'Bob Servant: Hero of Dundee' is the autobiography of the spammer-botherer Bob Servant. It tells the story of his life in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, and his efforts to become a hero (sort of). 'Delete this at Your Peril' included his eccentric correspondence with email spammers and this book appears to aim to flesh out the characters and escapades mentioned in his messages. As such, we find out the truth about the Cheeseburger Wars, the window cleaning racket and how he met Frank the Plank, Chappy Williams and Tommy Peanuts, as well as his unsuccessful pursuit of 'skirt'.
Sadly, this book feels like a writing exercise that, much like Bob, got a bit too big for its boots. It has its moments, but it's neither consistent nor laugh-out-loud funny. At best, it's gently amusing at times, but, as a reader, I felt that I had to work really hard to get from one joke to the next.
'Delete...' worked so well because it was original, something every internet user could relate to and (secretly) something we'd all like to be able to do ourselves to turn the tables on a bane of modern life. Effectively, the spammers acted as Bob's stooge or straightman. The first book was often funny because Bob's responses could be elusive and cryptic and leave things to the imagination.
'Hero...' leaves behind everything that made the first book work and fills in gaps best left unfilled. It's basically a case of a good joke being told, then ruined because someone explains it to you. Or seeing behind the mask of your favourite superhero.
The book does start to improve towards the end, when it begins to feel like a series of snapshot-like newspaper articles. Perhaps this would be a better direction for the character; a regular column where he reacts to current news stories.
Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone. To be honest, I wish I hadn't read it. I feel it's tainted my enjoyment of the first book and put me off reading the third, which is a real shame. Hopefully I'll forget all about it in time and be able to read the third book, but it's hard to tell right now. Sorry Mr Forsyth.
Now, time for a classic I think...
