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In
the glorious summer of 1960, six pals from William Howitt
Secondary Modern School in the hilltop mining town of
Heanor, decide to cycle up into the high Derbyshire hills.
They have a great time. Everything goes well - until they
cycle out of the village of Litton, along a narrow country
lane and speedily descend the 550ft steep drop into a
deep, wooded ravine which is called Water-cum-Jolly-Dale.
Six boys were happily racing down the hill, but only five
reach the bottom!
In
the following hours, the boys make a thorough search for
their friend - in vain. Eventually the police are called
in and make a careful professional search - in vain. Where
is the lost lad?
Forty-three
years pass and one of the original pals who has spent
most of his adult life in the United States returns to
England to re-open the search. An odyssey develops which
takes many twists and turns around the lives of different
men, some of whom can hardly recognise each other four
decades on. An investigation which turns lives upside-down.
A quest which eventually comes to a dramatic and stunning
conclusion when we finally learn the devastating truth
about - the 'Lost Lad'.
This
is an autobiographic, sometimes comic, sometimes erotic
psychological thriller; a 'rollercoaster of emotions'
from the depths of despair to the heights of happiness.
Along the way, Narvel Annable skilfully blending fact
and fiction, reveals a secret history and vividly recreates
the gritty realities of his youth on both sides of the
Atlantic. A local story of long-lost friendship and a
Derbyshire travelogue which combines elements of folklore,
legend and quirky, crooked old men who inhabit the murky
depths of a sleazy underworld. It is all set against the
magnificent moody backdrop of a 'howling wilderness',
spectacular ravines and lush green valleys. This entertaining
and ingenious whodunit will take you through the recesses,
nooks and crannies of a life, which, for many years, lay
hidden behind the mask of a stern and respectable schoolmaster.
I've
never featured in a mystery thriller before.
I've enjoyed every minute of it.
John
Holmes, BBC Radio Nottingham.
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