The Ossians [Paperback]

'The Ossians is a gripping, compelling, roadtrip around modern Scotland in the company of a drug-ravaged, arrogant, untamed visionary' Niall Griffiths

A powerful and moving commentary on the country and its defining myths (Ian Rankin )

A rock odyssey so exhilaratingly authentic, you can hear the chords and smell the vomit (Christopher Brookmyre )

This is Spinal Tap for Scotland's lost generation. Johnstone has taken a small story of a small band lost in a small country and created an epic (Ewan Morrison, Author Of Swung )

Packed with seedy, sticky bars, sullen punters and morose reflections in deteriorating weather, there is an atmospheric beauty to The Ossians (The Independent on Sunday )

The authentic ring of a man who's been there (Guardian )

Johnstone is good at describing the excitement, boredom, sniping and bonhomie of a touring band at the transit-van end of the career arc (The Times )

Doug Johnstone has got the tone of this just right...One for the young hipsters and the old rockers (Scott Pack The Friday Project )

Entertains in the uncharted corners of an unseen Scotland (List )

A Blast (Scotland on Sunday )

'A major Scottish novel. I like rock bands and nihilistic heroes ... but Doug gave me so much more. His descriptions of 'peripheral Scotland' were telling and accurate ... The book kept me guessing and I was genuinely sorry when there was nothing left to read.' Ian Rankin'The Ossians is a gripping, compelling, roadtrip around modern Scotland in the company of a drug-ravaged, arrogant, untamed visionary' Niall Griffiths'This is the This is Spinal Tap for Scotland's lost generation. Johnstone has taken a small story of a small band lost in a small country and created an epic' Ewan Morrison, author of Swung

A rollicking and hugely enjoyable contemporary novel describing the outrageous mid-winter tour around Scotland of a group of musicians called 'The Ossians'. The band's driving force is twenty-four-year-old lead singer, Connor – intelligent but self-destructive, pretentious but charismatic, gloriously opinionated and with an extraordinary ability to get beaten up.

The band is on the verge of signing a major record deal before setting off on a two-week tour of the cities and hinterland of Scotland, a tour expected to culminate triumphantly in a defining Glasgow gig. On their travels there is a seagull massacre, hapless drug deals, a mysterious stalker, a radioactive beach, a bomb-testing range, an epileptic fit, a town full of riotous Russian submariners, deadly snowstorms, epiphanies, regular beatings and random shootings.

The Ossians is both hilariously readable and satirically astute, a story of rock'n'roll obsession as well as a search for identity and a sense of community, written with delicious insight, pace and brio.

Doug Johnstone is a writer, journalist and musician and lives in Portobello, Edinburgh’s seaside, with his wife and son. His debut novel, Tombstoning, was published in 2006. He has a PhD in experimental nuclear physics and worked designing airborne radars before becoming a writer. He plays various instruments and sings in a band called Northern Alliance, which has released four albums to critical acclaim.