“Next Big Thing” by Boston rocker Terry Kitchen is a heartfelt and unflinching look into the life of Mark Zodiac, a twentysomething guy who is trying to make his way up the precarious ladder of the pop music business. Set in the 1980s in Boston, Mark’s band Shadowland is just good enough to get attention but not yet good enough to break out. In other words, Shadowland is just like thousands of other midlevel bands found in every city and town – talented, determined, and hopeful. “Next Big Thing” follows Mark as he tries to figure out how to make it all work: his girlfriends, bandmates, competing musicians, radio guys, managers. They all have their own ideas about what it takes to succeed. Mark has his ideas too, but he’s not an egomaniac; he tries to be accommodating, especially to his best friend/band mate/musical rival Will. The partners argue and reconcile, and neither one is confident enough to get a divorce and go it alone. “Next Big Thing” is like “The Office” in musicland: You get the feeling they’re destined to forever circle the airport without ever landing, but you root for them because they’re trying the very best they can. “Next Big Thing” makes you want to read a sequel set ten years in the future, so that you can see what has happened to Mark, his friends, and their dreams.

– Thomas Hauck is a Boston-based book editor and ghostwriter who serves both emerging and veteran authors.