Review of 'The Acid King' by Maggie Abbott

Acid King

By Maggie Abbott

Four long-estranged friends from London's turbulent Sixties scene of sex, drugs and rock and roll are thrown together after seventeen years when one of them accidentally discovers the secret identity of their betrayer; a man they knew only as The Acid King, a charismatic figure who orchestrated a weekend of alluring drugs ending with a bust, jail time and death.

What the friends don’t know is that a New York FBI Agent, another old enemy of the Acid King, has been on a long frustrating manhunt of his own, driven by the same rage for revenge. Until, by coincidence, he discovers the mystery man’s hidden Los Angeles location and tracks him to his lair. Resulting in a dangerous confrontation that puts lives, both guilty and innocent, on the line. The Acid King is the thinly veiled story of the famous Redlands drug bust of 1967; an event that put Mick Jagger and Keith Richards behind bars and nearly destroyed the world’s most famous rock band. All orchestrated by an unidentified man who set them up and then disappeared. By a strange twist of fate the Author (former film agent for Mick Jagger) met the Acid King in Los Angeles and became involved with him for several years, never knowing who he really was, until her friend Marianne Faithfull (former lover of Jagger) surprisingly identified him.

**My thoughts**

This is a book for people who love to read stories based on real people and real events, so that they can try to figure out who is whom and what is what. I admit that I am not as familiar with the original story on which this was based, so I had a harder time figuring out any of that. The fact that it is based on real events is what drew me to it in the first place. I did recognize plenty of the background characters, though.

A dizzying array of characters whose lives have been forever intertwined by this mysterious Acid King thought that they had pretty much moved on with their own lives. Now, they have been thrust back together and still have some bad blood between some of them to work out. Toss in an FBI agent who is still searching for answers and a bit of his own revenge and the loyalties are further strained.

A lot of the story, especially in the beginning, is primarily told through a lot of dialogue, almost like a screenplay. That's not my favorite style to read, but once I got used to it and the story progressed I was okay. Action builds up when the stakeout and hunt pick up momentum. It's a fast read, especially because it is a novella. Rock and roll fans, and those who love conspiracies, are going to get a big kick out of it! 

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About Maggie:

The Acid King tells the fictionalized story of what she imagined could have happened afterwards.

Maggie Abbott started writing novels when she moved to Palm Springs after a long, successful show business career in Los Angeles, London, Rome, and New York.

A casual job as a secretary at the William Morris Agency in Rome introduced her to the exciting scene of Cleopatra, Fellini's 8½ and The Pink Panther, with the city's influx of big stars calling by the office every day, and triggered her lifelong love affair with movies.

Over the years, Maggie has enjoyed being in the most interesting places at the best of their times, while working as the movie agent for some exciting stars: Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Charlotte Rampling, Jacqueline Bisset, Martin Sheen, Raquel Welch, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Peter Sellers, Richard Chamberlain, Peter O'Toole, Britt Ekland, Ken Russell, John Boorman, and many more.

Somewhere in between, Maggie was the production assistant on three Broadway plays, and a producer and studio executive at Columbia Pictures where she developed and got production credits on two movies.

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