Danny doesn’t have much going for him. He’s a loser, unemployed, broke and nearly friendless. He spends his life alone in his room, playing guitar and hiding from his Dad’s violent outbursts. His world is small and blue-collar conservative, his anxiety is getting worse, he’s slipping beneath an ocean of shit and he’s drowning…

With rock bottom looming, a lifeline appears in the form of three garage-band hobos and a girl who’s one of the boys. They roar onto the scene in a clapped-out van reeking of bong-smoke and spilt beer. Hope blooms in a flurry of buzzsaw chords, but despair doesn’t give up easy.

Danny clings to his songwriting as depression laps around his ankles and self-doubt threatens to choke him. When he plays guitar his problems recede, but is it possible to survive on moments of euphoria in 4/4 time?

Negative Creep is a novel for people who love loud bands in small rooms with sticky floors.