Connor Clarke has mostly learnt to live with his father’s death in a top-dressing crash when his mother gets engaged to air-force computer-nerd, Morgan Gloyne. Morgan arranges for his parents, Denzel and Rosen, to visit Bulls so that all can get to know each other. Everything goes wrong,  Denzel wins Lotto with a ticket bought in Bulls - the first time the town has ever won such a prize. But soon questions are asked about the origins of the ticket: did Denzel Gloyne buy it, or did he pick it up off the footpath? Joel Dixon, local lout and petrol head, is convinced the ticket is his and sets out to prove it. Meanwhile, the Gloynes use some of their winnings to buy a huge motor home; they invite Connor to join them on a tour of Golden Bay in the South Island. Connor accepts with the proviso that his friend Harvey comes too.

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While queuing to get the motor home onto the interisland ferry, an accident introduces them to Frank Brown, entrepreneur and fix-it man. As the holiday progresses, the Gloynes are increasingly taken in by Brown and his get-rich schemes. The two boys, however, are suspicious. These suspicions become fears when they see Brown meeting with a person who looks remarkably like Joel Dixon. When they try to alert the Gloynes to the dangers of associating with such a man, Frank Brown turns vicious. From then on the holiday becomes a battle between the Dixon-Brown gang and the Gloynes, reaching a climax in the old Golden Bay cement works at Tarakohe.

 

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Available as paperback.

 

Published by Scholastic NZ 2018

 

ISBN: 978-1-77543-564-8