Tommy Loy moved to the West of Scotland new town of East Kilbride as a troubled teenager, and by 1970 he has robbed, fought, and terrorised his way to the top of a very small tree. His attempts to move further up the ladder leave him dead at the side of the road, murdered for his mistakes, but his legend lives on in the town. By 1979, the legend is fading, but his young family are still living with the consequences. His son, Billy, delivers milk to the houses, while the float drivers he works for deliver misery to the local low life.Rivalries are rife between the teenage boys making the deliveries and the adult drivers who run the town in the early hours of each day. The Milk Boys gives a snapshot of East Kilbride in the 1970s and the town’s decline as the factories begin to close, leaving the people who were living the dream in despair. The optimistic New Town story is destined to have an unhappy ending.Friendship, drugs, football, violence, and punk rock are the backdrop to how the Loy family learn about the truth behind Tommy’s legacy. All of it fuelled by the pints of milk delivered to your door.

Scott Rule was born in East Kilbride. He studied Humanities at Thames Polytechnic London and has previously written radio and television sketches with The Comedy Unit for various BBC programmes. He is a member of the pub rock band The Moes. The Milk Boys is his first novel. He lives in the South Side of Glasgow with his wife and son.

Customer Reviews

5.0

28 reviews

Andrew Saul

Reminiscent Tartan Noir That's me finished Scott Rule's The Milk Boys. To paraphrase marty mcfly "you built a time machine out of a milk float." Brilliant tartan noir set in '79. All i will say is I'm glad i live in a douce little parish like The Murray and not the sodom and gomorrha of the woodie. Brilliant. Well done.
Joseph O’Gorman

Excellent Read Loved this book and a good read while on hold. Fantastic characters and wonderfully intertwined. If you’re a kid of the 70s, know East Kilbride or worked on a float you’ll fall in love with this book.
Harriet

A series of confrontations culminates in an ending worthy of Tarantino in his pomp. Characters are extremely well drawn and descriptive detail is used brilliantly to show them in action. Detail also provides an excellently precise sense of time and place (East Kilbride in the 1970s.) It includes milk floats stuck on snowy roundabouts, gang culture, plenty of violence which the younger characters attempt to sidestep through DIY punk bands, glue and football. The book contains the best description of an acid trip I have ever read. Someone should snap up the TV right sharpish. A superb debut, and I hope there is more to come from this major new talent.
Alan Stewart

Full disclosure, I knew Scott growing up and I lived in the streets mentioned throughout the book, but I haven't seen him since leaving Scotland nearly 40 years ago and I doubt he'd remember me. This book was a time machine back to a time and place I still remember so well, the characters accurately reflect many of the people at the time. Very EK focused, but that aside it was still an enthralling read and I genuinely couldn't put the book down. Plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader surprised and entertained. A truly excellent book, well done Scott.
EK Lad

Good read—maybe glamourises violence a bit too much I grew up in and around the streets where the book is set, in Calderwood East Kilbride in late 1970's. I can relate to all of the streets, pubs etc and the gangs in the area of East Kilbride in 1970's/early 1980's The book does capture the area really well, but I feel that author is a wee bit negative about the area. It was not perfect but it was not declining as rapidly as author describes. When I was at school at the times the book was set, I knew many of the guys who worked on the milk floats, whilst I delivered news papers, in same area at same times Maybe I am a bit naive but I do not recall the violence and other crimes as described in the book. Sure there were gangs and gang fights between the different areas of East Kilbride. But I do not recall the drug scenes or prostitution as described in the book. Maybe it was there and I just did not know about it Fairly enjoyable and great to take a trip down memory lane to the streets and pubs, I once frequented
Amazon Customer

This was a trip back to my childhood and youth. It is witty and sad at the same time, with brilliant characters and the setting of East Kilbride and its culture cleverly captured within the story.
Graeme M.

Just finished this on holiday great read from start to finish
Margaret Duffy

Fabulous read. Brought back so many memories of growing up in a new town