The Past Never Dies

When his beloved little brother is stolen away, five-year-old Tommy Farrier is left alone with his alcoholic mam, his violent step-dad and his guilt. Too young to understand what has really happened, Tommy is sure of only one thing. He is to blame.

Tommy tries to be good, to live-up to his brother’s increasingly hazy memory, but trapped in a world of shame and degradation he grows up with just two options; poverty or crime. And crime pays.

Or so he thinks.

A teenage drug-dealer for the vicious Burns gang, Tommy’s life is headed for disaster, until, in the place he least expects, Tommy sees a familiar face…

And then things get a whole lot worse…..

My Thoughts:

After reading Simon’s previous book Backstories, I couldn’t wait to read this one. This story is all about Tommy and how when he was a young child, his brother got taken away from him, he thinks it is all his fault, Tommy’s life is no good for him with an alcoholic mum and a violent step dad, Tommy is being dragged down this no good path too, he gets caught up in drug dealing and so forth and he can’t seem to get out of it until someone shows up who he is least expecting. I liked how the tension and intrigue about where the story may lead to, I really enjoyed reading this book, there is plenty of drama and interesting characters packed into this short read but my god it takes you on one hell of a ride and I just didn’t want to get off.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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