The Ripple Effect - Dominic Holland

Advantages: Funny and clever
Disadvantages: None of note

...is often more cruel in the consequences than malice can be in the intent.” A jam doughnut! A single solitary jam doughnut was all it took to alter and ruin the lives and careers of the many people caught in the ripple effect. From a humble wheel clamper to a minister at the very heart of the labour government, Bill Baxter could never have guessed that his simple actions would affect so many. Bills anger was directed at the local football team – ...
...also angry and suspicious at the clubs new owners who he suspected were only interested in selling off the clubs ground to make way for some prime development land. And to top it all, the bakery at which Bill worked was short staffed again and so he – a shift supervisor no less – would have the stupefying task of filling the doughnuts with jam for eight hours. As time wore on and the doughnuts blurred before Bills eyes as they jostled along on the ... Read review

Advantages: entertaining read
Disadvantages: takes a bit of time to get into it

The Ripple Effect takes a very simple idea and manages to spin it out into an amusing and entertaining read. The basic concept is to take one simple action, in this case the absence due to worker error of the jam filling in a jam donut, and tells the story of how the impact of this has on a number of supposedly unconnected lives, changing both careers, fortunes and the health of a number of diverse characters. The Author This is Dominic Holland ...
...transferred their skills over to the world of fiction. The Story The story is set around the fortunes of Middleton Edwardians Football Club from Cheshire a bankrupt struggling third division side, firmly entrenched at the bottom of the league a relegation from which would see them lose their league status. However there is a greater threat to their existence as following the death of their long term owner the clubs new owners seem intent on letting ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to find in shops
Disadvantages: Expensive for a paper back book and it may not appeal to non-football fans

...some bits. Here is the basic plot. Bill Baxter is in a bit of a jam, quite literally. He's fed up with his job at "Beatty's Home Bakers" and he's worried about his favourite football team, Middleton Edwardians, who are also in trouble as they are having problems with dough of the other kind. Bill detests the way the game has been turned into a business, rather than just a sport and he's worried that his beloved team may shut down altogether. One ...
...he misses out the filling and this sparks a chain of events he couldn't have imagined and his boring but comfortable life changes. This is the "ripple effect" of the title. The subject is primarily about Third Division football but it's also a satirical comment on our times as football players who behave like Prima Donnas, their hangers-on, politicians and the tabloid press come in for sharp scrutiny. The plot's hilarious twists and turns make for ... Read review