Gary

The author took on the role of foster-father to Gary, a disturbed and violent teenager, in the hope that he could develop the boy's stability and self esteem. This is an account of their relationship, as each small step forward in Gary's development was followed by a setback.

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The author has written 14 other books including Killing For Company, The Case Of Dennis Nilsen and The Passion of John Aspinall. This is an account of his own relationship with Gary, a disturbed and violent teenager who had been abandoned by his own father and had lost his mother when he was ten. Gary was emotionally and educationally retarded, but the author recognized his craving for acceptance and approval. He took on the role of foster-father to Gary in the hope that steady effort from the boy at school, combined with extra tuition, domestic routine and his own influence would enable the adolescent to develop self-esteem and emotional stability. The relationship between the author and Gary was complicated - half alliance and half a battle of wills - and this account tells how every small victory was followed by setbacks, and how Gary's aggressive and manipulative tendencies continually re-emerged. It is a portrait of a vulnerable boy, and the author's analysis of his own reactions and motives.