What do a worried prime minister, a chicken dropped from a skyscraper window, a bully called Fox and an alien invasion have in common? All are ingredients in Jamie Rix's riotous new stand-alone novel for the 9-12 age group.

Alfie Pluck is the unluckiest boy alive - until he unwittingly eats the chicken which contains the highly-sought-after luck gene. Once his secret is exposed, no end of people want the gene for their own devious deeds and crackpot schemes. And Alfie is on the run.

But there's more than one kind of luck, and Alfie's escape from his pursuers is an hilarious roller coaster of good fortune and bad.