A gritty contemporary drama, brimming with dark humour. Two typical teenage lives are transformed after a night of hallucinogenic experimentation, when the subsequent bad trip spills into their real lives with tragic consequences. A desperate but comically bizarre search for redemption begins, with help from an unlikely source. (contains swearing)
What readers are saying:
"This novel is a riot from start to finish. With echoes of Irvine Welsh’s Glue, Gregory’s Girl, and Tarantino’s B-Movie obsession, Cowan takes us on a zig-zag bobsleigh ride (with no brakes) through Lanarkshire’s darkest corners. A story about friendship and tragedy, love and renewal, it entertains from first page to last. Great fun."
"Cowan starts you out with what you think will be a hilarious coming-of-age tale akin to The Inbetweeners, or Superbad (gross-out and toe curlingly funny), but before long he's laid his stall out, and rips the carpet from beneath your feet, leaving you tumbling along with his characters as they struggle to pick up the pieces."
"This is the kind of novel for readers who want to be pulled into a gritty story and come out of it moved by its poignancy". - underground book reviews
"This was my literary surprise of 2014...With his debut novel, Cowan joins the ranks of a new breed of British novelists, telling their stories the way they want them told. Wonderful."
“Started out like a cross between Gregory's Girl and Trainspotting and then got a whole lot darker. The sort of dark humour Scottish writers excel at ... think Christopher Brookmyre.”
"a little gem of a novel… full of warmth, humour and real character… reminiscent of Roddy Doyle's chancers and layabouts"
"This is hands down one of the best books I have read this year. Robert Cowan has a unique style that piqued my curiosity from the first paragraph and held me firmly in his literary grips until the very last page. ..Not often comes along a book that sticks with me for days after I put it down. Cowan managed to do just that in his superbly crafted debut novel."
What readers are saying:
"This novel is a riot from start to finish. With echoes of Irvine Welsh’s Glue, Gregory’s Girl, and Tarantino’s B-Movie obsession, Cowan takes us on a zig-zag bobsleigh ride (with no brakes) through Lanarkshire’s darkest corners. A story about friendship and tragedy, love and renewal, it entertains from first page to last. Great fun."
"Cowan starts you out with what you think will be a hilarious coming-of-age tale akin to The Inbetweeners, or Superbad (gross-out and toe curlingly funny), but before long he's laid his stall out, and rips the carpet from beneath your feet, leaving you tumbling along with his characters as they struggle to pick up the pieces."
"This is the kind of novel for readers who want to be pulled into a gritty story and come out of it moved by its poignancy". - underground book reviews
"This was my literary surprise of 2014...With his debut novel, Cowan joins the ranks of a new breed of British novelists, telling their stories the way they want them told. Wonderful."
“Started out like a cross between Gregory's Girl and Trainspotting and then got a whole lot darker. The sort of dark humour Scottish writers excel at ... think Christopher Brookmyre.”
"a little gem of a novel… full of warmth, humour and real character… reminiscent of Roddy Doyle's chancers and layabouts"
"This is hands down one of the best books I have read this year. Robert Cowan has a unique style that piqued my curiosity from the first paragraph and held me firmly in his literary grips until the very last page. ..Not often comes along a book that sticks with me for days after I put it down. Cowan managed to do just that in his superbly crafted debut novel."
