine Welsh and then maybe drag the pages across the floor a bit, chuck a teabag on them and hang on for the ride.
Tommy is like an anti-hero, a soft lummox who things just happen to. People arrive and just take advantage of him, to the point where you just want to throat punch them.
It is a story you just devour ... you take yourself up the fell with Tommy .. sit and have a wee nip of the hard stuff, when he is allowed, and just let it happen.
It is visceral, brutal, funny, gentle, sad .. everything you want in a book ...
Amen.

No sorry, it wasn’t for me. Just couldn’t take to it at all. Could have been Scotland’s answer to Faulty Towers, but I didn’t last the pace and gave up on it early doors. Others, however, could well enjoy it.

I absolutely loved Yorkston's prose. His writing is vibrant, authentic and detailed, and this is coming from someone who often finds the first POVs not engaging and authentic enough (overly-done, and way too common these days).
Tommy the Bruce is our narrator, and he runs a hotel in Pertshire. When he talks about his job, it is believable and makes you connect with the story.
Unfortunately, the storyline with Fiona and the thriller/mystery aspects did not work as well for me. Though, this is overall an enjoyable read, and I would be interested in reading Yorkston's other work. His writing is atmospheric.

Running a quiet hotel in Perthshire, Tommy Bruce isn’t living it large. The odd coach load of foreign tourists can be bought off with Co-Op fodder but it’s a bleak existence. And then Fiona turns up. Well, that’s a shock to the system. I didn’t buy just how easily Fiona inveigled her way into Tommy’s life. Yes, a lot of us have had one too many and done things we regret but the capitulation from Tommy was in no way realistic. That said, the narrative builds steadily enough with Tommy doing his best to make a margin on sausage, chips and beans whilst depleting the bar’s whisky stocks but the story loses its edge and drifts into obscurity. I’m a big fan of tartan noir but having built up a head of steam, Tommy lets it all go like a heid the baw.