Monthly Archives: May 2015

The Dark Inside

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The Dark Inside by Rupert Wallis

Book of the Week: 31 May 2015

Dark Inside

James has been left with his violent stepfather after the death of his mother. He escapes from the misery of home by spending time in an abandoned house and it’s here that he meets Webster, an ex-soldier on the run from some travellers who want to do him harm. The travellers, a thug called Billy and his witch-like mother, believe that Webster is something more than a man. As Webster himself says, ‘Not everything in this world is what it seems. Not gold. Or men. Or even boys, come to that.’ James and Webster form a bond and together they try to avoid the clutches of the wily Billy and his creepy mother.

This is a tense thriller filled with menace, unsettling characters and supernatural elements. James’s life of constant threat is reminiscent of Zinny’s in Night Runner by Tim Bowler but reviewers have compared the book to Skellig by David Almond, due to the enigmatic character of Webster and his multi-layered relationship with James.

The author answers questions about his book here without giving too much away.

The Colditz Story

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The Colditz Story by P.R. Reid
Book of the Week: 17 May 2015

Unknown

This week’s book is a true story but as exciting and tense as any work of fiction.
During World War II, Colditz Castle was a notorious prison for Allied prisoners of war. The Germans used it for those who had already escaped from other prisoner-of-war camps because they believed it to be escape-proof. They were to be proved wrong. The Colditz Story was written ten years after the War by Pat Reid, who persistently worked to plan and execute attempted escapes by others. He describes these in a detailed, clear and no-nonsense style which, rather than downplaying events, makes the reader even more astonished at the inventiveness and resilience of those involved. Prisoners hid inside mattresses, climbed on rooftops and crawled thorough tunnels which they dug laboriously with inadequate tools. They created fake uniforms and paperwork and disrupted German authority at every turn. The Germans themselves were clever, disciplined and thorough and foiled many escape attempts but, to their fury and frustration, determined prisoners were regularly outwitting them.

One benefit of reading this book is that you will never be at a loss for a conversation with Mr Temple, whose ‘Mastermind’ subject this is. He is one of the few people who have actually broken in to Colditz Castle. Ask him about it.

Bitter Sixteen

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Bitter Sixteen by Stefan Mohamed

Book of the Week: 10 May 2015

Bitter Sixteen
Whilst most of us have sometimes wished we have superpowers, or were the sort of hero who could fight multiple bullies, fly and move things with our minds, we might not imagine this kind of hero lives in a small town in Mid-Wales. Stanly Bird is an unremarkable fifteen year-old who likes reading and who has just got a part in the school play, when on the first minute of his sixteenth birthday he finds himself floating above his bed. This gives him more of a shock than the fact that he has owned a talking dog for the last twelve months. Daryl is no ordinary talking dog, he is a big film fan and provider of sound advice to Stanly. His wise council is needed more than ever now that Stanly has to come to terms with his growing powers and his attraction to Kloe, his co-star in the school production of Romeo and Juliet.
Events start to get serious when a confrontation at school means than Stanly moves to London to find his cousin Eddie, someone his parents seem to disapprove of without telling him why. Things then take on a much more superhero-like feel as hints of supernatural monsters and sinister onlookers, who may or may not be out to manipulate Stanly and even do him harm, start to appear.
The plot has many elements that are familiar from the superhero genre but the style is sparky and funny with some wonderful turns of phrase and two excellent characters in Stanly and Daryl. The first half of the book is quite leisurely but builds to some exciting, gory and sometimes disturbing, action scenes.
Two more books are planned in the series: ‘Ace of Spiders’ and ‘Stanly’s Ghost’. Stefan Mohamed is an author to watch.
See a brief book trailer here

Noggin

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Noggin by John Corey Whaley
Book of the Week: 4 May 2015
Noggin

A story about a teenager undergoing a head transplant might suggest a science fiction thriller or even a black comedy but Noggin is neither of these. It is a thoughtful exploration of what would happen if the world had moved on but you remained the same.
Life was going well for Travis Coates. He had a best friend called Kyle, was doing well in school and had fallen in love with a girl called Cate. But this was before he fell terminally ill. There was one ray of hope – undergoing the experimental process of having his head cryogenically frozen in the hope that a donor body would be available in the years to come. Travis expected to wake in the distant future but when he does come round, he finds only five years have passed. His ecstatic parents are delighted he has survived, but he has a brand new body that belonged to someone else, his friends are now twenty years old and his girlfriend is about to marry someone else. Travis has to adapt to a world that has changed far more radically than he imagines.
If you have enjoyed books such as The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss or Before I Die by Jenny Downham you might find that you like this too.
John Corey Whaley’s website is here