The Milk Boys

Book excerpt: 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.