Shaking hands with Elvis by Paul Carroll

Published by Green Engine Media Limited on 1st March 2024; 284 pages

Thank you to Paul Carroll for sending me a signed physical copy of his book along with a handwritten note. It is amazing to see another person who writes in fountain pen.

Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours for adding me to the blog tour for Shaking Hands With Elvis. Please see below for the other bloggers on this book tour, along with the tour dates.

For non-blog tours my reviews and recommendations I do not include spoilers or blurb. I feel for blog or it is my duty to share with you the back of the book and any information provided to me by the author, publisher or promotors. Please scroll past this next section if like myself, you do not like to read the back of books.

As a neurodivergent reader I always mention sensory aspects of a book. This book is 284 pages and it’s quite a weighty book due to the paper and cover choice.

The pages are a very crisp bright white with the text filling the page but not in a daunting way as there is space around the text. There are no details as to the typesetting.

The cover is rather catchy with a bright turquoise background with a quirky strawberry ice cream with a gravestone that looks like a Flake stuck in a '99' ice cream.

The book has a smooth feel to it.  I was excited for this. Carroll has a wonderful way of taking the reader on a journey with his characters. I found this book to be a wonderful and entertaining take on a subject, which as a society we tend to shy away from.

I feel Carroll approaches this difficult subject with the right amount of humour. I found the setting and characters believable and can imagine it all panning out like it does.

I like that Carroll has a good balance for those for and those against assisted dying. I also found the book very topical with a satirical take on UK politics.

I found the whole book a wonderful original idea, very thought provoking covering a very difficult subject. I highly recommend this book.