Deadkidsongs

Litt's third novel sees him moving away from the studied cool of his previous work. The English countryside in the 1970s substitutes for the glamorous, quirky or violent aspects of modern Britain depicted in Corpsing and Beatniks. The four schoolboys at the centre of the book call themselves "Gang" and spend their time preparing for what they see as the imminent invasion by the Russians as well as arming themselves against the hostile adult world around them. This feeling intensifies after the death of one of the boys, a tragedy which the Gang blames on their families and causes them to seek revenge. Devoid of sentimentality or cuteness, Deadkidsongs conveys the real and imagined fears of childhood in an occasionally affected but ultimately convincing prose style.