Tinytown

In a dystopian England in the 2050s, people who cannot pay size insurance are shrunk. Here Tom Flack finds himself fighting for the rights of the small. But he has big enemies, including his ex-wife, Vanessa - TV's Tallulah Twinkleplum - and her grotesque brother Lloyd, a fat, sleazy sex pest who loves seared offal flavour snacks soaked in whale oil. Tom also has a third enemy, Lloyd's crooked boss Moffat P Perculie. He is a fan of foxhunting and teenage stable girls, is burdened with a wife called Arabella Byng-Boyne and is inordinately proud of a Norman forebear who hid the halibut on the poop deck. The vain villains are fuelled by drink, drugs, greed and perversion. On his travels, Tom discovers exactly what goes on at the illicit shrinxploitation events where shrinkees are made to perform for paying punters. The London of Tinytown is scarred by gang warfare between the Happy Eaters and the Little Chefs, and features 12 new inhabited bridges on the river Thames. As well as people-shrinking, the year 2051 features butt chips - buttock borne implants that people use instead of cash - plus hovercopters and doubledecker cars. The driving narrative features inventive language and savage humour - while drugs, sex, plastic surgery, horseboxes and hedgehogs abound. The story also makes serious points - and the positing of a world where the big (rich) mistreat growing armies of small (poor) people can be seen as an allegory of the modern world. Some reviewers' comments about Tinytown: 'It is Darby Gallagher's writing style that is the real winner here. The author simply writes so well making the whole book a real page-turner from start to finish ... the dialogue is brilliant, the characters really interesting and the general storyline fascinating' 'A completely brilliant novel Inspired over the top comic futuristic sci-fi. I nearly walked into a lamp post while reading this ... Devilishly well observed characters; a crackingly good narrative, with astute political overtones ... made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe' 'A great read, had me hooked from page 1 and would make a great movie. The author has a great knack of keeping you on the edge of your seat and laughing all at the same time' 'Intriguing story about how Tom Flack gets shrunk and uncovers the secret of Tinytown ... a gripping read' 'I was worried when I read the first paragraph. There are plenty of books out there written in an "overly-clever" tone that gets old quick ... but fortunately for me, Darby Gallagher has the linguistic chops to pull it off all the way to the finishing line ... A fun adventure filled with playful language and a little food for thought. It reminds me of a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, except without the puns'