Whatever happens to those kids at school who are always being tipped to be stars in adult life?It's a question all of us find ourselves asking at some time and Mike Gayle's powerful, poignant novel answers it with regard to Danny Morgan and James McManus - rivals for top honours in everything throughout their school years in Birmingham.Whatever their friends and teachers might have expected, neither Danny nor James is currently running the country.Depressed and unemployed, Danny is facing an ultimatum from his girlfriend Maya: if he doesn't get out and get a job, she's leaving.It was an accident that changed James's life and now he is looked after affectionately by his parents.