One For the Money (1994)

One for the Money is a rock novel. It was released alongside a companion album by the singer-songwriter Pete Scott, which you can stream for free below. The album is also available for purchase on CD or as a digital download by clicking here. 

Joanie’s three steps took her not only to heaven, but to hell too… 

As a teenager she rebelled against her disapproving, tight-lipped father by scorning university to join a rock band. With farm-boy Kent, the beautiful, frowned-upon Richad, and wild Leon who went furthest – and deepest – into drugs, they all became legends. The wildly expensive country house, the theme parties, the priceless art and the excess of sex and champagne carried them away from the real world and into a fantasy where they had too much of everything – except happiness. 

This is Joanie’s story: in it she takes a roller-coaster ride to fame, adulation and success beyond her wildest ambitions. But on the way down there is despair, addiction, even death; the possibility of a happy ending becomes more and more remote. 

‘A good old fashioned rags-to-riches morality tale … but at the same time complex, sophisticated and literary’ – Isabel Wolff in the Sunday Time 

‘The world is littered with useless novels based upon rock music… Carol Clewlow has got it right… wildly entertaining’ – Tom Hibbert in the Mail on Sunday 

‘A no-regrets requiem for a fallen rock band… Carol Clewlow is an unerring map-maker of mood and motive’ – Madeline Kingsley in She 

‘A thumping good story. Clewlow’s characters are blood and bone and their tragedies ring painfully true’ – Gill Pyrah in Cosmopolitan 

‘Dark and brilliant’ – Andrea Newman in the Sunday Express