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The Never Boys
Dean Mason is a boy with many secrets, running from the law and his own personal demons On the run from the law, Dean Mason gets a job on a sheep farm. There, he finds a series of letters written by Clive during World War II. Dean eventually discovers that Clive only pretended to go to war in order to persuade his girlfriend and family that he was really fighting for his country. This is a compelling story capturing the spirit of Australian outback while following a boy fighting his own personal demons.
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2005
30 people want to read
About the author
Scott Monk
11 books16 followersScott Monk (born 14 June 1974) is an Australian author. Monk was born in Macksville in New South Wales before moving to South Australia to join The Advertiser as a cadet journalist. In 1999 he won South Australia's Young Journalist of the Year Award.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 19, 2018
I read this one in about two hours after reading Monk's other book 'Raw' two days prior. They were both short-ish easy reads but I think I preferred this one simply because there was a lot of mystery and twists surrounding Dean's character and the route the story took. I loved the South Australian setting, especially the bits in Adelaide since I could actually visualise exactly where the characters were.
November 17, 2015
Dean is on the run from the law. He jumped a train to escape a police blockade in the middle of the Nullarbor Plain, hitchhiked with some truckies east and now he's in sheep country near South Australia's Barossa Valley. He's got no money, he's desperate for food and he's living without hope.
He lands a back-breaking job for a single day in a shearing shed. It's hard and dirty but he earns enough money in that one stint to throw in the offer of more work. He's off to Sydney by bus... Only the bus drivers are on strike and it will be at least three days before they're back. His money isn't enough to see him through the extra time.
He returns to the farm. The General is furious. Although she takes him back, she's wasted so much time looking for a replacement for him she won't pay him daily, only fortnightly. Just so he won't skip out on her.
One day follows another. It's hard, hard yakka. His fellow-workers play the usual tricks on him they do to all rookies in the game. Gradually he earns their respect, as well as that of the General.
Dean finds a cache of old letters in the room where he's staying—Clive Clancy, the old man who lived there until he died, was a World War II veteran. The letters are the messages he wrote to Bea, the girl he left behind while he was on a warship in the Pacific. Clive's vivid description of the conflict and life in the warzone draws Dean close to him. He becomes intrigued to see so many of the letters have been marked 'return to sender'.
Dean falls heavily for the General's rebel daughter, Zara, who is his own age. The idea of heading to Sydney recedes the more he's with her. Zara's great looks, outgoing nature, wild ways and desire to travel the world ignite a flame inside him. His feelings and his eventual pursuit of her puts too great a strain on his friendship with Hayden, one of the young shearers. They come to blows. And both lose their jobs.
As deeply as Dean has fallen for Zara, her friend Michelle has fallen for him. Despite kicking him out, the General finds him job after job in the district. As the shearing moves on, she gets him a job in a vineyard.
But the police are closing in...
Dean's past is catching up with him fast. He survives one interrogation by a suspicious local cop only because of his meticulous research into the real Dean Mason. Stupid kid put his whole life on Facebook...
But Dean knows time is running out for him.
He discovers Clive's letters are all frauds. Clive was never on a warship in the Pacific conflict. It's all made up to make the girl he loved believe he was in the warzone when in fact he was working on the docks. Dean is rocked. He's been hiding from himself too. He realises he's hurt Michelle as deeply as Clive hurt Bea. And that maybe it's not Zara he's staying for, at all.
A superb story. Satisfying, realistic and complex. I loved the 'long weight' episode. All the way through the book Dean shines as such a genuinely nice kid that I kept wondering why the police were after him. When it is finally revealed why he is on the run, the explanation perfectly fits his character.
Another winner from Scott Monk.
He lands a back-breaking job for a single day in a shearing shed. It's hard and dirty but he earns enough money in that one stint to throw in the offer of more work. He's off to Sydney by bus... Only the bus drivers are on strike and it will be at least three days before they're back. His money isn't enough to see him through the extra time.
He returns to the farm. The General is furious. Although she takes him back, she's wasted so much time looking for a replacement for him she won't pay him daily, only fortnightly. Just so he won't skip out on her.
One day follows another. It's hard, hard yakka. His fellow-workers play the usual tricks on him they do to all rookies in the game. Gradually he earns their respect, as well as that of the General.
Dean finds a cache of old letters in the room where he's staying—Clive Clancy, the old man who lived there until he died, was a World War II veteran. The letters are the messages he wrote to Bea, the girl he left behind while he was on a warship in the Pacific. Clive's vivid description of the conflict and life in the warzone draws Dean close to him. He becomes intrigued to see so many of the letters have been marked 'return to sender'.
Dean falls heavily for the General's rebel daughter, Zara, who is his own age. The idea of heading to Sydney recedes the more he's with her. Zara's great looks, outgoing nature, wild ways and desire to travel the world ignite a flame inside him. His feelings and his eventual pursuit of her puts too great a strain on his friendship with Hayden, one of the young shearers. They come to blows. And both lose their jobs.
As deeply as Dean has fallen for Zara, her friend Michelle has fallen for him. Despite kicking him out, the General finds him job after job in the district. As the shearing moves on, she gets him a job in a vineyard.
But the police are closing in...
Dean's past is catching up with him fast. He survives one interrogation by a suspicious local cop only because of his meticulous research into the real Dean Mason. Stupid kid put his whole life on Facebook...
But Dean knows time is running out for him.
He discovers Clive's letters are all frauds. Clive was never on a warship in the Pacific conflict. It's all made up to make the girl he loved believe he was in the warzone when in fact he was working on the docks. Dean is rocked. He's been hiding from himself too. He realises he's hurt Michelle as deeply as Clive hurt Bea. And that maybe it's not Zara he's staying for, at all.
A superb story. Satisfying, realistic and complex. I loved the 'long weight' episode. All the way through the book Dean shines as such a genuinely nice kid that I kept wondering why the police were after him. When it is finally revealed why he is on the run, the explanation perfectly fits his character.
Another winner from Scott Monk.
January 9, 2014
This would pass well as a coming of age story, a tale of hiding from oneself, of making choices and of facing one's fears. The characters are diverse in their personalities and their actions; the story line is complex and realistic and the values that are portrayed are worthwhile.
The book contains humour, romance, deception, crime and hard-work. This novel would be popular with teens aged 14+.
The book contains humour, romance, deception, crime and hard-work. This novel would be popular with teens aged 14+.
February 4, 2015
This is a story that tells you a lot about Australia and the outback that most of the country consists of. It's about a boy on the run who winds up in a small town in the middle of nowhere and is given a job as a shearer. Just another great Scott Monk book, I hope he writes many more!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews