Dudded

by Chris Heuston

Unemployed 17 year-old Banjo Coughlan is desperate for any kind of job to avoid going back to school. ‘Coggo’, his dad, is a broken down ex-footballer working at a petrol station, Banjo’s mum is dead from cancer and his little sister Dakota is running wild. If not for Banjo stepping up and the guidance and help from his step-mum, Candy, Banjo’s family could easily fall apart.
When Banjo meets sexy stranger, Eve at a school friend’s party his world spirals out of control. Eve drugs Banjo and robs his old man of ‘some pills – it’s not bloody heroin’ – that he was supposed to deliver for an old football team mate. A simple favour (with cash benefits) that plunges Banjo’s family into a world of crime and danger.
What follows are drive-by shootings, lies, deception, semi-professional lawn-mowing, football coaching propositions, over inquisitive neighbours with next level surveillance hardware, sketchy takeaway food, petrol station road rage incidents, stolen cars, dodgy boyfriends, and a drug drop off that goes catastrophically wrong.
All Banjo wants is a steady job and, pretty please, a steady girlfriend. If only . . .

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 18, 2026