Meet Me at Jimmy's Arcade

Nostalgia and Musings From an 80's Kid Who Accidentally Solved a Murder

De: Grant Fieldgrove

Narrado por: Grant Fieldgrove

Bakersfield, California, 1990.

Local high school student Bebe-Lynn Sanders is missing. Each day that passes causes more and more worry for the entire town. She was seen cutting through Quailwood Park on her way to rent a movie the morning she vanished. Her last appearance was later that night outside the popular hangout, Jimmy's Arcade. No one knows where she went. No one knows what happened.

Join mildly idiotic kids Grant Fieldgrove and Roxy Roxburgh as they stumble, scheme, and steamroll their way through Bakersfield in the late 80s and early 90s, desperately on the hunt for a Nintendo, fake earrings from Miller's Outpost, tickets to see Vanilla Ice at the Civic Auditorium, and the ever-elusive holy grail — a porno mag! And, of course, Bebe-Lynn.
Meet Me at Jimmy's Arcade is a hilarious and heartbreaking romp through a small California town way back when, filled with nostalgic stories, humor, mystery, arcades, and malls. You won't want to miss it! So sit back, grab a Jolt Cola and a three-foot-long licorice rope, and enjoy the ride.

Bebe Forever & Long Live the Arcade!

©2023 Grant Fieldgrove (P)2023 Grant Fieldgrove

Unfortunate description sets up unmet expectations.

EDIT: I had originally given this three stars, and have since upgraded it. The original review follows with my reasoning for the upgraded review in the final paragraph.

It's a shame, really. Clearly this is a passion project, and I don't really want to dump on it. However, it's marketed as a murder mystery, and that's not what it is. With that expectation, the mystery itself is only briefly mentioned a few times throughout the book, and the resolution is unsatisfying.

What this is, is a nostalgic, coming of age story during the 1980s. There is a certain charm about it, but I'm not sure who it's for. Yes, we all spoke with the filthiest, most creative curse words we could come up with but, as an adult who lived during that time, I don't need or want every single one of those to be spelled out anymore. And yet, kids wouldn't find this interesting, because they wouldn't get the cultural references of the time.

I would recommend that, if you are a fan of Stranger Things, thiis might be interesting to you. just understand that it's about the journey, and not the actual barely-there story. Take it as a week or so in the lives of some boys coming into puberty during the 1980s, and enjoy it for what it is.

Had I had the proper expectations going into it, this would be four stars. I do appreciate the effort the author put into it and, slight audio quality issues aside, it's very well written. UPDATE: After reflecting on this for a couple of days, I've adjusted my rating. False expectations aside, Fieldgrove did accurately capture the time and language that I remember from my childhood.