ALONE: With Crazy Steve

by Steve Lestrange, Carlton Leach (foreword)

Far from being 'just another hardman book', Crazy Steve should have been an accountant, or perhaps even a market trader, but the vile acts of others changed the course of this man's life.The fear of a sexual predator, the dread of going a blow too far and ending the life of another, the angst of holding his own child, and every extreme emotion in between. You are invited along on a journey of discovery, in an attempt to make sense of what happened to a child who survived the unthinkable and became a force to be reckoned with.This is the story of a little boy that could easily have had a more 'normal' life, but instead had everything taken away from him; innocence, ability to trust, opportunity, sanity…what do you do when you have nothing left? Subjected to years of sexual abuse, let down due to systematic failings and left broken, he had to survive, somehow. Fighting internal and external battles throughout his time in borstal, young offenders’ institutions and prison, he eventually succumbed to PTSD. After failed suicide attempts, Steven Lestrange did die in jail, but rebuilt from the remnants, Crazy Steve was unleashed.If you have the stomach for it, this is your chance to delve inside a man’s mind as he relives the worst possible betrayals a child could ever endure, then examine how it has impacted his path through life to present day. Recounting street fights, planned violent attacks, robberies, failed relationships, struggles of fatherhood, depression, trauma and despair. This story is like no other.In Crazy Steve you can have a loyal friend for life, but if instead you decide to make an enemy of him, you won’t see revenge coming, though it is sure to come as many have learned…the hard way!

199 pages, Hardcover

Published December 10, 2023