Two very different stories in which the actions of a young teacher have devastating and career-threatening consequences... Shattered Pretensions brings together a short story and a full-length story into one novel. In the short story, ‘Fragile’, a headmaster standing as a parliamentary candidate is reluctant to answer allegations in the local press concerning the mysterious disappearance of his wife many years earlier. Written with a sprinkling of black humour, the main story, ‘Out Of This World’, focuses on the tensions generated among the teenage students participating in an ambitious, extended role-play exercise. Their aggravation explodes beyond the classroom, triggering a catastrophic series of events. Real-time action in the school runs parallel with the reflections and aspirations of the teacher, Martyn Carberry, and the diary of Lizzie, an immature young female student. Shattered Pretensions is an intriguing novel that forces the reader to ask themselves: “What would I have done?” Author Colin is inspired by the writing of Ian Rankin and James Runcie.