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Dead Straight Line
Two unlikely worlds collide as prize-winning Malcolm Duffy explores the life-changing repercussions of a single action in a game gone wrong.
Sixteen-year-old Rory is a rule-breaker, a risk taker, a maverick. As a kick he comes up with a game called Dead Straight Line. The idea is simple – wherever you happen to be, you've got to get home in a dead straight line. Across the back gardens of stranger's houses, locked parks, trespassing on private property – whatever it takes.
One day, Rory pressures his friend Eliot into playing, resulting in a serious accident. Shunned by friends and facing pressure from his furious parents, Rory becomes even more angry and disruptive. When his school suggests helping out a care home, he's unimpressed. But paired up with Tanker, an eighty-year-old Geordie military veteran, who fought in the Falklands War, things slowly begin to change.
From seeking thrills to finding friends, choosing the right path in life is never a dead straight line. But there is always a way.
Sixteen-year-old Rory is a rule-breaker, a risk taker, a maverick. As a kick he comes up with a game called Dead Straight Line. The idea is simple – wherever you happen to be, you've got to get home in a dead straight line. Across the back gardens of stranger's houses, locked parks, trespassing on private property – whatever it takes.
One day, Rory pressures his friend Eliot into playing, resulting in a serious accident. Shunned by friends and facing pressure from his furious parents, Rory becomes even more angry and disruptive. When his school suggests helping out a care home, he's unimpressed. But paired up with Tanker, an eighty-year-old Geordie military veteran, who fought in the Falklands War, things slowly begin to change.
From seeking thrills to finding friends, choosing the right path in life is never a dead straight line. But there is always a way.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 9, 2026
About the author
Malcolm Duffy
5 books11 followersMalcolm Duffy was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Having spent many years as a successful advertising copywriter he decided it was time to write something that didn't have a pack-shot and logo.
The idea for his debut novel came when he was working as Creative Director at Comic Relief. He visited a project that helped women and children who'd suffered as a result of domestic violence. The idea for Me Mam. Me Dad. Me was born. But the book doesn't just focus on the heavy issue of domestic abuse. The story is about a boy's love for his mam. A mam's love for her son. And a dad's love for his boy.
The idea for his debut novel came when he was working as Creative Director at Comic Relief. He visited a project that helped women and children who'd suffered as a result of domestic violence. The idea for Me Mam. Me Dad. Me was born. But the book doesn't just focus on the heavy issue of domestic abuse. The story is about a boy's love for his mam. A mam's love for her son. And a dad's love for his boy.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 17, 2026
This is brilliant
Lots to say about peer pressure and thoughtless actions and their unintended consequences.
Enjoyed the story and seeing the character growth over the course of the story.
Lots to say about peer pressure and thoughtless actions and their unintended consequences.
Enjoyed the story and seeing the character growth over the course of the story.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Dead Straight Line
By Malcolm Duffy
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Brilliantly written and beautifully debated prize-winning Malcolm Duffy explores the life-changing results of a single risky action in a school gang game gone wrong.
Sixteen-year-old Rory is a rule-breaker, a risk taker, a troublemaker and he is head of the gang. As a result of boredom, he comes up with his own game called Dead Straight Line. A simple idea – to get home in a dead straight line.
It doesn’t matter what’s in your way, gardens, locked gates or parks, high fences or brick walls, trespassing is the only way! And to be in Rory’s gang this is your chance to prove yourself.
But when Rory pressures his friend Eliot into playing, a serious accident is the result! And life changes for both boys.
Rory is blamed and shunned by his friends.
Both families suffer, physically and emotionally.
And friendships are tested as actions fuelled by anger are the results of each character’s pain.
When Rory’s school suggests helping out a care home, he’s uninterested and unimpressed. But after being paired up with Tanker, an eighty-year-old Geordie military veteran, who fought in the Falklands War, things slowly begin to change.
Opening up to a stranger helps Rory to see options.
Talking out his feelings helps him to understand himself and others.
And giving opportunities a chance can have an impact on more than just yourself.
A brilliant middle grade story full of teenager thrills and risks alongside plot twists.
Life throw’s challenges at us but it is the path you choose that paves the way.
Life isn’t easy growing up.
It is never a straight line.
But there is always a way.
Thank you Malcolm Duffy for creating beautiful layers of empathy when only darkness can be felt. We all NEED to know that there is ALWAYS a way.
Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
#Netgallery
#waterstones
#Amazon
By Malcolm Duffy
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Brilliantly written and beautifully debated prize-winning Malcolm Duffy explores the life-changing results of a single risky action in a school gang game gone wrong.
Sixteen-year-old Rory is a rule-breaker, a risk taker, a troublemaker and he is head of the gang. As a result of boredom, he comes up with his own game called Dead Straight Line. A simple idea – to get home in a dead straight line.
It doesn’t matter what’s in your way, gardens, locked gates or parks, high fences or brick walls, trespassing is the only way! And to be in Rory’s gang this is your chance to prove yourself.
But when Rory pressures his friend Eliot into playing, a serious accident is the result! And life changes for both boys.
Rory is blamed and shunned by his friends.
Both families suffer, physically and emotionally.
And friendships are tested as actions fuelled by anger are the results of each character’s pain.
When Rory’s school suggests helping out a care home, he’s uninterested and unimpressed. But after being paired up with Tanker, an eighty-year-old Geordie military veteran, who fought in the Falklands War, things slowly begin to change.
Opening up to a stranger helps Rory to see options.
Talking out his feelings helps him to understand himself and others.
And giving opportunities a chance can have an impact on more than just yourself.
A brilliant middle grade story full of teenager thrills and risks alongside plot twists.
Life throw’s challenges at us but it is the path you choose that paves the way.
Life isn’t easy growing up.
It is never a straight line.
But there is always a way.
Thank you Malcolm Duffy for creating beautiful layers of empathy when only darkness can be felt. We all NEED to know that there is ALWAYS a way.
Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
#Netgallery
#waterstones
#Amazon
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2026
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
DEAD STRAIGHT LINE is another timely novel from Malcolm Duffy about contemporary boyhood. Though, hopefully, this sort of disaster doesn't happen to readers, it's a tale about the consequences of one's actions and learning to do better.
The book digs into feelings of guilt, loneliness, and betrayal - not just from Rory but other characters too. The desire to be liked leading to reckless acts. Not stopping to think first having consequences. Who we blame and what that makes us do when something goes wrong. The book also examines how our expectation of others - those we label troublemakers and teachers' pets - leads to who we trust.
I really loved the intergenerational aspect of this book. Rory is paired with a Falklands veteran at the nursing home and they both have their scars but they don't pass them on. It's not a book about intergenerational trauma but about how intergenerational relationships can be healing for all involved. Rory gets advice and a listening ear while the veteran (Tanker) gains a friend, someone to care about him.
Malcolm Duffy has a very distinctive writing style. He uses lots of short sentences and sentence fragments. It means there's a lot of white space on the page. It makes a book instantly recognisable as his.
DEAD STRAIGHT LINE is another timely novel from Malcolm Duffy about contemporary boyhood. Though, hopefully, this sort of disaster doesn't happen to readers, it's a tale about the consequences of one's actions and learning to do better.
The book digs into feelings of guilt, loneliness, and betrayal - not just from Rory but other characters too. The desire to be liked leading to reckless acts. Not stopping to think first having consequences. Who we blame and what that makes us do when something goes wrong. The book also examines how our expectation of others - those we label troublemakers and teachers' pets - leads to who we trust.
I really loved the intergenerational aspect of this book. Rory is paired with a Falklands veteran at the nursing home and they both have their scars but they don't pass them on. It's not a book about intergenerational trauma but about how intergenerational relationships can be healing for all involved. Rory gets advice and a listening ear while the veteran (Tanker) gains a friend, someone to care about him.
Malcolm Duffy has a very distinctive writing style. He uses lots of short sentences and sentence fragments. It means there's a lot of white space on the page. It makes a book instantly recognisable as his.
April 22, 2026
Having read some of Malcolm Duff’s previous books, I was happy to pick up his latest, Dead Straight Line, from our local independent bookseller.
The protagonist is Rory, a boy from a ‘nice’ family whose antics land himself in bother and his girlfriend’s brother in a wheelchair.
Dead Straight Line draws you into teen culture, peer pressure, relationships, social media impact. As a former teacher in a comp, I recognise the young characters who are believable and typical, quick to jump to conclusions and totally oblivious to any consequences. The rest of the cast are credible.
Malcolm weaves his other characters in carefully, each bring their own energy to the story, each have a part to play. The dynamic between actions and consequences is well thought through and I am sure this will be a hit with teens and will be essential reading in the classroom.
I read Dead Straight Line in two sittings so it’s a good read for adults too. It gets full marks from me.
The protagonist is Rory, a boy from a ‘nice’ family whose antics land himself in bother and his girlfriend’s brother in a wheelchair.
Dead Straight Line draws you into teen culture, peer pressure, relationships, social media impact. As a former teacher in a comp, I recognise the young characters who are believable and typical, quick to jump to conclusions and totally oblivious to any consequences. The rest of the cast are credible.
Malcolm weaves his other characters in carefully, each bring their own energy to the story, each have a part to play. The dynamic between actions and consequences is well thought through and I am sure this will be a hit with teens and will be essential reading in the classroom.
I read Dead Straight Line in two sittings so it’s a good read for adults too. It gets full marks from me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
In an era where the internet and social media has ramped up the already existing tendency for recklessness among teenagers, Rory is a wild youngster whose thrill seeking behaviour leaves him to develop a game that results in tragedy.
With the fallout affecting every aspect of not just Rory's life (not least because the tragedy has devastated his girlfriend's family), but his entire family's lives, he must adjust to his new life as a pariah.
Is there any path left towards redemption for him? This is a powerful, intelligent and memorable piece of story telling. Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
With the fallout affecting every aspect of not just Rory's life (not least because the tragedy has devastated his girlfriend's family), but his entire family's lives, he must adjust to his new life as a pariah.
Is there any path left towards redemption for him? This is a powerful, intelligent and memorable piece of story telling. Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Review of advance copy received from Author
Dead Straight Line is a gripping and thought-provoking story about choices, consequences, and personal growth. Malcolm Duffy skillfully explores teen rebellion, friendship, and redemption, making it a compelling read for young adult readers and educators alike.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
An excellent YA book. Contemporary and relevant. Would especially recommend this for teens who find short, pacy chapters helpful in reading.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews