It’s the first day of the school holidays and best mates Marshall and Rory are riding hard out on their bikes. Rory is just enjoying freedom from school but Marshall is enjoying the day’s freedom from everything.

It’s tough at home for Marshall. His dad, a could’ve-been-famous guitarist, swings from anger to melancholy and every emotion in between, now that his days of being a roadie for rock bands are over and he can hardly hold his own guitar any longer. His hands were badly injured and he’s struggled to move on with his life.

Now for Marshall, with only his Dad in the house, life at home is something to escape.

When Rory finds something in the dirt in the scant remains of a bulldozed house, Marshall finally sees a real place he can run to when his father gets too much. It’s a bunker, long forgotten and hiding in the dirt. He and Rory are excited at all the time they can spend in it, and future plans are made.

But when Rory suggests showing others, Marshall sees red. He’d fallen out with Rory’s other friends and even the thought of sharing this place with anyone else is impossible. But soon Marshall falls out with Rory too, and then Rory does the unthinkable.

Marshall needs this place. This Den. He has to have it no matter what. Even if it comes down to fighting his best friend.

With a new ally at his side, Marshall knows what he must do.

Another gritty, authentic read from a master of teen male dynamics, The Den is full of pure, raw feelings, roaring under the surface of its main characters. A tough time at home makes a hidden bunker the perfect place to escape to. This sudden solution to a long-time problem is so good, that there is nothing more important than keeping it a secret, driving tensions high.

But exciting secrets are always broken eventually, and this betrayal comes swiftly, bringing anger, hurt and swinging fists. This whirl of emotions and confusion is clear on the page and there doesn’t seem to be a way out of it. But an answer does come – brilliantly set up and believable, with hope for the future of all the characters.

A powerful tale of male relationships within both friends and family.

Author – Keith Gray

Dyslexic Title / Reading Age 8 – Interest Age Teen

Out October 2023 – NZ / Aust

If you enjoyed The Den, Read a Review of another great read by Keith Gray (Click on the Cover)

(2023, Barrington Stoke, Dyslexic, Dyslexia, Quick Reads, Reluctant Readers, Family, Friendship, Betrayal, Secret, Bunker, Demolition, Hidden, Hiding place, Escape, Depression, Guitarist, Roadie, Musician, Big Sister, Walking on Eggshells, Moving Forward, Fight, Emotions, Male relationships)