Philip Ridley

Ten-year-old Kasper encounters a series of fantastic adventures among the glitter and gloom of the city when he visits it for the first time.

"Back in the Swinging Sixties, Travis Flood led a gang that terrorised East London. Now, after an absence of many years, he returns to find his old turf in the clutches of a new kind of gang... with a new kind of leader. Rio -- ruler of a mob of girls -- instantly captivates Travis with her haunting beauty. But soon a shocking story begins to emerge -- one that shatters both their distorted memories. A scorching dark comedy where a monster from the past meets the mosters of the present."--Page of cover.

Although he is very thin with frizzy hair and thick glasses, nine-year-old Ruskin believes he is born to be a hero and sets out to prove it by delivering his beloved Lizard Street from the menace of Krindlekrax.