When a Legend Knows the Score: Chris Salewicz Reviews Nightmare in Jamaica

 Legendary music journalist and author Chris Salewicz reviews Nightmare in Jamaica. Read why the man who wrote the book on Bob Marley and Joe Strummer calls Tommy Kennedy’s prison memoir an "extraordinary story."

The Dub Side of Life

You write a book and you send it out into the world. You hope it lands. You hope someone picks it up and understands that the ink on the page is actually blood and sweat and years of your life lost to a system that wanted to swallow you whole. But when the feedback comes from a man like Chris Salewicz, it hits different. It isn't just a review. It is validation.

Chris Salewicz isn't some armchair critic sitting in a plush office in London guessing what the heat feels like. He is a heavyweight. He is the man who was on the frontlines when punk was screaming its first breath and reggae was shaking the foundations of the UK.

Here is what he had to say about my book, Nightmare in Jamaica:

"Tommy Kennedy lives on the dub side of life. Which sounds romantic until you find you are sentenced to three years in the General Penitentiary in Kingston, Jamaica, one of the most terrifying jails in the world. Which gives Tommy time enough to think about how he got there. An extraordinary story."

Real Recognises Real

Getting a nod from Salewicz matters because he knows the score. He sums up the reality of my situation better than anyone. He mentions the "dub side of life" and he is spot on. It sounds like a rhythm you want to move to until the bass drops out and leaves you standing in the dark.

Chris knows that darkness. He made his name at the NME back in the late seventies. He wasn't watching from the sidelines. He was in the mix. He was drinking with Joe Strummer and documenting the chaos of The Clash. He captured the energy of a generation that was angry and loud and beautiful.

But it is his connection to Jamaica that makes his words on my book weigh so heavy.

The Jamaican Connection

Salewicz didn't just visit Jamaica for a holiday. He lived it. He spent years on the island and earned the trust of the culture. He befriended Bob Marley and wrote Bob Marley: The Untold Story, which is the definitive account of the reggae king. He knows the politics. He knows the poverty. He knows the beauty that sits right next to the violence.

When he reads about the General Penitentiary in Nightmare in Jamaica, he isn't imagining a movie set. He knows the smell of fear and rot. He knows what the concrete feels like when the sun has been baking it for twelve hours straight. He wrote the screenplay for Third World Cop. He understands the streets of Kingston.

The Verdict

Chris Salewicz respects authenticity because he has spent a lifetime chasing it. He respects survivors. That is why he reviewed Nightmare in Jamaica. He recognises the voice of someone who has been through the fire and managed to walk out the other side.

It is an honour to have his words on my work. It proves that this story—my story—is one that needed to be told.

https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-9L49QF2S8E