Matt Whyman,
Boy Kills Man
Hodder, 2004.
ISBN: 0 340 88194 1

'Abandoned but untouchable': author Matt Whyman presents a horrifying portrait of the dangers facing boys in modern Columbia: drugs, prostitution and killing. When teenager Shorty's friend, Alberto, disappears, he overcomes his initial timidity and joins Alberto's former gun gang, to search for him and repay his debt of friendship. Abused by his own family, and without hope of any honest employment or a viable future with Alberto's sister, Shorty is torn by a mixture of despair and triumph and decides there is only one way out. Convincingly narrated, this tale is by turns both tender and unsentimental, and portrays a violent society that perhaps mirrors the darkest reaches of our own urban subcultures.

RA 11+/IL 13+
Reviewed by Bridget Carrington
Spring 2004