Tomorrow's Dandelions - R P Salmon

This stand-alone novel is the last story in the trilogy featuring Theo Kendrick. We catch up with the esteemed clinical psychologist in semi-retirement enjoying time with his extraordinary nine-year-old granddaughter, Efa.

Frank Skelton is an embittered teenager kicking against a society that failed his mother during Covid and dumped him and his nine-year-old sister, Laura, into residential care. Left behind in the children's home when his sister is fostered, Frank's mental health worsens as he rages against the imposed separation.

When Efa and Laura become best friends, Theo begins to take an interest in Laura's troubled teenage brother. A grudging respect develops between the hot-headed youth and the astute septuagenarian until a turn of events sends Frank into meltdown.

Meanwhile, affairs take a much darker turn when Efa is abducted. Her parents, each with responsibilities in the judiciary, are faced with every parent's worst nightmare. Their values are sorely tested as they wrestle with the temptation to cave in to the kidnapper's demands or hold out and risk losing their only child. Their relationship begins to disintegrate under the strain and characters' lives become increasingly tangled in the desperate race against time to find Efa.

Tomorrow's Dandelions shines a spotlight on strength, resilience and self-discovery as protagonists battle with the curved balls life throws at them. Earlier novels in the trilogy are Toy Soldier and Efa.