Dying is the best way to revive your musical career … even if you’re not really dead.

It’s all slipping away from Roc Molotov – his band, his girlfriend, and worst of all, his ability to play the game demanded by the star-making machinery of the music business. When the best record he’s ever made is about to pass unnoticed, his oldest friend and manager, Uncle Strange, concocts the perfect scheme. Roc will fake his death, on MTV, in front of millions of viewers, assuring massive success on his latest project and the ability to create a body of "posthumous" songs to feed the grieving fans and satisfy his still-active artistic imagination. The plan works to perfection, but the ever-restless Roc finds that being dead has its limitations in this novel that’s sex, death, and rock n’ roll, played in a satirical key.

Christopher Ward, Canada's original MuchMusic VJ, wrote the worldwide No. 1 hit Black Velvet. His songs have been recorded by Diana Ross, The Backstreet Boys, and many others, and he's been seen as a judge on YTV's The Next Star. Ward is also the author of Dead Brilliant and Mac in the City of Light. He lives in Toronto.

Christopher Ward's profile page

Christopher Ward is a warm, intelligent funny chap, so it's no surprise his book has those same attributes. A declining rock star who fakes his own death, a lecherous zen practicing manager, a phone sex operator working from her car, a beautiful no talent French singer and other memorable characters orbit in a world Christopher knows well, the music industry. His insider knowledge of that sometimes insane world couple with observations of LA celebrity and non-celebrity types make this a must read. I'm buying it and I got a free copy!

Colin Mochrie, comedian

Christopher Ward’s Dead Brilliant is a full tilt boogie…an insider’s take on that enduring institution known as rock and roll. Turn your sound system to the max and settle in for a wild and woolly ride.

Brad Smith, author of Shoot the Dog, and Crow's Landing

When aging rockstar Roc Molotov's manager suggests a scheme to fake the musician's death as a means of rebooting his career, Dead Brilliant becomes more than just a yarn draped in the tapestry of the current musical climate. MuchMusic alumni Christopher Ward delivers an over-the-top work of fiction filled with situations that could only come from someone who has spent years among the inner rings of the music industry.

Mike Bax, Lithium magazine