Stagger

by Tom Dearden

Dave Martin is a vulnerable stonemason still much in need of his weekly counselling sessions. Living in his dead mother’s neglected flat, Dave’s impending marriage to fiancée Linda forces him to ponder love and the meaning of his working-class life and sensibilities. To his colleagues Scopes, as Dave’s affectionately known, is a stoic friend.

Scargs, an obese Northern rogue; Gerry, a recovering alcoholic; Punch, a family man with a chequered past; and old romantic Ash are the friends that join Dave on his stag party, Brighton providing each character freedom to escape reality and their individual problems.

An autumnal sun rising over London signals another working week in London, one filled with the same old problems, as the debauchery of the weekend fades, replaced by a more diluted yet violent world.

180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2012