Book description
Set in the early 1990s on a British army base, 4 AM tells the story
of Cal and Manny, soldiers posted to Germany as army chefs. Bored and
institutionalized, the pair soon succumb to the neon temptations of
Hamburg's red-light district, where they dive into a seedy world of
recreational drugs and all-night raves. But it is only a matter of
time before hedonism and military discipline clash head on, with comic
and poignant consequences.
Life-affirming raving soon gives way to gloomy, drug-fuelled
nights in fast-food restaurants, at sex shows, and in Turkish dive
bars. As a succession of events ratchets up the pressure on Cal and
Manny their friendship is tested, a secret is revealed, and a shocking
betrayal changes one of their lives forever.
Drawing on personal experience and extensive research, 4 AM
depicts life in a peacetime Army, and a civilian milieu in which
conflict is never far away. Driven by two distinctive voices, and
written in a lively and buzzing style, Nina de la Mer's debut novel
holds a mirror up to youth culture at the end of the twentieth
century. The reflection is not always a flattering one.
Nina de la Mer was born in Scotland and grew up there and in
Brighton, where she now lives with her husband and daughter. Her
nonfiction book The Modern Maiden's Handbook, a satirical take on the
woman's self-help genre, was published in 2007 by Portico. 4 AM,
shortlisted for the West Dean Writer's Retreat Competition, is her first
novel.
