Blast from the Past [Paperback]

It's 2.15 a.m. and the phone wakes you. Only someone bad would ring you at such an hour, or someone with bad news, which would probably be worse. You hear the answer-machine kick in and feel your heart beat. You listen. And then you hear the voice you least expect - a blast from the past."

Blast From The Past is the fifth novel from Ben Elton, the celebrated and controversial comedian/playwright/author whose TV credits include The Young Ones and Blackadder as well as the previous novels Stark and Popcorn. Jack Kent, US Captain stationed at Greenham Common during the early eighties, has a secret and unlikely affair with the Polly Sacred Cycle of the Womb and Moon, a 17-year-old ideological peace protester:

the star-crossed lovers made Romeo and Juliet look like an arranged marriage! Pamela Anderson and the Ayatollah Khomeni would have made a more natural-looking couple.

Sixteen years later and a four star General, Kent returns to Britain to seek out his only true love. Polly, now a lonely thirtysomething Equal Opportunities employee, is being stalked by the Bug when the phone rings.

Set in the staid, politically-correct nineties of New Labour Britain, the story flashes back with comic effect to the early eighties, a time of protest, strikes and Cold War. While hardcore Elton fans might be disappointed with the weak plot and smaller helpings of piercing wit and wacky socio-political observations, Blast from the Past still offers up some laugh-out-loud lines and entertaining reading. --Andrew Crawford --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Praise from the UK for "Blast from the Past: "
" The action is tight and well-plotted, the dialogue is punchy, and the whole thing rolls along so nicely."
--"The Guardian"
" Ben Elton's in top form with this gripping black comedy--a sure-fire hit."
--"New Woman"
" A lively thriller of sexual politics and morality. Elton's best book yet."
--"Elle"
" Blast from the Past is Elton at his most outrageously entertaining."
--"Cosmopolitan"

"From the Hardcover edition."

A blast of energy and zeitgeist from Britain's foremost comic talent. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Ready to follow Nick Hornsby and Helen Fielding as the next big thing from Cool Britannia to hit America is Ben Elton. Already known to a wide public television audience as the funnyman behind "Blackadder, The Young Ones," and "The Thin Blue Line," Elton, author of "Popcorn," lights up the literary sky with Blast from the Past.
Part noir thriller, part hilarious send-up of the politics of extremism, Blast from the Past is the new novel from English comedy phenomenon (stand-up, playwright, television writer, and author) Ben Elton--a name soon to be known in all circles once Joel Schumacher's film of his book Popcorn reaches the silver screen.
In the early 80s, when Polly was a seventeen-year-old ideological peace protestor and Jack was a U.S. Army captain stationed at England's Greenham Common, the two had a secret and very unlikely affair. No two people could have had more to argue about, save that they couldn't live without each other, yet one day Jack came to the conclusion that he loved soldiering more than Polly and sacrificed their love to be a career army man.
Now, sixteen years later, Polly is a lonely thirty-something social services employee and Jack is a four-star general who has returned to Britain to find her, his only true love. With only one night to resolve their differences, and a knife-wielding stalker lurking in the shadows, for everyone concerned this will be a night like no other.

"From the Hardcover edition."

A blast of energy and zeitgeist from Britain’s foremost comic talent. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

It's 2.15 a.m., you're in bed alone and the phone wakes you.

Your eyes are wide and your body tense before it has completed so much as a single ring. And as you wake, in the tiny moment between sleep and consciousness, you know already that something is wrong.

Only someone bad would ring at such an hour. Or someone good with bad news, which would probably be worse.

You lie in the darkness and wait for the answer machine to kick in. Your own voice sounds strange as it tells you that nobody is there but that a message can be left.

You feel your heart beat. You listen. And then you hear the one voice in the world you least expect...your very own Blast from the Past.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Ben Elton is one of Britain's most successful and popular comedians. In addition to his stand up work, Ben Elton's television credits include The Young Ones, Black Adder and The Thin Blue Line. He has written three hit West End plays - Gasping, Silly Cow and Popcorn - and his four previous novels - Stark, Gridlock, This Other Eden, and Popcorn - have all been major bestsellers. Ben Elton lives in London with his wife Sophie and their twins, Charlotte and Albert. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.