Nothing Keeps Me Anywhere is the story of healing but, as with all healing, first there must be pain, and the catalyst for this is the manipulation, and subsequent misinterpretation of an online comment – very much a modern phenomenon – and one which throws John’s personal and professional life off kilter.
John is a self-improvement coach who, as a result of decisions he makes following the sudden destabilising of his very successful business, teams up with Andrea, an aspiring mixed martial arts fighter.
Andrea’s world of MMA introduces John to Jesse and her father, Ronnie, and what follows is a story as full of passion as it is pain. The passion of the physical, that Blissett writes with such confidence; be it the bouts of fighting or the sex, is mirrored by the passion with which the family ties interwoven within this wonderful story of redemption are skilfully presented.
There is hardly a point in which the characters’ motivations are not truly aligned with those of our own, for despite this being fiction Blissett imbues his characters with very grounded responses. Responses which invoke empathy from his readers. He writes with an honesty that can do nothing but appeal to anybody with a conscience, because his characters are totally exposed; flaws and virtues.
Nothing Keeps Me Anywhere, Blissett’s third book, is yet another example of how, with dogged determination and relentless focus he is inexorably developing, and defining himself as a writer that should not be overlooked. This is a writer that takes his craft seriously, and one that is surely deserving of elevation above the rat king of self-publicity.
MB Blissett 