I Am the Messenger

Ed Kennedy is nineteen, an underage cab driver going nowhere. He's hopelessly in love with his best friend Audrey, plays cards with his mates, and looks after a bad-smelling, coffee-drinking dog called the Doorman. Then, almost by accident, he stops a bank robbery — and his small, aimless life changes forever.

A playing card arrives in the mail: the Ace of Diamonds, with three addresses written on it. Somehow Ed has been chosen to be a messenger. At each address, someone needs him — sometimes to be helped, sometimes to be protected, sometimes to be confronted. As more cards come, the tasks grow harder and stranger, forcing Ed to step far outside himself and become someone braver and better than he ever believed he could be.

From Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, I Am the Messenger is a warm, funny, and quietly profound novel about ordinary people, small acts of courage, and the surprising things one unremarkable person can do.