BOOK REVIEWS FOR JANUARY 2006

ISSUE NUMBER 88 ~ JANUARY 2006

DEMON THIEF by DARREN SHAN

A huge, jagged patch of light forms at the foot of my bed. Then a shape presses through. I'm too horrified to scream. It's a monster from my very worst nightmare. Pale red skin. Dark red eyes. No nose. Sharp, grey teeth. As it leans further forward I see a hole in the left side of its chest, and inside - dozens of tiny, hissing snakes. The monster frowns and stretches a hand towards me…When Kernel Fleck's brother is stolen by demons, he must enter their universe in search of him. It is a place of magic, chaos and incredible danger. Kernel has three aims: learn to use magic,  find his brother, stay alive. But a heartless demon awaits him, and death has been foretold…Shan never ceases to amaze me - when I was a teenager I was getting frightened by spiders in THE HAUNTING OF TOBY JUGG - nothing like this existed. Graphic in its gory detail, this is an adrenalin-inducing fun-packed thrill from start to finish!

Owen's ordinary life is turned upside-down the day he gets involved with the Resisters and their centuries-long feud with an ancient, evil race. The Harsh, with their icy blasts and relentless onslaught, have a single aim - to turn back time and eliminate all life. Unless they are stopped, everything Owen knows will vanish as if it has never been…But all is not as it seems in the rebel ranks. While Owen is accepted by new friends Cati and Wesley, and the eccentric Dr Diamond, others are suspicious of his motives. Could there be a Harsh spy in their midst? Where and what is the mysterious Mortmain, vital to their cause?
And what was Owen’s father’s role in all this many years before?  As he journeys to the frozen North on a mission of destruction, Owen comes to understand his own history and to face his destiny. Published in February of this year, THE NAVIGATOR reminds me of a number of things: the post apocalyptic world of Mad Max; Doctor Who; The Time Machine, and, oh, so many excellent themes all packaged into one rollicking adventure. It's one of those stories where the hero is a young teenager, like Harry Potter. A worthy foray into children's fantasy by a top author.  Harper Collins Hardback £12.99

MERMAIDS SINGING by DILLY COURT  Born into poverty and living under the roof of her violent and abusive brother-in-law, young Kitty Cox dreams of working in a women's dress shop in the West End - a million miles away from the reality of her life as a mud-lark, scavenging on the banks of the Thames. Fate soon intervenes and Kitty finds herself working as a skivvy for Sir Desmond and Lady Arabella Mableton in Mayfair. Bullied by the kitchen maids, Kitty is soon taken under Lady Arabella's wing and for the first time in her life Kitty dares to hope. But Lady 'Bella' has a secret and unable to live with her domineering husband she decides to leave, fighting for custody of their daughter, Leonie. Kitty will do anything for her mistress but her loyalty is severely tested as all their lives are thrown into turmoil and Kitty faces a life of poverty and hardship in the slums of the East End once more. Brilliant! The only thing I could find wrong with this is that the ending was slightly hurried - I'd have preferred it to spill over into another book, a sequel. Enthralling. I had to wait a while to find out exactly what era it was set in, but that didn't matter. A great debut. More from Dilly Court in 2006, I understand. Century Hardback £18.99 C

THE QUANTUM PROPHECY by MICHAEL CARROLL  This is a superhero adventure series that gives ordinary boys extraordinary powers! Comic-book style adventure meets fast-paced action in this thrilling new series, starting with "The Quantum Prophecy". "The Quantum Prophecy", first in "The New Heroes" trilogy, takes place ten years after a great battle, in which all the world's superheroes and supervillains disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to Titan, Energy, Paragon, and their evil adversaries, but when 13-year-old Colin Wagner and his best friend Danny begin to develop strange powers, they realise that a new age of superhumans might be just beginning. A powerful and well-armed group of mercenaries kidnaps the two boys and their families, but Colin manages to escape. Where can he go? Who can he trust? Above all, how will Colin and Danny use their new-found powers - for good or ill? Find out in this brilliant new series, an innovative and exciting reworking of the superhero genre. Colin and Danny find themselves thrown in at the deep end in a story that reminds me of the days of the great children's adventure stories of the 1960s on BBC Light Programme Children's Hour. Great sense of adventure, this could be the start of something big!

In his final hours in the Oval Office the outgoing President grants a controversial last minute pardon to Joel Backman, a notorious Washington power broker who has spent the last six years hidden away in a federal prison. What no one knows is that the President issues the pardon only after receiving enormous pressure from the CIA. It seems that Backman, in his power broker heyday, may have obtained secrets that compromise the world's most sophisticated satellite surveillance system. Backman is quietly smuggled out of the country in a military cargo plane, given a new name, a new identity, and a new home in Italy. Eventually, after he has settled into his new life, the CIA will leak his whereabouts to the Israelis, the Russians, the Chinese and the Saudis. Then the CIA will do what it does best: sit back and watch. The question is not whether Backman will survive - there's no chance of that. The question the CIA needs answered is, who will kill him?