Sex Sardines & Sauerkraut

Texas isn't the first girl in Axel's life. The story begins with an amusing scene of Axel attempting to seduce a Serbian girl called Isvarinka: 'We stood in the centre of a wide clearing in a eucalyptus forest and I held Isvarinka in my arms and hugged her. Everything we did we did to excess. When we hugged we hugged hard and long, as if the world was going to end, and when we kissed we kissed hard and long, as if our lives depended on it.' Just as things begin to get really interesting the Old Bear, Isvarinka's papa, breaks onto the page and there is one almighty kafuffle.

Reviews: 'I enjoyed this episodic romp through Europe and other foreign places, as our hero takes a gap-year to find himself and his true love. Along the way he finds a lot of other quirky characters and manages to avoid permanent damage. AE Thorogood writes funny, snappy dialogue with enough pithy description to ensure we can clearly see where the action is taking place. Fast paced and short, almost a whistle-stop tour of the world.'

'A page turner. Inside the mind of a young naive man is not where I would normally like to be but he's so engaging, direct and witty that it's fun. You know he'll get into trouble but it's fascinating to find out exactly how and what happens next. Even though the hero's brain is in his trousers he has plenty left to work the narration engine and turns out to be not so naïve after all. And it's all quite polite.'