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Author: Kennedy, Travis

Espionage & spy thriller

Published on 26 June 2025 by Penguin Books Ltd (Michael Joseph Ltd) in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 416 pages
163 x 244 x 38 | 634g

Sex, Synth, and Spycraft: Rikki thought he was joining a band. He didn’t know he was starting a revolution.

‘A rock-n-roll thrill ride… Heavy Metal icon Rikki Thunder’s satirical memoir is sweeter than Cherry Pie and better than a prescription from Dr. Feelgood! You need to read it’ Ernest Cline–Los Angeles, 1986.

For aspiring drummer Rikki Thunder, metal rules the world. He might be sleeping in a condemned paint store and stuck in a band going nowhere, but things change fast in the City of Angels. When Rikki lands a spot with L.A.’s hottest new act, Whyte Python, his life turns up to 11: hit singles, screaming fans, and the girl of his dreams in the front row.

But fame has a dark side.

As the Cold War breathes its last gasps and American music crashes through the Iron Curtain, Rikki finds himself at the centre of a secret cultural revolution. Unwittingly swept into a dangerous game of influence and espionage, he must navigate a world of sex, synth, and spycraft—where power chords meet power struggles.

A genre-bending Cold War rock thriller packed with heart, humour, and heavy metal.