| Title | Publisher & Date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Here Comes Tobin (Paperback) | Futura (01-Aug-1976) | 978-08600 73802 |
| Here Comes Tobin (Kindle & Paperback) | White Marvel Books (05-Jan-2024) | 979-88717 59974 |
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MARKS OUT OF 10 FOR THE COVER
Full marks to the publisher for bothering to depict one of the girls from the story. She's scandinavian-looking and in a skimpy maids outfit. And is she gorgeous? Of course she is. We're ALL gorgeous. This is the last of the 3 books published on the Futura imprint and therefore the last book to have this cover design. I love the 70s graphic design elements, but I think the jackets suffered from not featuring the Russ Tobin character. Sadly this trend continued until the final Tobin book of the 1970s and was only rectified 26 years later when Tobin Goes Cuckoo arrived in 2005. 8/10
COVER NOTES
PAPERBACK EDITION
WILL YOU BE WANTING BED AND BREAKFAST SIR?
After two years of globe-trotting Russ Tobin is summoned to Ireland bu his old friend Patrick with the job of a lifetime - Entertainments Officer at Ballytatty Castle, Co. Kildare, a fabulous luxury hotel that specialises in group tours - most of them women.
Does Russ have the strength and endurance to keep up with the forty luscious ladies of the Grand Order Of SLAP (Seek, Learn, Appreciate and Progress)? Can he fully entertain the twenty lovely members of the Try It In Kildare Lovers Expedition (known as TICKLE)? You bet he can! HERE COMES TOBIN
2024 KINDLE EDITION
After two years of globe-trotting Russ Tobin is summoned to Ireland by his old Courier pal Patrick Holmes, with the job of a lifetime - Entertainments Officer at Ballytatty Castle, Co. Kildare, a fabulous luxury hotel in a converted 15th century castle.
Russ's plan to ease himself into the new job gently are quickly scuppered by the arrival of an all-female, twenty-strong athletics team from Snake Falls, Idaho. And when the Mead begins to flow at the Medieval Banquet, it's only going to end one way. Messily!
But it's a steady job, and a whole lot of fun, so Russ might just stick around here a little while to see what adventures the next set of guests bring...
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PLOT
The story begins in Liverpool where Russ is staying the night at the Adelphi Hotel prior to his flight to Dublin (yet another iconic hotel for Russ, where many famous people have stayed - and in fact his second known visit as he ate Christmas Dinner there with Gloria at the end of 'The Sewing Machine Man'). Or at least he is checked in there - he never actually makes it back to stay the night and ends up dashing in to collect his luggage and check out the next morning before his flight to Dublin at noon! Russ tells us that he has spent a few days with his parents in Cheshire in between this and returning from Australia. This means the book is set in late January as he leaves Australia on 23rd January when his visa expires.
Anyway - off he flies to meet his destiny yet again (chatting up ANOTHER Air Stew - Angela Bell) and this time it's an old castle turned hotel in County Kildare. The reunion scene with Patrick is as touching as the one where they part in Tobin Takes Off and pledge to meet again some day. Of course Ballytatty Castle doesn't actually exist, but there are several hotels in the general area based in converted castles (eg Kildare Castle and Ballaghmore Castle) which undoubtedly served as the inspiration here.
Once Russ arrives at the Castle, he is quickly overwhelmed by the female of the species. He immediately meets the Swedish Maid (Heidi Johansson) as he settles in to his room and pledges to pay her a visit later - a promise which is broken due to the intervention of the hotel owner's wife who sets about seducing poor Russ (once again, he finds himself the hunter's prey and just has to go with it). Then the next morning he is sent to the airport to collect an all-female, twenty-strong athletics team from Snake Falls, Idaho (another made-up location sadly), You can guess the rest. Yet another prolonged snooker scene takes place (Snooker fans: see als Tobin Takes Off and The Sewing Machine Man) which ends with Russ spending the night in Greta Lawson's room (Heidi left waiting again..)
The following evening sees a medieval banquet take place in the castle, which leaves Russ torn apart (literally) by the vying ladies. He's so shaken that he retires to bed with a copy of Playboy (seriously Russ? Just how gigantic can your libido be?). He's rudely disturbed by Patrick, who informs him that the Athletics Team have got so wasted on Mead that the night has descended into a nude all-in wrestling match! Not wanting to miss out, Russ joins Patrick as a spectator - which is all fine until they decide to start taking photos, at which point the wrestlers turn on them...
They are saved at the last moment by the appearance of a ghost outside, which turns out to be part of a Scooby-Doo type scheme by the hotel owner, but the plot point fizzles out pretty quickly and Russ retires for his third night's sleep. Not that he gets much, as Heidi appears, so fed up of waiting that she takes matters into her own hands. Literally.
The next morning Russ then embarks on his first horse-riding experience, which he learns to love quite quickly until a gloriously predictable pony-trekking accident leaves him with a badly bruised thigh. I always think of this great picture that Stan once sent me of his time living near the Curragh on Co. Kildare!
