Anthony Neil Smith

The Drummer Anthony Neil Smith

The '80s hair-metal band Savage Night is living the rock star fantasy. They trash hotel rooms, run through groupies, and flaunt their goods in music videos with bloated budgets. All that changes while on tour in Japan, when the band learns they owe more money than they have. They discuss their options: add a keyboardist, release a live album, and tour for six straight years in hopes of breaking even. The Drummer chooses a different path. He shaves his head, takes the next flight back, torches the mansion that his stripper ex-girlfriend designed, and fakes his own death. Fifteen years after their collapse, the Singer of Savage Night has tracked down the Drummer in hopes of convincing him to come out of hiding for a reunion tour and second shot at glory. The chase is on, as the press, the Feds, and former bandmates hunt the Drummer down the streets of New Orleans. A novel soaked in sex, drugs, and tequila, The Drummer is a still cocktail of crotch-grabbing hair-metal and New Orleans noir. Praise for THE DRUMMER: "A fun read about drugs, rock and roll, brawls, and banging (drums, groupies, and otherwise)." -Publishers Weekly "If you had any connection with-or nostalgia for-the '80s heavy-metal rock scene, Anthony Neil Smith's The Drummer should be right up your dark alley. Smith writes with force and clarity." -Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune