1) 13 year old Danny is new in town. It’s meant to be a new start, but for Danny and his mother the old problems remain. He’s a troublemaker and she has a habit of attracting the wrong men. With his new misfit friends in tow, Danny vows to scare men away from his mother. Enter Lee Howard. Local nightclub owner. Violent control freak. He is about to become a very painful thorn in Danny’s side… What do you do when your mother is dating a real life monster and no one can see it but you? Spanning the decade that brought us grunge and Britpop, Danny’s struggle is accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack. A powerful coming-of-age story of friendship, love and fighting back.

2) Having moved towns to escape his mother’s ex-boyfriend, Danny vows to keep his beautiful mother single and scare away any potential suitors. He soon makes friends with the local misfits and troublemakers and finds himself on a thrilling musical journey. Everything is as it should be for a teenager; good friends, good music and first love. However, things turn darker when his mother meets local nightclub owner Lee Howard. Howard is a dangerous control freak and there are very few adults who will believe a word Danny says. Who is Lee Howard and what does he ultimately want from Danny?

With his own personal soundtrack in his head, Danny explores the power of music in the decade of Grunge and Britpop. This is a story about music, dreams, first love, the friends who would risk anything to save you, and the choice between escaping or fighting back…

3) ‘Never go anywhere without music. I’m telling you. You never know when you are going to need it.’

England, 1993. Danny is 13 and falling in love with music in the decade of grunge and Britpop. New in town, life seems to be the up when he makes friends and feels the flush of first love. Added to that, is his determination to keep men away from his beautiful single mother. His plans backfire however when local nightclub owner Lee Howard enters his life and wins over his mother. Howard is a dangerous control freak who seems to be addicted to violence.

Told from both Howard and Danny’s point of view, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side is a powerful coming-of-age saga about friendship, music and the choice between escape or fighting back…

4) ‘I was always looking for music that made me shiver. You ever felt that? You know, when the words, or the chords, or the arrangement, something, at some point in a song makes you shiver, makes a tingle run down your spine, makes your hairs stand on end. I lived for that. I hunted it down. When it came it took my breath away and it felt like I was falling… I felt the music beating in my veins and I remembered that I was alive, and that this was a life.’

Set on a council estate in the south of England during the decade that brought us grunge followed by Britpop, The Boy With The Thorn In His Side is a gripping coming-of-age-story. Danny is on a journey of musical discovery and obsession, falling in love for the first time and having the best friends in the world. But he’s also got a problem…his mother is dating a real life monster and no one can see it but him. Lee Howard owns the local nightclub and is a control freak who seems to be addicted to violence. This intense and gritty novel follows the power struggle between Danny and Howard, as each tries to get what they want.

5) ‘I don’t have my headphones on yet, but the music is always in there. I have a constant walking soundtrack to my life you see. There is a song for everything. For every bit of pain, for every bit of joy, for every single moment I can see in bright clarity in my mind, for people’s faces and people’s words and for all the things left unsaid…’

In the decade of grunge and Britpop, 13 year old Danny is a music fan in the making. He is also on a mission to deter unsuitable men from his beautiful single mother. With his best friends behind him, a soundtrack in his head and first love on the horizon, things are looking good. Until local nightclub owner Lee Howard comes on the scene and sweeps Danny’s mother off her feet. Howard is a control freak who seems to be addicted to violence and Danny finds there are very few adults who will believe a word he says. A dark and gripping coming-of-age story about the power of music, first love, the friends who would do anything to save you and the choice between escaping and fighting back.