title: Rock Hotel
author: Raye, Keith F
description: Set mainly in the year 1981, Rock Hotel is the story of two exceptionally talented teenage boys who are natural stage performers. It follows their rise from street buskers at the age of twelve, to the verge of rock stardom. Alex is an outstanding vocalist who plays guitar and piano. Golden-blond and brown-eyed, he has been educated to a high standard at an exclusive school. He is sophisticated, well-spoken and gay. He comes from a wealthy, but strangely disconnected, English family.Robbie is Scottish and an orphan. Raised in a succession of care homes and institutions, repeatedly subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, he is deeply scarred by early life experiences that only his innate strength of character enabled him to survive. His education was, at best, basic. He is black-haired and blue-eyed, aggressive, antagonistic, foul-mouthed, and about as red-blooded a heterosexual teenage boy as you could ever hope to find.Yet, a deep bond forms between these two seemingly opposite characters. After a chance meeting brings them together when they are both eleven years old, Alex teaches Robbie to play the guitar, discovering that the Scot has an amazing talent for it. They begin a joint musical career at the age of twelve by busking on street corners, and later, by performing as a duo in pubs and clubs whenever school holidays allow them to meet up. At sixteen years old, experienced and popular, seduced by the call of freedom and independence, they decide to go 'on the road' full time. Their fortunes skyrocket when they meet Simon, an established and successful songwriter who would give almost anything to be a member of a band, but suffers from chronic performance anxiety; and take a turn for the worse when a dark shadow from Robbie's past threatens, not just their careers, but their very lives.This story involves some scenes of a sexual nature, but if you are looking for voyeuristic pornography you won't find it here. It does, however, include some strong language.