These five linked stories immerse readers in the turbulent, disturbing and sometimes hilarious misadventures and rivalries of Catholic schoolboys in late 20th century Liverpool-Stephpen Mattimore, the boy who tries to play by the rules; his rebellious and scornful classmates who torment their cassocked teachers; the misfit who runs the campus sundries shop. Death, lurking in the title story, whether sudden or anticipated, alters everyone. Outside the confining Cathedral College flows "the inky black waters of the Mersey, opaque to the point of invisibility, like the dark unwritten page of [Stephen's] future."

Shortlisted for the Iron Horse Chapbook prize 2020, the Creative Futures Writing Prize 2019, the Aesthetica Creative Works Prize 2011, the Stand Short Story Prize, Malcolm Dixon's short fiction has appeared in numerous literary journals, including The London Magazine, Aesthetica, Slice, Grain, Edge, Prole, Palimpsest, Crannóg & many more. His YA novel THE LITTLE HOUSE ON EVERYWHERE STREET won the Acheven Prize for YA Fiction 2019 and is published by Fitzroy Books. Originally from Liverpool, he now lives with his wife and two daughters near Canterbury (UK).