Superb book
A wonderfully literate book, the whole trilogy in fact, and I would also recommend the Flambards series by the same (seriously underrated) author.
The eponymous (anti-?)hero Patrick Pennington is a beautifully-drawn characterization of resentful youth, without sugar-coating but with sympathy and understanding. Also humour - some parts of it make me laugh out loud, though it's not really written to be a funny book, just a good story, especially for teenage boys. I loved it as a teenage girl too.
The themes are complex, hard to do justice to in a short review, but it's basically a coming of age novel about a boy whose options are very limited, and who is his own worst enemy. As the story unfolds, he learns that his musical talent might offer him a way out, though not without price, and the author doesn't offer glib or easy answers. Unlike many more recent books, though, it's not written directly to tackle a "social problem", and doesn't come across that way at all.
If I had any slight caveats, I could tell you that it's a bit British in outlook, and some of the issues have dated slightly (hairlength as a bone of contention for example). In a lesser book the final resolution might be considered a deus ex machina, but I personally think the author gets away with it, and it sets up the next two books too.
Caveats aside, some truly evocative writing, excellent depth of character, a good story, what more could one want? If you appreciate quality adolescent literature, I don't think you'll be disappointed, especially since some of these copies are going for less than three dollars.
