The Runaways

Written by Victor Canning

Narrated by John Higgins

On a night of wild storms, two troubled figures escape from captivity.

One is a 15-year-old boy, Samuel Miles, a.k.a. ‘Smiler’, wrongly convicted of theft and sent to a young offenders institution. The other is a cheetah, Yarra, a restless resident of Longleat Wildlife Park.

Both are in danger from the outside world – and each other – but somehow their lives become inextricably bound up as they fight for survival on the edge of Salisbury Plain.

A fast-moving and compassionate adventure story, The Runaways is the first book in Victor Canning's classic children's trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Duckworth Books
• Release date: Nov 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781788424387

Victor Canning

Victor Canning was a prolific writer, his first novel published when he was just 23. His later thrillers were dark and complex, and received great critical acclaim. "The Rainbird Pattern" was awarded the CWA Silver Dagger in 1973. In 1976 it was transformed by Alfred Hitchcock into the comic film The Family Plot. He also wrote pseudonymously as Julian Forest and Alan Gould. He died in February 1986 in Cirencester.