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A novel full of rock and roll and LSD set against the backdrop of an international conspiracy blown up by the sound of Chuck Berry, Paul Colize links 1965 with the rock band Pearl Harbor and 2012 with the identity of X Midi, trapped in a locked-in syndrome.
Back Up opens with the story of Larry Speed, the leader of the band Pearl Harbor, who is enjoying a well-deserved vacation in Majorca… but less than a day after his arrival, he is found dead at the bottom of the hotel pool. It is March 1967.
This is just the beginning of one of the three stories that make up this incredibly effective crime novel.
Subsequently, we discover the other plots: that of X Midi, a homeless man, 105 kg for 1.92 m, hit by a car in front of the Gare du Midi in Brussels and a victim of Locked-In Syndrome. It is 2010.
And that of a young boy born on August 6, 1945, the same day as Hiroshima. That’s where it all started. […] My mother said that my birth ended the war. Who quickly shows incredible talent for drumming. It is 1955, For me, the first rock is Chuck Berry and Maybellene. And that’s all.
Three stories that will eventually, we suspect, intertwine with each other. However, even though we are sure it will happen, it occurs quite late in the book, and it’s hard to determine the exact links until the author reveals them. The narrative is intricate, segmented, mixing flashbacks, years, perspectives, cultures, with rock and roll and its power as an undercurrent. The writing is precise, and despite the changing plots (which happen with each chapter), the reader is never lost, never confused. It is always fluid and perfectly balanced in suspense, constantly encouraging you to read another chapter.
Paul Colize superbly captures the atmosphere of the 60s, the music, the austere climate, the drugs. It’s like being there. We discover alongside the hero the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, LSD, hysterical girls, easy jobs, the army, the Vietnam War, the multitude of bands being formed, playing, disappearing, returning with another name. The music is vibrant, described, dissected, especially with the passages concerning the young drummer. Paul Colize incorporates a vast amount of documentation on the musical world, techniques, terms, currents without ever being boring or distant. We live in that era, and my only real regret when reading this novel is not having lived through those extraordinary years.
But the tour de force of Paul Colize is having written a noir novel whose main character is bedridden, unable to move or speak, a victim of Locked-In Syndrome. He is entrusted to the care of Dominique, a brilliant physiotherapist with radiant and communicative energy, who will try to trace back the history of X Midi. We cling to every one of his progressions because we feel that X Midi holds the keys to understanding how all the members of the same rock band died, in less than a week, in very distant places and circumstances.
Reading Back Up, we discover an era, a striking conspiracy, an endearing hero with a touching story, a tumultuous life. Paul Colize has made this book a very moving novel, of incredible density, very well written, without forgetting the foundations of crime fiction. Back Up, for a journey into the depths of rock and roll.
