Punchbag by Robert Llewellyn

What the cover says:
Nick hasn't managed to achieve much in 35 years except a good set of pecs. He has a grotty flat, a stationary car, a teenage son who he doesn't know all that well, an ex-girlfriend who hates his guts, and a job as a night club bouncer that's going nowhere.
Then Tara, a speaker at a women's conference, invites him to San Francisco. She wants him to become a padded assailant in a women's self defence class. She wants him to wear a protective suit and assault women for a living. Why not? It's a free trip to the States.
It's a trip that's going to change Nick's life. But will it be for the better?

I had quite high hopes for this one. Robert Llewellyn is a star, and I loved his other novel that I've read (The Man on Platform 5). It didn't disappoint me entirely. The padded assailant thing is fascinating, as is Nick's transformation from zero to hero (kinda). It's not as good as TMoP5 but a reasonable read, and all the story threads run through nicely and are tied up neatly at the end in a very satisfactory way.

8/10