Pretty Boy Red

Derek Byrne

‘Vivid, complex, hard-hitting and compelling’ Ray Robinson

In the juvenile wing of a prison in Western Australia, fourteen-year-old Joel Brady – small, girly-voiced, nicknamed ‘Psycho’ – is awaiting trial for his role as sidekick to child abductor Marcus Welby.

Joel still isn’t sure what he did that last day at Welby’s outback house of horror; his memory has blotted it out. Is his mind playing tricks in other respects too? Did he really see the malevolent Quentin, another of Welby’s associates, in the adult wing of the prison? Or is Quentin a figment of his imagination, as Joel’s lawyers insist?

A more immediate danger is hiding from the rampaging cons who have escaped the adult wing, one of whom wants Joel’s head. Will his cellmate Glenn, an arch-enemy who has turned into Joel’s first real friend, stay loyal?

Derek Byrne’s raw, visceral narrative takes us into an ultra-violent, alpha-male world where human connection is a double-edged sword. Interwoven with a gripping courtroom drama in which the truth about Welby’s chilling set-up gradually emerges, this powerful literary thriller marks the debut of a remarkable talent.

‘Vivid, complex, hard-hitting and compelling, with a protagonist who is endearing but also full of ambiguity. The violence is visceral and the potential for violence is never far away. Reading Pretty Boy Red is like walking on thin ice’ Ray Robinson, author of The Mating Habits of Stags

OUT JUNE 2026. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Hardback:

Published: Lightning (June 2026)

ISBN: 9781785634512