Review: River of Ink: Genesis by Helen Dennis

When a mystery teenage boy emerges from the River Thames drenched, distressed and unable to remember anything about himself, he becomes the focus of worldwide media speculation. Unable to communicate, the River Boy is given paper and a pencil and begins to scribble. Soon a symbol emerges, but the boy has no idea why he has drawn it even thought it's the only clue to the mystery of his identity...

As the boy begins to build a new life under a new name, the hunt for his real identity begins.

A hunt which will lead him on a dangerous QUEST that he has only one year to complete ...

Three was the magic number for Bob Dorough, Blind Melon and De La Soul, and it's also the magic number for these new style Book Zone reviews, as part of my seemingly endless quest for brevity when reviewing. So, here are three reasons to read Genesis, the first book in Helen Dennis's new River of Ink series.

1. The quest

I love what I call quest stories, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I really loved Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and its sequel The Da Vinci Code. Books like this are my guilty pleasure, and since then I have been spoiled for choice in this area, with great series from the likes of Andy McDermott, Chris Kuzneski and Scott Mariani, but as I have often asked in the past - with so many books in this genre published for adults, where are these mystery-adventure-conspiracy-thrillers for younger readers? Thus, for this reader at least, Genesis by Helen Dennis is a very welcome addition to my bookshelf. 

2. The mystery

Helen Dennis is no stranger to writing mystery quest books. I am quite a fan of her middle grade Secret Breakers series, and Genesis is even better. Written, I believe, for a slightly older audience (although certainly suitable for readers from age 10+), the much loved tropes that can be found in adult examples of the genre are all present and correct: a protagonist who has lost his memory, another character drawn into the mystery almost by accident, strange symbols that suggest more than a hint of alchemy, a secret and ruthless organisation bent on gaining sole possession of whatever lies at the heart of the mystery. Put all these together and there was no way I wasn't going to love this book.

3. Mental health issues

Jed, the main character, having suffered severe memory loss is central to to the plot of Genesis. However, it is not this that I am referring to in this case. In order to aid his healing and hide him away from the press, Jed is 'welcomed' in to the family of Kassia Devaux. Kassia's family life is less than conventional - her father died a numbers of years earlier in an accident and her mother's behaviour is symptomatic of someone suffering from a number of mental health conditions. She suffers from severe anxiety, OCD and possibly BPD, and much of this is manifested in her attitude towards Kassia and her deaf brother Dante. She is over-protective, obsessive about cleanliness around the house and has pretty much mapped out Kassia's future for her. It's important that young readers experience characters with such illnesses in the stories they read, and not just in contemporary 'real life' stories where mental illness of a character is central to the story. It's another example of what we mean when we cry for more diversity in books for children and young adults (as is Dante's disability).

River of Ink: Genesis was published in the UK last week, and my thanks go to those fab people at Hodder for sending me a copy. The sequel, Zenith, is due out in June so fortunately we only have six months to wait to find out what happens next.  

Review: Scam on the Cam by Clémentine Beauvais (A Sesame Seade Mystery)

Sesame Seade is suspicious. There's something fishy going on by the river: a case for a number one supersleuth!

Sesame's parents insist that there are no pirates in Cambridge, but she's determined to prove them wrong ...

Move aside Darcy Burdock, I just may have got a new favourite female main character, and her name is Sesame Seade. Actually, to be precise, her name is Sophie Margaret Catriona Seade, but who am I to argue with such a headstrong and forthright young lady. Sesame's third mystery adventure, Scam on the Cam, was published last Thursday and this is as much a review of the series so far as it is on this particular book.

Over the last month or so I had been hearing a lot about how great the Sesame Seade Mysteries are, and Jim from YA Yeah Yeah in particular has been singing their praises very enthusiastically. And so I checked out a couple of handful of reviews online, and when I read writer Elen Caldecott describe the first book as "genuinely laugh-out-loud funny" I realised I just had to get my hand on a copy. Thanks to the wonderful people at Hodder and was very soon in possession of all three Sesame Seade books, and they were so good that I couldn't help but chain-read them, each one in a single sitting.

We are first introduced to Sesame in Sleuth on Skates, where she inform us that for the whole of her life she has wanted to be a sleuth, but it is only now "after eleven years, five months and seventeen days of waiting, a mysterious mission found me". We are also introduced to Sesame's parents, Professor and Reverend Seade (who seem to be in a state of constant despair at their daughter's precocious and strong-willed nature - her personality certainly does not appear to be inherited); her best friends Gemma and Toby; her vicious cat Peter Mortimer; and her teacher Mr Barnes (more commonly referred to as Mr Halitosis, for reasons that I probably don't need to go in to here). 

Sesame's first mystery involves a missing student journalist and a scandal that could rock the very foundations of the City of Cambridge and its world renowned university. The second book in the series (I've read somewhere that it might just be a trilogy but I'm keeping everything crossed for more and this is a series that could, and should, go on and on), titled Gargoyles Gone AWOL, sees Sesame hunting for a mystery person who appears to be stealing gargoyles from the roofs of some of the Colleges.

This third book in the series, Scam on the Cam, is probably my favourite of the series so far (rather obstinately, I'm going to continue to refer to these as a series rather than a trilogy). The book opens with Sesame and her friends involved in an enforced rowing activity on the Cam, where they discover a mysterious, locked treasure chest. Naturally, to a child with Sesame's imagination, this can only mean PIRATES! However, just as she is about to start investigating, another mystery comes her way - it appears that a number of the Cambridge rowing team are coming down with a mystery stomach bug, and, with The Boat Race only a short time away, foul play is suspected. Sesame is put on the case as, in the tradition of all great child detectives, who is ever going to suspect an 11 year old of being an investigator?

The Sesame Seade books have enormous appeal to both boys and girls, as they are delightfully subversive in a very similar way to many of Roald Dahl's stories. It's kids vs adults and you probably don't need me to tell you who comes out on top. Sesame does not suffer fools gladly, especially those in adult form, and even more so when they are her stuffy and image-conscious parents. Thus, she takes almost every opportunity to break their rules, but of course in this case it is all perfectly justified as how else would she be able to solves the mysteries that come her way? So we see Sesame sneaking out of her bedroom at night to 'borrow' a boat so that she can paddle down the River Cam to a nearby village or climb a drainpipe to a college roof so she can stakeout the gargoyles. Yes, these are just two of the activities that Sesame gets up to  - she is certainly not one to avoid action, adventure and peril (although running is one of the few disciplines at which she does not excel).

Clémentine Beauvais' books are the perfect example of why I love Middle Grade so much, to the point where I am reading more for this age group than for young adults these days. There's no angst (apart from that suffered by Sesame's parents), no love triangles, no unhappiness or despondency, no teen problems - just pure, unadulterated fun. Like the aforementioned Darcy Burdock, Sesame has a unique and refreshing outlook on life, and as the books are narrated in the first person we as readers can take great delight in her observations and commentary. If Ms Beauvais based even just a small part of Sesame's character on herself as a young girl, then I can't help but feel sorry for her parents and any teacher that crossed her path.

As with many comedy books written for this age group, the words in the Sesame Seade Mysteries come accompanied by illustrations, and refreshingly, brilliant though they are, it is nice to see illustrations by someone other than David Tazzyman or Tony Ross. The Sesame Seade books are illustrated by Sarah Horne, and I would not be surprised if we start to see Sarah's illustrations being used for a multitude of children's books in the future, as they complement Ms Beauvais' story perfectly. In my opinion, Sarah has really captured the essence of what makes Sesame Sesame, and young readers (and their parents) will find their reading experience all the more enjoyable for them.

The three Sesame Seade books are without a doubt some of my favourite reads of 2014 and if you have a 9-11 year old who loves the likes of David Walliams, Laura Dockrill and Roald Dahl then I urge you to get your hands on copies of these books as I am pretty sure your child will love you even more for doing so.

Review: Secret Breakers - The Power of Three by H.L. Dennis

Imagine the chance to solve the Voynich Manuscript - a puzzle that has truly defeated adults for centuries.

It's an ancient manuscript no one has ever been able to decipher. And there are Rules that say it is forbidden to even try to solve it.

A secret hidden for centuries.

But Brodie Bray likes a challenge, and when she receives a coded message through the post her life changes for ever. She's chosen for a secret team working to crack this most complicated code in the world to uncover the secret it hides.

But it's a code that has driven people mad trying to solve it.

Together with her new friends, Brodie must break the rules to break the code, at every turn facing terrible danger. For someone is watching them - and will even kill to stop them.

I have occasionally moaned about the relative lack of quest style thrillers for younger readers, when there are so many being published for adults. Back in February I posted a review of the hugely enjoyable The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman, a quest thriller for young adults that focused on the infamous Voynich Manuscript. Now, courtesy of writer H.L. Dennis, the 9+ age group have their very own Voynich Manuscript story, a book the publishers are touting as 'The Da Vinci Code for kids'.

The Power of Three is the first book in the new Secret Breakers series published by Hodder. The solution to the secrets behind the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, aka MS 408, has evaded experts for decades, to the point where many were sent over the edge in their obsession to crack it. As such, it was locked away with a government ban on anyone working on it again. Now Mr Smithies, a member of the British Black Chamber, a secret organisation formed to find out secrets and crack codes, has got his hands on a new piece of information, and he goes behind the backs of his superiors to create a brand new team of code breakers, and this time they are kids, all of them descendants of previous members of the Black Chamber.

Brodie Bray is the first of these young people that we are introduced to, as she receives a cryptic invitation that she finds more than a little sinister. The invitation leads to her solving another clue that leads to her journeying to Bletchley Park, home of the WWII code breakers. Here she meets Hunter and Tusia, two other gifted young people, and a small group of Black Chamber has-beens who are to become their tutors in the arts of code breaking. Soon the trio are making head way with the first clue to the Voynich Manuscript, work that could lead to them risking their lives to solve the mystery.

Despite the popularity of books by the likes of Darren Shan and Geoff Kinney, kids still love mystery stories. The popularity of the Adventure Island and Laura Marlin Mysteries books are testament to this, and I think the 9+ age group will also love the Secret Breakers. The three children have been chosen for their intellectual gifts, but they are certainly not your stereotypical geeks. Throughout the story they are tested physically as well as mentally, and they also have to demonstrate courage and resilience. These kids are great role models for mystery loving readers, who I am sure will take great delight in following their adventures as they attempt to solve each clue/code that comes their way.

I think my only criticism of the book was the amount of unnecessary foreshadowing that is included in the plot. It is something I have started to notice occurring more often in children's and YA books over the past couple of years, and I think that editors are as much to blame as authors. There were a number of instances where Ms Dennis included a short scene, outside of the flow of the main plot, seemingly only to add more tension to the overall story. To me this seemed a little to obvious, and a little irritating. However, this is one of the moments where I have to remind myself that I am reviewing a book written for 9+ children, who really will not care at all about this. It is only a minor gripe on my part, but I had to get it off my chest.

I do not know how many books are planned in this series, but the sequel, Orphan of the Flames, is scheduled to be released in October 2012. H.L. Dennis has won herself a new fan here and I am very much looking forward to seeing where she takes her young heroes next, as the ending of The Power of Three, although not being a cliff hanger, has left me very much intrigued. My thanks go to the lovely people at Hodder for sending me a copy to review.

be just as eager as I am to read the next instalment once they get to the end of this first book  

Review: Doom Rider by David Gatward

Seth Crow has lived a thousand lives, and in each one he's been murdered before he turns thirteen.

And now he's being hunted again. But this time it's different...

The Apocalypse is coming. And the only ones who can save the world, hold the power to destroy it.

David Gatward is a member of my 'drop everything' list, by which I mean that when a new book comes through from an author on that list I literally drop everything to read it. Even if I'm mid-way through another book. It isn't a particularly long list, although it grows year by year, but I still don't know what I would do if two books arrived at the same time. Let's hope that never happens.

I loved David's The Dead trilogy, and rank them as some of the best children's horror books ever written. Sadly though the adventures of Lazarus Stone came to an end, but I have been on tenterhooks waiting to see what Mr Gatward wrote next, and I have therefore been looking forward to this one for some time. Back in February I posted a guest piece by David about Doom Rider, as part of my Coming Up In 2012 feature, and I have been eagerly awaiting its arrival ever since. Thanks to the lovely people at Hodder I was able to dive in to the proof about ten days ago, and read it in a single sitting.

David Gatward is still yet to disappoint me. Doom Rider is a finely crafted apocalyptic horror story that proves he is no one-trick pony, and goes a long way to establishing him as having one of the darkest imaginations in teen fiction. Many of the reviews of The Dead trilogy, including my own, played heavily on the gore that dripped bloodily from the pages. However, there was a lot more to those books than just the blood splatter - great characters, descriptive writing to die for, cracking dialogue with many great humorous moments, tight plotting and an exciting pace that will have you reaching for the defibrillator as your heart struggles to keep up. But still, most review focused on the gore. In Doom Rider David Gatward gives the gore little more than a cameo role, but has still produced a great horror story that will have critics and teen readers begging for more.

Doom Rider is set in Britain, at some undefined point in the not-too-distant future. Religious extremism grips the population in a way that is similar to some middle-eastern countries at the moment. The religion of choice is referred to as The Way, the leader of their 'church' known only as The Protector. Seth Crow lives in a caravan with his sister and his parents, travelling from festival to festival, pulling in the crowds with their show that preys on the public's fears about the end of the world, and more specifically about how and when they will die. Christened The Apocalypse Boy, Seth is a key part of this show, as he has a talent for 'cold reading' people - just like TV's The Mentalist, in a matter of seconds he can read a person, and make eerily accurate statements about their lives. As such, when he moves on to telling them about their death's the crowds simply lap it up. However, Seth is fed up with this life of duplicity, and the moods of his authoritarian father, and so he plans to escape. However, before he can he meets Lily, and from that moment his life changes is ways he could never have predicted.

Lily is a seeker, tasked with tracking down young people before they reach the age of 13, at which point The Protector and his elite inner circle of enforcers, The Chosen, believe that they will morph into one of the prophesied four horsemen of the apocalypse. We quickly find out that Seth has had many, many previous lives, and in every one he has been violently killed before he can reach his teens. Lily has had enough of this, and instead of leading The Chosen to Seth she helps him to escape. Of course, as the clock ticks over onto the day of his 13th birthday all hell begins to break loose, for Seth is Conquest, the first horseman of the apocalypse. At this point the pace of the story ratchets up to a whole new level, as Seth and Lily try to track down the three remaining riders, whilst trying to avoid being killed by The Chosen. Their efforts are more than a little hampered by Seth's new-found desire to destroy anything and everything in his new role. That's pretty much all you are going to get from me plot-wise as Doom Rider a book that will best be enjoyed with as little prior knowledge as possible.

I grew up in the church, and my mother is an ordained minister, and so there were parts of The Dead trilogy that resonated with some of the great biblical imagery that I was opened up to as a child and a teenager. I was pleasantly surprised then, when I read the press release for Doom Rider, to discover that David Gatward had a very similar upbringing. His knowledge of biblical imagery and the events that take place in The Book of Revelation, is obvious in Doom Rider, and by putting his own twist on things he has created a dark, modern horror story that is a long way from the New Testament version of 'the end'. I was also pleased to see him veer away from the norm, by having his horsemen named Conquest, Strife, Famine and Death, which is more in line with the concepts I had when growing up. However, as David brings attention to this himself in his Author Note at the end of the book I can't help but feel something of a fraud by mentioning my this in my review.

Some might question how a boy who grew up in the church could turn into a man who writes such deliciously dark stories. In answer to that I would like to leave you with an excerpt from the press release that Hodder sent out with the book:

Dave, more than a little aware that it could seem odd to write horror and dark fantasy in light of his background in the church and religious writing, puts it like this: “Dealing with our fears isn't about running away or hiding, but often facing them head on. And I know this from experience thanks to drowning as a kid and, years later, deciding I'd had enough of being terrified of water and learning to swim. It was scary, but it was also the only way I could think of to deal with it. Which is why I love horror. It's a genre unafraid to deal with the darker things in life (and death). It scares and horrifies and disgusts, as

much as it entertains and forces us to ask questions. Then there's the other side of it, too. I love a good, scary story! I love creating horrifying monsters and putting my characters in situations they simply can't survive, but do. It's a part of that sense of being a kid again, and creeping downstairs in the middle of the night so as not to wake the parents to watch a horror movie on TV because you really don't want them to know you've just seen a head explode in full-blown technicolour, and some terrifying demon launch itself at the next hapless victim, claws dripping in blood... And you know what? I'm happy with that."

Doom Rider is a standalone story and the book is scheduled to be released in paperback on 5th July. My thanks go to the generous people at Hodder for sending me a copy to review.

News: Book Cover - Doom Rider by David Gatward

I've just this minute received an email from author David Gatward that I just had to share with you. Long time readers of The Book Zone will already know that I am a huge fan of Dave's writing, so how can I be anything but mega-excited about his new book, Doom Rider, scheduled for a July release? David has very kindly sent through the book cover for Doom Rider, and it's a beauty! Many reluctant reader boys tend to judge a book by its cover - based on this cover I can foresee this being a very popular title in the school library (and make sure you click on the image to see it in all of its full size glory).

Seth Crow has lived a thousand lives, and in each one he's been murdered before he reaches the age of 13.

And now he's being hunted again. But this time it's different ...

The Apocalypse is coming. And the only ones who can save the world, hold the power to destroy it.

Review: The Damned by David Gatward

The Dead don't just want to return, they want Earth for themselves. And it's Lazarus Stone, Keeper of the Dead, who has to stop them. Trouble is, the Dead are the exact opposite of rotting, stumbling corpses. And they desire one thing only: to live again. To do that, all they need is a good supply of fresh, warm bodies... Lazarus now knows his mum murdered him, betrayed his dad, and is about to open a portal between worlds that will bring about the end of life as we know it. Trouble is, his best mate has disappeared (again), he still hasn't rescued his dad (but he will), and the only help he has is that of an undead priest (who carries a blunderbuss) and a female angel (who drives a 4x4 and has an alcohol problem). This isn't just about saving the world, this is personal...

A number of my friends think it is more than a little odd that I choose to read a great deal of books written for children and teenagers. Every time we have a conversation along these lines I implore them to have a try themselves as I know they will be very surprised at the quality of writing and story that is prevalent in the world of children’s and YA fiction these days.

This year, due to cutbacks in the school’s budget, we will not be buying in or (borrowing through the Education Library Service) as many adult books as we have in the past. The main reason for this is that our sixth formers rarely ever come in to the library to borrow fiction, and so we have to prioritise buying books for the younger readers. Every summer we hold a Staff Summer Reading Day where my librarian creates a huge display of titles that our staff can borrow for their summer holidays, but this year, because of these cutbacks, we are doing things a little differently. We are calling it “Embrace Your Inner Child” and the majority of titles will be from your main fiction shelves, sorted into various genres, and hopefully I will be able to bring many more adults around to my way of thinking:

A good story is a good story, whatever the age group it is written for!

David Gatward’s The Dead series is a perfect example of this within the horror genre and it will have a position of great prominence on the horror table on the staff reading day. He writes books that can be enjoyed equally by 12 year olds discovering horror for the first time, and forty year old horror fan-boys who have grown up loving the likes of HP Lovecraft and Clive Barker, and horror films such as Hellraiser and the giallo movies that came out of Italy during the 1970s, all this very much evidenced by the rave reviews he has received by many highly respected horror publications. The Dead was superb, The Dark even better, and the third instalment, The Damned, has raised the bar of children’s blood-soaked horror to an even greater height. It is nothing short of brilliant from beginning to end, and by far my favourite of the trilogy.

The end of The Dark was pretty brutal and left me as a reader craving to find out how on earth Lazarus would save his father and prevent the opening of a permanent portal between our world and that of the Dead. I say “how on earth”, but maybe it would be more accurate to add “and hell” to that, as this time Lazarus must travel even further beyond the world as we know it on his mission to save us all. As I said, I loved every moment of The Damned, but for me the story became more than special once Lazarus and crossed over to the other side and started to fight his way through to the realm of The Fallen. David’s story moves at a frantic pace, leaving his characters barely enough time to breathe, and his readers feeling pretty much the same, and yet his fast paced style does not come at the cost of poor descriptions of locations or the various entities that we encounter along the way that we sometimes see from other less accomplished writing. Despite the fast pace, every scene is brought alive by the quality of the author’s descriptive writing and reading this trilogy has at times felt like a cinematic experience. When describing the lands of the Dead and his version of hell his talent really shines.

I know David Gatward was a little down towards the end of 2010. Despite the amazing reviews his books were garnering, he had been asked by his publisher to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion at the end of the third book, instead of giving him the go-ahead to write more in the series (and if you go back to the interview he did for The Book Zone last year you will see that he already had books 4 – 6 plotted out, with a desire to write 18!). This of course meant quite a hefty rewrite of The Damned, but again, due to this man’s skill, this is not at all evident in the final product. The three books now read as a brilliant trilogy, and with the action of each book continuing straight after the climax of the previous book, they would even work very well as a single volume story. And even better news for Gatward fans…. although The Damned is brought to a natural and very satisfying conclusion, David has left the door wide open for a possible continuation of the adventures and trials of the Keeper of the Dead, Lazarus Stone.

If you like your horror to be fast paced and bloody then whatever your age please give this trilogy a try - I am sure you will not regret it.

Review: The Dark by David Gatward (Book 2 of The Dead)

Lazarus Stone has been killed, resurrected, and attacked by demons. He's all that stands between our world and the Dead. But things are getting complicated: he's alone in the land ofthe Dead, his best mate Craig is missing, and he's no idea who – or what – tricked his dad into trying to bring back his long-dead mum. Oh, and he's wearing a corpse's clothes.

Life, he might think, couldn't get much worse. But it will...

Back in May I posted my review of The Dead by David Gatward. I really enjoyed that book, and the rave reviews it garnered from the likes of SFX, Gorezone and The Bookbag proved I was far from being alone in thinking this. My only real criticism at the time was that the book was just too short -  just as the story really got going it came to an end, leaving us with a pretty massive cliffhanger. David agreed with my comment, but promised me and the readers of The Book Zone that the next book in the series would be longer, and with The Dark having an additional 100 or so pages he has certainly lived up to his word. But is longer better in this case? Absolutely - quality has certainly not been sacrificed in favour of quantity.

The Dark starts at the exact moment that The Dead finished - no faffing around with back story, or setting the scene for the new book - so if you haven't already read The Dead then you had better rectify this before picking up this book. Don't expect me to go into too much detail about the beginning, for to do that would create too many spoliers. Suffice to say, Lazarus Stone is very much now a boy on a mission - to save his friend, find his father, and ultimately prevent the legions of the dead from breaking through into our world. In fact, the opening line to this book is a corker: "It could smell blood and flesh. And it wanted to burrow into it, like a worm into an apple". It doesn't take a great deal of imagination to work out that the owner of said blood and flesh could be in the a nasty surprise in the very near future!

The Dead set the scene for this book very well. In that first book in the series the author developed his main character, and a couple of his secondary characters, in a way that the reader warmed to them very quickly, so that when things went wrong we felt concern and worried about them. In The Dark he develops all of these characters further, and we also get to meet a few more, and we really start to see what motivates these people, and more importantly how they react when facing the horrors that walk the land of the Dead. My favourite character is the alcoholic angel Arielle - not only is she a great kick-ass heroine, but she also brings a great deal of humour to the story through her wisecracks and need to recuperate by drinking copious amounts of wine. We also get to see more of the bad-tempered Red in this book, although much of his personality still remains a mystery to the reader. I have a feeling we will be seeing much more of Red in future books.

The greater length of The Dark also allows for far more action set pieces that we were given in its predecessor, and these come pretty much non-stop from the first chapter onwards. Some of these are better written than others - one or twice in the middle of a frenetic fight scene I lost the thread a little and had to start reading that scene again. However, the author more than makes up for this with his descriptions of the setting and the various Lovecraftian creatures that our heroes come up against. Lest we forget, this is first and foremost a horror story, with action/adventure elements, and it is in the horror arena that David Gatward excels.

If you are a fan of the work of Darren Shan and have not yet discovered this series then it is well worth reading. Dave Gatward certainly knows his horror, and at times this series comes across as his personal homage to the horror films he has loved for most of his life. As an adult reader there were several times when I felt a knowing grin creep onto my face as I spotted a subtle reference here and there. Many of these will be lost on David's younger target audience, but this is the kind of book that will inspire them to become lifelong lovers of the horror genre, both written and cinematic, and they will be able to look forward to spotting these fanboy references, but in reverse. It has certainly made me dig out a few of my favourite (though long unwatched) horror DVDs.

April 2011 seems a long way off at the moment, but unfortunately that is also when the third book in the series, The Damned, will be released so fans of the series will have to be patient. Yet again Dave Gatward leaves his readers wanting a lot more - the cliffhanger is a little less heart-stopping than the one at the end of The Dead, but is more than enough to keep us hungry. The last line alone is enough to send a chill down your spine as you start to imagine the implications of it for our team of heroes. My thanks go to the generous people at Hodder for sending me a copy of The Dark to review, its official release date is 7th October, but I saw it in my local bookshop yesterday so it is already in the wild.

*** Contest: WIN a proof copy of The Dead by David Gatward

I recently posted a review of The Dead, the first book in a brand new horror series from author David Gatward, and earlier this week I published an interview that David kindly took part in for The Book Zone. Now, thanks to the generous people at Hodder I have FIVE proof copies of The Dead to give away (yes, that isn't a typo - FIVE copies). In order to win a copy of this book all you have to do is follow me on Twitter and add a comment below this post.

Please include your Twitter name or an email address with your comment. The first five names drawn at random after the closing date will win a signed copy of the book. Deadline for your comments is 8pm Sunday 20th June. This contest is open to UK entrants only.

Terms and conditions

Contest open to UK entrants only.
I will not be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Review: Theodore Boone by John Grisham

In the small city of Strattenburg, there are many lawyers, and though he's only thirteen years old, Theo Boone thinks he's one of them. Theo knows every judge, policeman, court clerk - and a lot about the law. He dreams of being a great trial lawyer, of a life in the courtroom.

But Theo finds himself in court much sooner than he expected. Because he knows so much - maybe too much - he is suddenly dragged into the middle of a sensational murder trial. A cold-blooded killer is about to go free, and only Theo knows the truth.

The stakes are high, but Theo won't stop until justice is served.

John Grisham has allegedly sold somewhere in the region of 250 million books  worldwide, but it would appear that this is not enough for him and he now wants to break into the children's market as well. It is a long time since I read a John Grisham adult novel as I am not a huge fan of legal thrillers, although I do recall enjoying The Pelican Brief and The Firm. If I remember correctly, they were both tightly plotted thrillers with a great deal of suspense, and considering his reputation as an author I was expecting something pretty similar in Theodore Boone. How wrong could I be?

On the Amazon page for this book there is a quote from the Daily Express that reads "Nobody does legal fiction better"; unfortunately, based on this book the same cannot be said about children's fiction. In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that Mr Grisham has not read any of the competition in preparation for entering this market - a quick read of the likes of Robert Muchamore, M.G. Harris or Anthony Horowitz would have shown him exactly how to approach writing for this very demanding audience. Instead we have a book that in many ways seems very old fashioned, almost as if the author has followed the style of books he may have enjoyed as a kid.

First up in the evidence for the prosecution is the author's main character, the titular Theodore Boone. This boy is just far too nice, so much so that most children reading this will struggle to relate to his character. In fact I think you would have to search hard to find many kids who would actually want to be like him as in most children's minds being such a goody-goody just isn't cool. It is a sad fact but in the schools where I have taught a boy such as Theodore would have been bullied and teased about his passion for all things legal, not revered for his knowledge and understanding of the law as he is by his peers once the town's big murder trial kicks off. I appreciate that in many stories for this age group the main character tends to be a little on the plain side, especially in comparison with the villains whose characters tend to be more dramatic and meaty. However, Theo's character is just a little plain, it is boringly bland, and unfortunately we do not have an over-the-top villain in this book to offset this. Yes, there is the mysterious Omar Cheepe, freelance "trouble shooter" for the prosecution team, but all we get from him is sinister looks and very little action at all; so much more could have been done with this character.

Onto Exhibit Number 2 - the pace. I appreciate that the author has to introduce a new main character, a host of secondary characters, set the scene, etc. but the opening third of this book is just far too slow. OK, so it isn't an action thriller as written by the authors I mentioned earlier, but any good author for children or young adults will tell you that if you don't grab their attention and keep it in the opening chapters of a book then you may as well wave goodbye to a sizeable pencentage of those readers.  To be fair, once e have persevered through the first 90 or so pages the pace and tension does increase, and I started to think that maybe I had been a little impatient with Mr Grisham. However, this just set me up for even greater disappointment as the ending of the book is possibly one of the worst I have read in years; so poor in that I actually checked whether the book was missing some pages. Either this was the author trying to make the reader decide how the court case eventually panned out or it is a blatant attempt to set the story up for a sequel. Now I'm not one of these readers who detests cliffhanger book endings, and I'm happy to wait for the next instalment, but the way this book ends just left me feeling flat and disappointed.

And finally, Exhibit Number 3 - where is the peril? Where are the scenes that test Theodore in ways he has never been tested before? Where are the moments that have the reader sitting on the edge of their seat, nervous for the safety of the book's hero? For a man who has built a career and reputation on the writing of books with great plot Mr Grisham seems to have assumed that all the essential elements of a good book for adults do not apply to the younger market, and in a world where horror fiction is very popular with this age group Mr Grisham appears to have gone out of his way not to scare his readers even a little.

In the book's defence however, there are a couple of positive points. Firstly, Theo has to make a number of moral decisions through the book, and he does this without coming across all moralistic. Many children don't warm to "in your face" moralising in their stories and I feel that Mr Grisham just about manages to avoid this. Secondly, this being a legal 'thriller', he was always going to have to explain some fairly complexed legal concepts and procedures to his young audience. Although in my opinion it is a little contrived, the use of Theo explaining the ins-and-outs of the murder trial to his classmates worked very well for me, and I feel that readers of 11+ would find some of these explanations very interesting. Mr Grisham obviously hs a passion for the american legal system, and wants to share this with a new generation of readers, and I am sure there will be a number of children who will be inspired to find out a little more about this subject; it is just a shame that they have to endure a weak story in the process.

All in all then a great disappointment from such a popular author for adults. This book may appeal to confident readers in the 9+ age group, but older readers will get bored quite quickly, unless they are legal obsessives like Theodore Boone himself. The book is published in hardback by Hodder and is available to by now.

Review: The Dead by David Gatward

Lazarus Stone is about to turn sixteen when, one night, his normal life is ripped to shreds by a skinless figure drenched in blood. He has a message: The Dead are coming.

Now Lazarus is all that stands in their way. To fulfill his destiny, he must confront not only the dark past of his family, but horrors more gruesome than even Hell could invent. And it all begins with the reek of rotting flesh…

YA horror is big at the moment, and it seems that nary a month goes by without another one appearing on the market. Vampires, of course, seem to be the nether creature of choice at the moment, but demons (in various guises) aren't trailing too far behind. In the last few years we have been treated to, amongst many others, Darren Shan's Demonata series, Rick Yancey's Monstrumologist and Sarwat Chadda's Devil's Kiss. So, when I first read about David Gatward's The Dead, the question that jumped immediately into my brain was does the world really need another YA demon story? I for one am all vampired out at the moment. Thus, when I received a proof copy from the kind people at Hodder, it was with an unsually critical frame of mind that I started reading it. And yet, despite this pessimism, I loved this book.

It is difficult not to compare any book in the demon genre with Darren Shan's work, but I am sure that Mr Gatward will be glad to hear that the comparisons in this case are certainly favourable. I love the Demonata series for the gorefest that it is, but Shan has a way of getting away with such extremes, and this is what makes his books special, even though he is not a particularly great writer in the technical sense. The Dead starts off as a conversation between man character Lazarus Stone and his friend Craig and BLAM!.... chapter three hits you right between the eyes with a particularly bloody scene (more about this in a minute). But where Shan lays the gore on pretty thick, this was a much more considered scene. In fact, on a second read it isn't particularly gory at all, but the description of Red as he first appears in Lazarus' life will most definitely make you cringe - I certainly felt a shiver run down my spine. In fact, why not give it a try now by downloading this pdf of Chapter 3 from David Gatward's website!

I said I would come back to the description of Red. Anybody who has seen Clive Barker's Hellraiser movie will, I am sure, agree that Mr Gatward has been influenced by a scene from this classic horror film. I love the passage that reads: "Lazarus couldn't yet tell if the thing was male or female, but it was definitely naked, or so he guessed. He couldn't see any clothes, not unless they, like the rest of its body, were covered - no, drenched - in blood. From there on down, the figure was stripped of most of its skin. He could see individual muscles and tendons tensing, relaxing. And around the figure's feet, as they rested together on the floor, a dark pool was spreading". If you are a horror fan and that doesn't persuade you to rush out and buy this book then nothing will.

On the basis of Chapter 3 I was expecting the gore factor to increase throughout the book, but I was pleasantly surprised. David Gatward is actually pretty restrained when it comes to writing his horror scenes, but this doesn't mean that the chill factor is anything less than terrifying. There is one scene in particular, where Lazarus is in hospital, that I particularly loved. It is scary, yet there is hardly a drop of blood in sight, and Lazarus' life is certainly in great peril I won't say much more... just watch out for the nurse! This is the kind of horror writing that plays on your mind as it feeds the dark fringes of your imagination, and turns dreams into nightmares without warning.

Sadly, this book is not perfect. I have one big criticism - at 230 pages it simply isn't long enough. I know it is the first in the series, and as such it certainly does the job of introducing us to important characters and major plot threads, but in personally felt that it could quite comfortably have benefited from being at least another fifty pages longer. With this is mind, don't expect a nice, neat ending with a few plot threads left unresolved to take you into the next in the series. This book ends on a massive cliffhanger, and very little in the way of loose ends being tied off, and this cause a few readers to grumble. However, what it will do though is leave you hungry for the next instalment, The Dark, scheduled for an October 2010 release.

Short-ish books are very difficult to review without giving away too many spoilers, so from now on I will be careful. As a debut novel I also know very little about the author, and I would hate to make assumptions about his inspirations for writing. However, in my opinion there is most definitely a biblical link here - Lazarus' name for a start (and what a great name for a character in a YA horror story it is). Red is also descried as being one of the Fallen, and it looks like we may even be taking a journey into Hell in future books. Although, maybe not, as last time I looked I am not sure there was an alcoholic angel mentioned anywhere in the Good Book? Mr Gatward has very kindly promised to take part in an interview for the Book Zone in the near future, so hopefully we will find out a lot more about him and where he wants his story to go very soon. Watch this space.

On the evidence of The Dead, and with the sequel coming out only a few months later, I think David Gatward is going to become a big name in YA horror circles, especially as the cliffhanger ending suggests that we are in for one hell of a ride as we follow Lazarus into the land of the Dead. The Dead is published by Hodder and is scheduled to be released on 1st July. Whilst you are waiting for this date to arrive you could do a lot worse than to check out Mr Gatward's website where you can see the fantastically gruesome book covers for the first three books in the series.

Review: Conspiracy 365: January by Gabrielle Lord

On New Year’s Eve, Cal is chased down the street by a crazed man with a deadly warning:

They killed your father.
They’ll kill you.
You must survive the next 365 days!

Forced into a life on the run, Cal finds himself hunted by ruthless criminals and the police. Somehow he must uncover the truth about his father’s mysterious death and solve the Ormond Singularity, a secret from the past, before the year is up. But who can he turn to when the whole world seems to want him dead?

The clock is ticking. Any second could be his last.

Callum Ormond has been warned.

He has 365 days. The countdown has begun ...

Interesting concept. Gabrielle Lord, and her publishers Hodder, have produced the book equivalent of television's 24. However, instead of the story being set over a period of 24 hours, with each episode focusing on an hour in the story, Conspiracy 365 will be told over a period of one year with each book representing one month. Thus, January is in the shops now, February will be out in..... you guessed it, and so on.

Like I said... interesting concept. But is the story any good? Well Ms Lord certainly knows how to grab your attention and pull you into a story. I gather that she is "one of Australia's bestselling crime writers for adults" and on the face of this book she has now transferred her talents to a younger market. January is a fact paced, action story, with a reluctant hero who suddenly finds himself on the run from criminals who want information from him that he is sure he doesn't have, and from the police who suspect him of attempted murder.

Despite this being the first of twelve books (and a slim 185 pages at that), the author still manages to do a pretty good job of developing Callum, her main character. The secondary characters are far less well developed, but I expect we will see more of them in later books. As for the plot? So far so good - January certainly sets the scene for the story that will unfold over the coming year and most of the book is pretty frantic in its pace. I say 'most' and this is where I feel that the concept brings with it a weakness. Instead of having evenly lengthed chapters, the narrative is broken up using times. Sometimes there is only a difference of minutes between the start of one 'chapter' and the start of the next. However, later in the book suddenly we have a spce of four days, where it seems that Callum just sits around doing not a lot at all. Normally this would proably not be as noticeable, but coming as it does with a time label, and after earlier scenes that were packed tightly into shorter time spans, this sudden jump in time sticks out like a sore thumb. Another weakness is that despite each book ending on a life-threatening cliffhanger, the fact that there are twelve books in total would suggest that Callum will manage to survive every one of them, surely reducing the tension just a little. Still, like I said, you're never more than thirty days away from finding out what happens next.

Boys will love this concept. It is a series of books where they do not have to wait a year or more for the next part of the story to be released. And this is where I have my big moan. These books cost £5.99 each. Over a year, that makes nearly £72! To me, that is a lot of money to be spending over that period. I'm not sure I will be buying any more of them - it will mean visits to my local library in order for me to follow the rest of the story. Even at half the asking price I still feel it would be quite a lot to be asking in total when there are so many other excellent books on the market and therefore, despite my 'interesting concept' statement I am just not able to feel excited by it. If you have the money though, then this series will be a great way to get a reluctant boy reader interested in reading.