As a longtime fan of Nick Spalding, I initially approached this book expecting his usual lighthearted humour and laugh-out-loud moments. Instead, I found myself face-to-face with Will, a self-pitying character whose strained relationship with his estranged rock-star dad, Red, left me feeling frustrated at first. I genuinely worried that I might have to give a Spalding book a low rating—what a tragedy that would be!

However, as the story progressed, I found myself unexpectedly drawn into the complex dynamic between Will and Red. This isn’t just a typical rom-com; it’s a heartfelt exploration of grief, depression, and the all-too-common male tendency to bury feelings until they explode. Slowly but surely, I became invested in their relationship, and by the end, I found myself moved to tears. Who knew Nick Spalding could tug at my heartstrings like that?

While the humour was dialled down compared to his other works, it was replaced with an emotional depth that surprised me. The story takes you through the awkward and sometimes painful journey of mending broken relationships. By the conclusion, I was rooting for both Will and Red to find peace—not just with each other, but within themselves.

Overall, Old Boys is a solid 4-star read. If you’re expecting the usual slapstick humour from Spalding, you might be in for a surprise. But if you’re open to a more profound narrative, this book delivers a genuinely rewarding experience.

I’ve read many of Nick’s books, the humour in them never seems to fail. The strength of the stories do vary. Old Boys was a strong one for me.

Will is getting old, is depressed following the death of his mother a few years ago, his relationship is failing and Will is now looking for somewhere to live. He hasn’t seen his Rock Star dad for over 30 years but he appears back in his life possibly at the worst time. However, Will is offered his old room and without any other options he moves in with his stranger of a Dad.

His Dad, Red, is quite the character and Red wants to make up with his son and over the weeks you go on that journey with them which in true Spalding style is full of calamitous humour.

There is a really heart warming and very real feel to this story, one that any son who loved their father can relate to and is very thought provoking. This was a super read for me, I loved it. 5/5

A good book with a story that I did not know what to expect when I began reading it. Will Fairweath is 45 but is already living his life as an old man and letting all of his aches and pains become more than they are to not only affect his daily life but also his marriage. He is shocked when his wife says they need to separate and with nowhere to go, he seeks out his old rock and roll father Red. this works well for him in many ways because it gets him back into living and having fun again. There is more to this story but you have to read it to find out those parts and to see how it ends. A really good book with good characters.

Every time I sit down to a Nick Spalding novel I know I'm going to have a good time and that I'm in for a treat. And Old Boys was no exception.

We have Will who is acting and feeling old before his time, and seems to have forgotten that life is for living, not just existing in.

And back on the scene after 30 years is Will's father Red, who is an ageing rock star who would like to make amends with his son and to help him through this current rough patch.

And Will is pretty much forced to reconnect with his father and his memories.

What is soon apparent is that Red is far more like the child in this relationship, he is impulsive, fun loving, good intentioned but doesn't think things through.

And I absolutely adored him, he livened up every scene he was in, and there were some more poignant moments with him too.

It's another truly fabulous book from the author who certainly has me laughing out loud in places, as well as gasping in shock and on the verge of shedding a tear too. Just superb, and I'm already looking forward to seeing what he writes next.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Wow, I did not expect this one to hit me so hard. I thought it would be a light read, but it turned out to be actually so strong and so good. It's a story about a man abandoned by his quite deadbeat father, a man who's suffering from anxiety and generally being unable to thrive in life after certain traumas of the recent past.

A lot of this hit close to home for me, although I can't say my dad has a single interesting bone in his entire body, or any advice to give, as opposed to Will's dad being a misunderstood rockstar. But a lot of what Will has gone through, I've known, and what I loved about this book is being seen - a lot of the trauma and anxieties that come with growing up this way seemed to me to be accurately and sensitively portrayed.

I truly didn't expect this book to move me so much, but by the end I could say I was going to give it 5 stars. It was a great read. Definitely recommended.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

Nick Spaulding's books always sound like something I'd really enjoy but in the end, his writing style just isn't for me. Sounds like a great story, but I DNF.

As usual Spalding hits it out of the park! Old Boys is a great mix of comedy and emotion. I admit it took me a bit to warm up to Will. He starts off pretty pessimistic which was annoying. But he improves with the story and there are still some laugh out loud parts even in his misery. Enter Will's estranged father, Red. He is an aging rock star whom Will thinks he wants nothing to do with, but they might have more in common than he thinks. If you want a funny, heartwarming book this one is for you!

This book made me laugh out loud and I loved the relatable connection building between young and old!
Really enjoyed.

Will hasn't seen his rock star father, Red, for 30 years but when his wife suggests a separation because she can't handle Will's anxiety and depression, he finds himself homeless and his only option is to move back in with him.

Red is the complete opposite of Will. He is outgoing and reckless and lives for the moment. Will can't recompense that they have the same DNA. Will is clearly out of his comfort zone. Can living together now as adults finally put the past to bed and once Will discovers the reason for Red's disappearance all those years ago. Is he able to move on and forgive him?

This book had plenty of heart and humour.

Oh what a great story of a man afraid of living , depressed, and losing his marriage being revived by rekindling his relationship with his rock star father who,teaches him how to live in the now. Uplifting, very funny, and endearing. A feel good book.

Although the message is more serious, Nick Spalding’s Old Guys is in fact a humorous and witty read. Will’s Dad was a delight throughout and thoroughly entertaining. Definitely a book I’d recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book didn’t really grab me, it felt to me as if it didn’t really get going. I was disappointed as have loved previous books by this author

Oh the joys of getting old, I can really relate haha. I laughed at this book and I loved the connection building between young and old. I feel young but my body is telling me otherwise. A thouroghly enjoyable book.

Nick Spalding author of numerous laugh out loud novels is at it again. His latest novel Old Boys is a humorous novel of a father and his estranged son. Here Spalding is juxtaposing two radically opposite characters. While one of them is growing old readily, the other is refusing to do so. Add to that these two have not seen each other for decades. This makes for serious comedy moments and Spalding exploits them ruthlessly.

Will has not seen Red his rock star father for years. He’s under the impression that his father deserted him when he was young. Unfortunately for him his marriage is on the rocks and he has no temporary place to go. Cautious Will is forced to live with his father Red. True Spalding exploits this situation for its comic relief but he is sensitive to Wills feelings and approaches them with tact.

Both father and son who are so very different in character yet so much alike through various situations find middle ground. Will they reconcile and have the relationship that was cut short? And what of Wills marriage? This is the premise of Spalding’s novel. It’s a tale of an ordinary family that he spins into a gorgeously sensitive, laugh out loud story. He weaves the other characters into the story. I felt Wills pain and anger of rejection throughout the novel. Spalding uses humour to bring pathos to the surface. I was laughing and crying at the same time. Spalding emotively brings it all together for the finale. A very satisfying story, an unputdownable novel.

Though Will and Red were the main protagonists the others played a vital role in the plot. Wills wife, his friends, Reds band members, his staff and friends all played a part in making this tale rich and enjoyable. While I could not put it down once I started reading there was a feeling of loss when it was finished.

Funny, sad and very entertaining. Nick Spalding at his best. I loved this and a good break from my usual genre.

I tried twice to get into this book and sadly had to DNF this about 40 percent in. The characters failed to keep my attention.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. I don’t normally pay much attention to chapter titles, but I strongly suggest you do it for this book. The narrator has a disarming, self-deprecating, conversational tone that addresses deep issues like regret, forgiveness, courage, and love. And secrets. There were several times that I had to stop and enjoy a good belly laugh, which I’ve discovered is not unusual for Spalding’s books.

Will and Audrey Fairweather are having marital difficulties, but Will doesn’t know that. His mother died four years ago and he has dealt with her unexpected death by giving up on living. He’s ruled by fear and Audrey can see he’s depressed, but she can’t deal with it any longer so she suggests a separation. Will laments that he’ll need to move out of their house, while still paying a mortgage: “And on my wages, that place will be the size of a postage stamp. Pre-licked, and already used.” “I basically had one option in my budget—a flat roughly the same size as half a torn postage stamp… I would have described it as the place hope went to die, but hope would have never made it up to the flat, because it would have been murdered by one of the ne’er-do-wells hanging around the entrance... Sadly, this leaves me with half a postage stamp in Stab Alley.”
Will is estranged from his father, a world-famous drummer for a prog rock band, who abandoned him 30 years ago when he was only 15. Out of the blue, his father calls him and Will promptly tells him to never contact him again. But he does, and at Audrey’s urging, Will agrees to move in with his father instead of renting a flat. A series of hysterical events ensue.

Will has a way with words, which is immediately evident at the beginning with this description of his lunch: “...the ham sandwich is also fairly tasteless. So much so that as soon as it’s gone, I can barely remember eating it… By the time five thirty rolls around, the sandwich has become an abstract and ghostly memory of something that feels like it happened to someone else.”

He describes some music he doesn’t like: “...we immediately hear the dulcet sounds of someone beating a drum machine to death, while someone else strangles a gerbil.” When told they’re going to have fun, he thinks: “This must be a brand-new definition of the word ‘fun’ that I was previously unaware of.”

And I sympathized with him a bit too much when he said, “I’m now forty-five, and it hurts when I sit cross-legged for more than three minutes.”

So Will moves in with his father Red and one of the first funny incidents occurs when Will goes looking for his dad and finds him in the kitchen “...where I find my father throwing waffles at a pot plant… To be honest, when it comes to what you might find my father doing in a kitchen at any gi en time, you could take that last sentence, throw any two nouns of your liking together, and there’s a good chance he’d be capable of it. He could be throwing chickens at a statue of Michael Hesseltine. Throwing dildos at a coffin. Spoons at a pony.”

Will spends a lot of time comparing himself to his father and trying to discern any similarities between the two of them. “I am not a human whirlwind. I am a gentle gust, blowing through, without anybody else noticing. My face crumples as I realise I’ve just described myself as a silent fart.” And later, when he says something stupid, he notes: “This neither deserves, nor gets, a response.” Toward the end of the book, Will warns the reader, “You may have already gathered what I’m about to do. Feel free to look away, if it’s too much for you to deal with.”

When Red arrives in one of his typical rocker outfits, Will is disappointed that he didn’t dress appropriately for their outing. “‘How do I look?’ he says, flexing his stringy arms. ‘’Like someone with dementia stumbled into an army recruitment centre,’ I reply, honestly.”

One of the things Red wants to do with Will is play drums like they did when Will was a kid, but Will gave up drumming when his dad exited his life. He’s extremely out of practice and not at all confident. He asks if they can just do “a few rolls and paradiddles” to see if he can manage those, and then thinks, “This is like suggesting to a Michelin-star chef that the first recipe you should try is buttering a piece of bread.” After a while, Red asks if they can try something more challenging and Will asks if Red can lead. “This is akin to asking Rembrandt if he can start with a coat of magnolia in the downstairs toilet.”

I have one small complaint, which is really just a style issue, but I found it distracting. Spalding has an odd way of using verbs. Here are some examples:
“I spend a few moments just stood there…” (standing makes more sense)
“All this time I’m stood there…” (standing, again, makes more sense)
“Me stood here stoney-faced, him sat there looking guilty.” (standing and sitting would be better)
I don’t recall this style of writing in previous books, so I wonder if this was an intentional way of creating a new character with a new voice. On the other hand, maybe I just didn’t notice last time.

Red loved life and had some great philosophies, including this one: “...God is a pretty ‘solid dude’ when you get right down to it, and would probably be ‘more or less cool’ with anything you do, as long as you’re not hurting anyone else.” He constantly tells Will, “Don’t think! Just feel!” It isn’t until the very end that Will understands why. “I’m having way too much fun. Which is something you can only really do when you stop thinking…have you ever noticed that?”

This book is a lot of fun, but it also makes you think and feel. I definitely recommend reading it.

Gutted because I didn't like this book. Nick has a great way of writing that has me laughing out loud literally! I love his humour, especially the toilet humour! Ok that probably says a lot about me but hey. This one was about Will who is 45 and doesn't know what to do with his life. So, basically he sits at home, whining, moaning and navel gazing to find out what he is missing. In the end his wife gets fed up and tells him to move out. So he goes to stay with his rock star retired dad who he hasn't seen in 30 years. What follows is his dad getting up to all sorts, Will still whining and acting like a child! Now this could be classed as a skill that the author has created a character (that isn't real) but still makes me frustrated but the story just didn't flow for me! Would definitely try more books by the author.

I think it's well written but the plot didn't keep my attention and the story fell flat.
Not my cup of tea
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Will is 45 and terrified of life. His wife, Audrey, is fed up with him never being willing to have fun and thinks the solution is for him to move out and stay with his aging rock star father. The one he hasn’t heard from in 30 years.

Yeah. Genius.

So Will does and somehow goes weeks on end without ever actually asking his dad where he was for the last 30 years. And actually has sympathy for him.

This book was absolutely insane to me. Who on earth would ever go to a parent who peaced out of your life with no explanation for 30 years at their lowest point?!? Who what spouse would expect their partner to do this?!?

Nah. I don’t care that they reconnected and old men can be seen in a sympathetic light. Nope.

The only thing saving this from a single star is that Nick Spalding’a writing is entertaining and humorous.