Johnny Ruin By Dan Dalton

‘Johnny Ruin’ is the latest book by Dan Dalton.

Haunted by the idea that he is somehow broken, the narrator – a depressed, heartbroken, thirty-something writer – embarks on a journey through his own mind with his spirit guide, Jon Bon Jovi, for company. From the redwoods of California to a crumbling New York City, they travel the highways of our narrator’s memory, an imagined America, where his thoughts are tangled with fragments from the songs and movies that shaped him, and where he can’t help but replay scenes from his doomed relationship. When his ex-girlfriend turns up demanding that he forget her, he must decide whether he’s ready to let go…

I must admit this book is quite the turbulent and roller coaster of a story as a man reflects on his life and how he can go forward with only Jon Bon Jovi for company on this epic adventure.

It’s quite the heartbreaker of a story as Johnny tries to move on with his life, having never fully recovered from the break up from his relationship and he’s struggling to make sense. On this journey, we see him narrate him through his life story, of the relationships, the regrets and the dramas that have made into the character that he has become.

The story is frank and honest and really pulls on the readers heartstrings, as he addresses issues of mental illness and alcoholism. It’s a reflective and quite funny story and the strange inclusion of the Jon Bon Bovi and his career path and words of wisdom does add some humour to raw and bittersweet tale. It flows seamlessly and creatively across decades of narrative and adventures and Dan paints such a vivid landscape of the clubs that he stumbled out of, the motorways that he drove across as well as the imagery characters along the way.

Join one man on his quarter life crisis as tries to find some worth in his life, ‘Johnny Ruin’ is a honest and compelling story about loss, the heartbreak of relationships break ups with witty moments and tender scenes that really made for memorable reading.

You can buy ‘Johnny Ruin’ from Amazon.