Bon: The Last Highway

Fink (The Youngs: The Brothers Who Built AC/DC) leaves no stone unturned in this deep biography of Bon Scott, the original AC/DC front man. Fink focuses on AC/DC’s run from 1977 to Scott’s death in 1980 and relies heavily on sordid tales of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, but he offers little on the nuances of Scott’s early life or the band’s formation. Fink did manage to dig up some people from Scott’s orbit—lovers, drinking and snorting buddies—but the other members of AC/DC and the band’s management’s refused to talk to him. The first half of the book moves quickly, following the band’s hard road to the top and the costs of stardom, including their struggles with money, drugs and alcohol, and family life. The second half, though, will test all but the most die-hard fan’s patience as Fink sifts through conspiracy theories about Scott’s death in February 1980 (weighing questions about why he was found dead in the back of a parked car, who might have been with him when he died, and contradictions in accounts from those closest to him) and whether he wrote any of the lyrics for songs on AC/DC’s famous Back in Black album—and, if so, why he was not credited. This is a work for AC/DC completists. Agent: Scott Miller, Trident Media Group. (Nov.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review mischaracterized a theory about how Scott may have died.