Just a Small Town: A powerful and hardhitting literary novella perfect for fans of Shuggie Bain

By Paul Linggood

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

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1504089650
• ISBN13: 9781504089654
• Release Date: November 2023
• Publisher: Bloodhound Books
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.2" x 8.0"