Melbourne Times Review

This is a 3-Star Review of "Catch a Falling Star" from Mara King in The Melbourne Times:

By day, Nicholas Walpole is a drop-out student getting by on the dole, odd jobs and pretending to be dead at his local university. By night, he dreams of musical superstardom and parallels his life with that of his idol, David Bowie. The only problem is, Bowie has musical talent and determination and Nicholas, aka Nicky Nova, is sadly lacking in both."Catch a Falling Star" follows Nicky Nova from the leafy outer suburbs of Melbourne to Lygon Street, Carlton, in the early 1980's. He and his band, The Warm Jets, just don't seem to be able to make it beyond the backyard of the ramshackle house they share, which could be due to their terrible set or the prodigious amount of weed they smoke. As the decade wears on, Nicky's friends are moving on with life but he can't give up his dream of making it big. Nicky's adventures are sometimes funny and sometimes pathetic. The drug use permeating most scenes is a tad excessive, but then, the '80's were all about excess. Paying homage to share-housing classic "He Died With a Falafel In His Hand", "Catch a Falling Star" adds music and captures the mood of big-haired '80's Melbourne in the process. Part musical history and part coming-of-age tale, this is an easy, enjoyable read.