I found this book gripping, but as it progressed I found it less believable and the characters less likeable. Not one of Ben Elton’s best.

So many feelings to describe.An intense beginning with almost mild ending.I really love these kinds of plots!Stimulating,it evoked my curiosity.

After having read Kinky Friedman's take on the idiom, I can't resist any book or movie with this title. This one features a feminist, a stalker, and a soldier. All these characters are depicted to their utmost stereotypeness (is that a word?) and don't really come to life. But that doesn't matter, since I don't think Elton wanted to depicte real-life people. Instead, he chooses to take each character's inner monologues to the extremes, not only exposing the absurd lengths one might go if one's values turn into obsession, but also making the reader reflect on the relativity of my own values.

In summary, this book is highly enjoyable but inconsequential passtime.

Ben Elton and not comedy? It is written in his general humorous tone, but really has no other comedy elements in it. The pointed characters (extremely mismatched young lovers being reunited after 16 years, a stalker, some parents and friends) and the fact that most of the story takes place during a few hours of night in a small apartment gives it kind of a play feeling. Some interesting plot turns and great dialogue.

I've read a couple of Ben Elton novels before and he is a writer of real quality. Blast from the Past is rather mediocre.

The plot is interesting but the narrative unfolds far too slowly and is frequently repetitive. The lady hero is easy to empathise with but the other main character, a US General, is like a cartoon character and I was frequently asking myself do I care?

There' s neat twist at the end but, overall, disappointing.

David Lowther. Author of The Blue Pencil, Liberating Belsen, Two Families of War and The Summer of '39, all published by Sacristy Press.

If not a spontaneous purchase in a thrift shop, I would probably never touch this book in a million years. And the reason for this, other than being dead most of that time of course, is that it is unlike anything I usually read. And it would be a reasonably painful loss, because I’ve enjoyed it quit a bit.

Blast from the past, despite it’s title, is a rather slow book, with deliberate narration of an old army's general story that once lost the love of his life. We're constantly switched from one scene to another, flashed back and then flashed forward to the point were it get’s a little bit overwhelming and you kind of wish the author sticked to one story line for a little bit longer, so you could enjoy it. In the second half it get’s quite even and scene changes are welcomed, since they contribute to the story development and force you to guess what would happen next. In a way the book feels very much like a TV-show and may even originate from the script. Based on little that I know about the author it is quite possible.

I wouldn’t say I was emotionally involved with the plot most of the time, it seemed to me quite ordinary: a boy met a girl, fell in love, chose something else over a girl, left her, had regrets for 16 years, then decided to fix the problem. Sounds like a pretty bitten cliche, right? No! Well it does sound like a cliche, but the book turns out to be nothing you may think it would be. The story seemed like if it were collecting the energy throughout the entire time just to blast you within the last 50 pages. And I’m grateful that engaging dialogues, rather interesting side stories and conservative vs liberal views battles carried me through to the kick-ass part. Through characters brawling in an argument author was actually conveying a dialog with the reader, at least I felt it. Racial / gender diversity, opposite discrimination, feminism and other controversial topics were delivered so well, that one would fail to resist questioning his own position and believes, at least I did.

Oh, yes, the ending….obviously I cannot say anything, because a spoiler would be devastating, nonetheless I think it’s safe to say that the twist would be worthy of House of Cards tv-show. That fact alone would be enough for me to justify trying out the book. The book was definitely worth my time and $2 I’ve spent on it. Who knows, maybe it will work out for you as well.

Entertaining enough.

I didn't choose this book personally, but my husband did. Since I'd finished my two other books on holiday I decided to read it. This is the first book that I read all in one day! It's not my normal style of book but I did enjoy it. I did feel that there was a little to much text/information in parts that wasn't needed. It explores some interesting issues and I enjoyed reading it. Not sure I would recommend it though i.e. it was returned to the charity shop without my husband reading it!

Polly is single, in her 30s, working at her local council and dealing with harassment from a stalker who was an ex-client. Jack has had a successful career in the military, but is haunted by memories of an affair in the 1980s with a protestor at Greenham Common. When Polly's phone rings at 2:15 am, it is the start of a crazy night that brings back the past in an explosive way.

This was the first of Ben Elton's novels that I've read, and it was not exactly what I expected. This is more a satire than a comic novel. The issues of gender politics raised are as relevant now as when this was written in 1998, although the characters now seem quite dated - Greenham Common and Ronald Reagan not having the same resonance. It's quite a thought provoking read without easy answers, but it's short on laugh-out-loud moments.

This book was enjoyable and I would like to read more from Ben Elton, but hope to find a more lighthearted book.

Highly entertaining. Who else could combine a love story with juggling contrasting moral values and career pressures. Expertly done.

Ben Elton, somewhat, take time out to do this book, defining the clashes between the beatnik hippy, loony left generation going nowhere, and their nemesis in the military character of Jack the American, advancing on to become a general. Not really explained why Jack would want to take such a radical action as to blot out his past like this. Ben Elton's usual amusing writing style makes it a good read.

A clever story with lots of twists and turns, which kept me engaged and really wanting to know what was going to happen next.

It had some funny laugh aloud moments, but also some of great sorrow and disbelief.

I enjoyed the total opposite natures of the two main characters, and how well their thought processes and what drives them were depicted.

It delves deeply into the cultural shifts of political correctness aka just being a decent human being and how the victimiser can see themselves as the victim.

A cautionary tale - beware of those ultra-ambitious types!

I listened to this as an audiobook and it was an easy and enjoyable way to ingest it.