Flying, as ever, in the face of convention Joe Solomon focuses on Martin, a most unlikely (and likeable) hero who, even as a schoolboy, is conscious of a strange pleasure when he’s bested by younger boys.
Martin gets no help from his strict parents as he struggles with his feelings. He seeks therapy and is delighted when at last he finds a girl friend, Penny, who works in the same office.
Her brother, Malcolm, is a friendly and intelligent schoolboy. Martin tells himself that he’s attained a healthy, normal way for an adult to relate to a child.
But his feelings about this child are more complex than he thinks, and he disastrously fails to recognise the danger signs.