The Lost Boys of Ladywell
A punked out Scottish crime thriller that will blow your tits off. Based on the lad culture of the early 2000s, this is the story of four Scottish lads from the scheme who live for drugs and trance music.
Conflicts turn to disaster during a RATT rave and Phil goes missing. As the remaining lost boys – Nathan, Mikey and Lucas – search for Phil they are pulled into an underworld of crime, drug debts, addictions, loyalties and betrayals.
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Illustrated by Scottish artist & musician, Mark Deans.
Release date: October 2024
"Long before phrases like toxic masculinity were mainstream, scheme lads like me were trapped in a lad culture. None of us expected to see our thirties. To outsiders these lifestyles were extreme. I use creative fiction to take the reader inside." – Aidan Martin, author of Euphoric Recall
Chapter One: The Sesh
"Fuck knows what happened that night. Phil has been missing ever since. Lucas was off his tits and Mikey was gouching hard. I still don’t know how it got to this. All I know is my big cuz is gone. Not gone like he sometimes chooses to be. The way Phil loves to fall off the grid during a heavy drug binge. A self-sabotaging pity-party where he starts thinking about how shit the world has been to him. Not that type of gone where he disappears into a void of purple haze and vallies. This time he is GONE."
What people are saying about The Lost Boys of Ladywell
What Martin gets spot on is the realism of what life is like for people on the edge of society just trying to get by and feel something in their lives. With elements of Welsh, Kelman, and Bukowski it’s one of the best novels of the year.
– John Gerard Fagan, author of Fish Town & Silent Riders of the Sea
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Raw, frenetic, and funny, The Lost Boys of Ladywell is as wild and tragic as any heavy night out. With breathless pace and prose that buzzes off the page, it's a book you can't help but binge.
– Callum McSorley, author of Squeaky Clean (The McIlvanney Prize 2023)
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The Lost Boys of Ladywell takes you on a joyride and doesn’t let you go. The characters drip off the page and it immerses you in a world that is fierce and hilarious in equal measure. A truly wonderful example of proletarian fiction that oozes authenticity from its core. Highly recommended.
– Colin Burnett, author of A Working Class State of Mind and Who’s Aldo
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With a cacophony of words, characters, places and a plot driven at speed, The Lost Boys of Ladywell is not for the fainthearted. The themes of the story are beautifully illustrated by Mark Deans in his striking images which beckon the way in to each chapter, a perfect partner to the stark narration.
– Richard Wills, author of Bloody Social Worker
The only thing folk tell me they wish there was more of in Euphoric Recall, was a deeper dive into the 'mental years' which is why I focused my new work on the crazy years. So the reader can come inside and see for themselves. I have mums of sons message me every week trying to understand why their children grow up and get into those lifestyles. I get asked the same thing by politicians, media, and I get asked to give talks to explain it all. So honestly, I just decided to write like Hunter S Thompson and Charles Bukowski (specifically like in Post Office) and to keep Gabor Maté in mind and that's where my new work landed.
— Aidan Martin
About Aidan Martin & Mark Deans
Aidan Martin is a bestselling author, public speaker, and co-founder of the recovery organisation, The Scheme Livi, in Livingston, Scotland. His debut memoir, Euphoric Recall, was widely acclaimed. He received awards from Authors’ Foundation and K Blundell Trust towards this book. He also recently hosted an STV documentary called Let’s Talk About Trauma. Aidan lives in Livingston, Scotland.
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Website: aidanmartinauthor.co.uk
Facebook: AidanMartinAuthor
X: @AidanAuthor
Aidan Martin (left) & Mark Deans (right).
Mark Deans is an artist, musician, and co-founder / co-CEO of the lived experience recovery organisation, The Scheme Livi based in Livingston, Scotland. He is the creator of the cover art and interior illustrations in this book.
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Mark met Aidan in Ladywell as a child, spending countless days playing football and watching wrestling as they grew into manhood together. Mark started making art in 2019 as a second creative outlet alongside his music. Alongside Aidan at The Scheme, they facilitate art workshops to help those in their community.
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Facebook: MarkDeansMusic
Instagram: @darkmeansart