Little Boy Blue

Here is the quintessential story of a young hoodlum's coming of age. Alex Hamilton is young, intelligent, savvy, and independent - but also subject to violent fits of rage. Raised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, his frustration and anger are completely natural - and inherently dangerous. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs. As Alex is pulled between well-meaning but exhausted social workers and viciously cruel authority figures, his emotions and actions are forever careening off these two disparate influences. Only one constant remains: his no-good, criminally minded peers, who are all too ready to plant illegal ideas in a young, bright mind that's already well on its way to social deviancy. Oceanview, Los Angeles, 1962. Stark is a rat and a con-artist. Nobody's friend. The kind of guy Eddie Bunker met in San Quentin. Stark thinks he can beat the suckers and outsmart the cops. When a big score comes his way, he's lucky to escape with his life. Four others are not so lucky. Eddie Bunker described Stark as a story about a con man. Eddie didn't think much of con-men, because, as a rule, they preyed upon people weaker than themselves. But he understood them. Stark was Eddie Bunker's first novel, written in the early 60s and a harbinger of the books that brought him critical acclaim such as No Beast So Fierce. Never published during his life time, the manuscript was only rediscovered after his death and is published in English for the first time by No Exit. "Young Alex Hamilton is intelligent and independent but given to sudden fits of rage. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly absconding from foster homes and institutions to be with his father, a broken man who can't give his son the home he desperately needs. Surrounded by well meaning, over worked social workers, vicious and cruel authority figures, and always by no good peers, Alex is on a collision course with the law and himself."--Publisher's description Young Alex Hamilton is intelligent and independent but given to sudden fits of violent rage. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly absconding from foster homes and institutions to be with his father, a broken man who can't give his son the home he desperately needs. Surrounded by well-meaning, over-worked social workers, vicious and cruel authority figures but always by no good peers, Alex is on a collision course with the law and himself. Young Alex Hammond is intelligent and independent but given to sudden fits of violent rage. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly absconding from foster homes and institutions to be with his father, a broken man who can't give his son the home he desperately needs....