Screenwriter Boyce's first book hits the mark with quirky characters and a plot that is funny, exciting, and complex. Already turned into a movie this delightful and thought-provoking story succeeds on several levels. Damian is surely one of the most poignantly endearing narrators in a while. He wants so badly to be good and do right, and he's so completely clueless. Like Huck Finn, he tells the reader far more than he understands himself, and his imagination or visions or whatever you think they are (the author is deliberately vague) are blurring the line between fantasy and reality.

But in addition to the humor, poignancy, and suspense, this story has intellectual depth as well. As the boys start spreading the wealth around their school and town they inadvertently change the economy of the schoolyard. And while a quarter million pounds is a lot of money, it's not unlimited, and there are so many needs out there. As one boy struggles to do what's right, another struggles to satisfy all his appetites, and the whole town wants a piece, many important and topical issues are raised. This novel is sure to be frequently chosen by reading groups for years to come.

From the Book:
As I watched, a little scrap of darkness seemed to get free of the big darkness and come rolling through the air toward me. It crashed into the front end of the hermitage, smashing the boxes flat and letting even more cold air in. It squatted on the flattened cardboard like a big leathery toad.

I went over and touched it. It was a bag. It had come apart along the zip and its insides were spilling out. And its insides were money. It wasn't a vision or a visitation as such. I supposed you could call it a sign, A big loud sign. It was money. Banknotes, Piles and piles of them. Thousands and thousands of pounds. Millions even.