To the Max

The testosterone and torments of late adolescence are centre stage in this novel about finding your place in life.

- DAVID HILL

Ah, youth. What a mess it can be. Maybe it should be, so we oldies have some compensation when we gaze upon those freshly fledged human specimens with their glossy, unwrinkled skin and matching brains. Avi Duckor-Jones’ first novel (the Waiheke-based writer had a well-received shorter work, Swim, published six years ago) is crammed with the testosterone and torments of being 18 or so. On the opening page of Max, two lads enduring their last days of school blat along in one of their dads’ cars to dawn and the surf. You’ve got much of the eponymous protagonist’s world right there, with a bit of endearing sex involving sweet Sam(antha), and an authentically awful bottle party at the beach soon to follow.