Last Lesson

'Devastatingly good' - Clare Mackintosh, author of After The End 
 
13 Reasons Why meets The Wasp Factory in an impossible to put down thriller that will take your breath away. 
 
Last year, Ollie Morcombe was a star pupil, popular and a gifted musician. 
 
Then, after the accident, everything changed. Now he's an outcast, a prime target of the school bullies who have made his life a living hell. 
 
Today - the last day of the school year - he's brought those bullies a gift. A homemade pipe bomb. 
 
What has driven a model student to plan an unspeakable revenge? And with the clock ticking down to home time, what can anybody do to stop him? 
 
'A powerfully charged study in empathy' - Financial Times 
 
'A sensitive, gripping book about mental health and masculinity' - Samuel Pollen, author of The Year I Didn't Eat

'A powerfully charged study in empathy'

Clare Mackintosh, author of After The End

A sensitive, gripping book about mental health and masculinity

Samuel Pollen, author of The Year I Didn’t Eat

Tackles toxic masculinity in the most unflinching way

James Goodhand lives in Surrey with his wife and young son. A mechanic by day, much of his work has been written at an oil-stained workbench whilst ignoring a queue of broken cars in need of his attention. James is also a keen musician, regularly gigging as a rhythm and blues pianist.

Last year, Ollie Morcombe was a star pupil, popular and a gifted musician. 
 
Then, after the accident, everything changed. Now he's an outcast, a prime target of the school bullies who have made his life a living hell. 
 
Today - the last day of the school year - he's brought those bullies a gift. A homemade pipe bomb. 
 
What has driven a model student to plan an unspeakable revenge? And with the clock ticking down to home time, what can anybody do to stop him?

James Goodhand

Stylish, thought-provoking thriller territory . . . Highly recommended

Staggeringly good . . . had me hanging on every word

Louisa Reid, author of Wrecked and Lies Like Love

Man Down is truly special. A love letter to youth, life, love and hope, it's utterly compelling, completely original and will undoubtedly be one of the standout books of 2022. An absolute must read.

Good books make you feel something. Great books change the way you feel about everything. Man Down is a great book. No one is writing about young men's lives with as much warmth, empathy and humour as James Goodhand is right now.

Samuel Pollen, author of The Year I Didn't Eat

An excellent look at what it means to 'be a man' amid a culture of peer pressure and toxic masculinity while navigating desire and friendship. Loved it.

Emotionally complex, dark and clever - a very unexpected, thoughtful and original book. I can honestly think of no other YA quite like it.

A gritty, gripping tale of a young man searching for meaning in a life that's far from ordinary.

Will Parks needs to man up. 
 
A man stands. A man fights. A man bleeds. 
 
These are the first lessons you learn in a town where girls are objects, words are weak and fists do the talking. 
 
Will's more at home in the classroom than the gym, and the most important woman in his life is his gran. So how can a boy who's always backed away from a fight become the hero who saves the day? 
 
Because a disaster is coming. One that Will can prevent. But only if he learns the most important lesson of all: sometimes to step up, you have to man down.

James Goodhand

Praise for Man Down

Stylish, thought-provoking thriller territory . . . Highly recommended

Staggeringly good . . . had me hanging on every word

Man Down is truly special. A love letter to youth, life, love and hope, it's utterly compelling, completely original and will undoubtedly be one of the standout books of 2022. An absolute must read.

Stylish, thought-provoking thriller territory . . . Highly recommended

Staggeringly good . . . had me hanging on every word

Man Down is truly special. A love letter to youth, life, love and hope, it's utterly compelling, completely original and will undoubtedly be one of the standout books of 2022. An absolute must read.

Stylish, thought-provoking thriller territory . . . Highly recommended

Staggeringly good . . . had me hanging on every word

Man Down is truly special. A love letter to youth, life, love and hope, it's utterly compelling, completely original and will undoubtedly be one of the standout books of 2022. An absolute must read.

Books by James Goodhand

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