Dead Straight Line

Two unlikely worlds collide as prize-winning Malcolm Duffy explores the life-changing repercussions of a single action in a game gone wrong. Sixteen-year-old Rory is a rule-breaker, a risk taker, a maverick. As a kick he comes up with a game called Dead Straight Line. The idea is simple - wherever you happen to be, you''ve got to get home in a dead straight line. Across the back gardens of stranger''s houses, locked parks, trespassing on private property - whatever it takes. One day, Rory pressures his friend Eliot into playing, resulting in a serious accident. Shunned by friends and facing pressure from his furious parents, Rory becomes even more angry and disruptive. When his school suggests helping out a care home, he''s unimpressed. But paired up with Tanker, an eighty-year-old Geordie military veteran, who fought in the Falklands War, things slowly begin to change. From seeking thrills to finding friends, choosing the right path in life is never a dead straight line. But there is always a way.

About the author

Malcolm Duffy

Product details

• Authors: Malcolm Duffy
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 12
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 09.04.2026
• EAN: 9781035919277
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3591927-7
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Children's and young people's books; YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Boys & Men, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings, YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Family / Multigenerational, General fiction (Children's / Teenage), School stories (Children's / Teenage), YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Disability