Just a Small Town

Four young people fight to survive the streets, in this gritty novella about those left behind: “Compulsive reading.” —Mick Finlay, author of the Arrowood mysteries Industry is in decline. The streets are in decay. Many have gone—while those who remain seek escape in drugs. Alex consumes heroin to forget his abusive father. Jim hides from guilt about the friend he didn’t save. Chelsi’s brother killed a local boy, and ostracism pushes her toward a rival gang, prostitution, and loneliness. Danny is a hustler, but needs protection from the drug gang that supplies him. Can any of them endure against the odds in a town that could be anywhere in a world of addiction, crime, isolation, and manipulation? Debut author Paul Linggood raises challenging questions about a society that has become increasingly violent, in this novella of gripping suspense and gut-wrenching realism. “Each helpless soul, from the middle-aged labourers down the pub, to the hustling teenagers . . . are woven together by one common denominator.” —Stephen Scarcliffe, author of the Chemical Estate series “Brings a feral world to life.” —Helen Marshall, author of The Migration