Author(s): Anthony McGowan

Children Fiction

Many sixteen-year-old boys think that life is Hell; for Conor it really is. Ignominiously run over by an ice cream van, Conor is sent Down There, although he thinks he's committed no worse crime than winding up his sister and teasing the fat kid at school. To his surprise, Conor discovers that every inhabitant is in his own personal version of Hell. No pointy pitchforks or consuming hellfire for Conor, but an unutterably boring life in a room stuffed full of ancient books of philosophy, with a radio continually playing erudite documentaries or classical music. Conor foresees eternal damnation by tedium. Then it occurs to Conor that his personal vision of Hell might just be someone else's vision of Heaven - and vice versa! Desperate to discover his after-life opposite, and try to swap places, Conor sets out on a filthy, frightening and unpredictable journey, accompanied by his repulsive dog, Scrote, an unreliable demon and a cross-dressing Viking. On his travels Conor discovers that in this infernal place not only are souls being separated from bodies, they are being destroyed. Discovering how to reverse this process could be the most powerful idea Conor - or anyone - has ever had. Author Bio Anthony was born in Manchester in 1965. Educated at a Catholic comprehensive and then as the only boy at an academic girls' school, his experiences continue to influence his writing. Before turning to writing full time, Anthony gained his PhD in Philosophy with a thesis on Beauty, then worked as a nightclub bouncer, an Open University tutor, a journalist and a civil servant in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. HELLBENT is his first novel for young adults. He is married to Rebecca Campbell, a fashion designer and novelist, and they have two young children.