Michael Byrne (5)

I received a free copy from LibraryThing and the publisher in exchange for an honest review -- thank you!

Lottery Boy is a compelling story about Bully, a homeless kid who wins the lottery, finds out that he's too young to claim his prize, and lets a few too many people know about the ticket. What follows is a gripping race across London while he tries to survive and keep the ticket out of the wrong hands.

Bully is a wonderful main character, and I spent the entire book wanting to scoop him up show more and give him a big hug. He manages to be tough and street smart while also being so painfully vulnerable. What a sweetheart. His voice is so powerful, his turns of phrases were left echoing in my head after I finished the book.

Fantastic characterization, fantastic plot. I will be looking for more by Michael Byrne. show less

I know there are homeless children living in every large city in the world. And I suppose it is possible that a 12 year old homeless boy in London could survive on the streets with his dog over the winter. However, it does strain the bounds of credibility that the boy would find a winning lottery ticket in a card left him by his mother just before she died.

That is essentially the story told by Michael Byrne in this book. Bully (or Bradley as his mom called him) left home after his mom died. show more His birth father is not in existence and his step father has already moved on to another woman. He takes his dog, Jack, and a few other belongings including the birthday card his mother left for him. It was one of those cards that can be recorded and it is the last record of his mother that he has. She tucked the lottery ticket inside the battery compartment and he only found it about 5 days before it was due to expire. When he gets the ticket checked he finds out that it is the winner of a large prize but not how much. He is supposed to contact the lottery head office but he doesn't even have money to make a phone call. As he reads the ticket he realizes that only persons over 16 can buy or redeem a ticket. That is a dilemma which Bully tries to solve by telling some adult friends. They immediately see an opportunity for themselves and Bully and Jack have to evade a crew of lowlifes who want the ticket. As the hours and days tick by Bully tries to get to the headquarters and redeem his ticket.

There are some genuinely nice folks that Bully runs across but even some of them seem incredible. How many people returning from a vacation to find a dirty boy and dog sleeping on a bed in their house would feed him, clothe him, clean him up and then give him money? All without calling the police or the child protection people? Sorry, it just doesn't completely work for me.

However, I am not the intended audience for this book. It is billed as young adult fiction and I can see that teenagers would be caught up in the excitement and intensity of Bully's race to get his winnings. show less

A gritty and at times violent thriller about a 12-year old homeless boy who survives in London's streets with his mixed (possibly pitfall) dog. After finding he owns a winning lottery ticket, Bully finds himself chased all over town by low-life and dangerous street thugs. I enjoyed the street lingo that Bully used (calling regular people zombies, for instance), and it was unpredictable enough that I kept reading. The ending was a bit choppy, but overall, I really enjoyed this story.

I honestly struggled reading this one because of the suspense, which is a testament to the author's craft. I was immediately in Billy's shoes and panicking. I guess this a sign of good writing! Dinner of the elements to the plot were a bit fanciful, but the targeted audience who enjoys adventure and intrigue will devour this story.