Author's third and maybe final novel in series

The latest novel by a Sleaford author is dedicated to the students of the local school where he taught for 17 years.
Author Malcolm Moyes.Author Malcolm Moyes.
Author Malcolm Moyes.

The Boy Who Preferred Not To Exist is the third in a series of young adult books from Malcolm Moyes, featuring – in his words – the ‘ubiquitous rogue and all-round post-modern legend’ Arry Trumper.

Malcolm, 66, retired from Carre’s Grammar School as assistant headteacher in 2015, having been there since 1998.

In 2016, the ex-English teacher made his debut as a fiction writer and introduced the world to Arry Trumper with The Boy Who Preferred To Be Somebody Else. The follow-up, The Boy Who Still Preferred To Be Somebody Else, was published in 2017.

The cover of the latest book.The cover of the latest book.
The cover of the latest book.

Reviews of the books have compared Malcolm to Roald Dahl, David Walliams, and Keith Waterhouse.

“It’s very nice to be considered in such distinguished company, so I hope that the new book does not disappoint,” he said.

Of this latest instalment, he said: “The book was a bit of a challenge to write as the hero of the story never seems to actually appear.

“Instead, the reader has to make do with a gallery of other characters, such as the escapologist known as Oudini and an American entrepreneur by the name of R. Parry Umrat, purveyor of the finest techno-wigs ... well, you get the picture I’m sure.”

It is also likely to be the last in the series, as Malcolm explained: “After the second book, I said that I would not write a third one, but the problem with Arry Trumper is that you can never quite forget him, rather like the many memorable larger than life characters I taught at Carre’s.

“But as for a fourth book about Arry Trumper, I doubt it.”

n The book will be published on June 28 though Troubador Publishing.

Related topics: