Andy Jamieson

Sometime Geek Overlord, bi-monthly Dungeon Master, part-time care worker, reigning Husband of the Year, & full-time daddy. Also, proficient proverbial juggler.

BOOK REVIEW: ALIEN: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon

Jan 202015
 

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ALIEN: Out of the Shadows

By Tim Lebbon

 

Published by Titan Books, paperback, £7.99, OUT NOW

 

I remember reading about this in the month or so running up to its release and I admit to scoffing at the premise. Set 37 years after the events of the classic Ridley Scott film, ALIEN, the central plot to ALIEN: Out of the Shadows sees Ellen Ripley’s Narcissus lifecraft home in on a distress signal emitted by a mining ship, The Marion, orbiting the inhospitable (but mineral rich) planet LV178, interrupting her hypersleep.

Why is her craft drawn to the mining vessel? A big question that is, thankfully answered. And that is what Tim Lebbon’s book does; it poses incredulous questions and then proceeds to answer them rather well indeed. Such as, how was this storyline simply forgotten by her twenty years later in ALIENS? Again, this is answered. You will either accept the inventive plotting as, well, inventive, or you will not.

My advice: go with it.

Within the week that I began to read this book, images were released via film director Neill Blomkamp’s Instagram acc (http://instagram.com/p/xXEDNNqhKi/?modal=true) that showed concept artwork for a proposed Alien sequel (Blomkanp’s cryptic accompanying text to the image: “Was working on this. Don’t think I am anymore.”) – that is, not a prequel or any relation to the Prometheus series. Now, these images of Weyland-Yutani HQ, of Ripley, and what looked like Hicks (leading to the question of this ghost project being an alternate storyline / clone plot), stoked my imagination, and reminded me that the Alien series is far from finished.

(Editor’s aside: it does make me wonder whether, with the release of this “official” trilogy of Ellen Ripley starring yarns, along with Blomkamp’s images, there is in fact an attempt at work to test teh waters to see if there is still the demand for a direct ALIEN sequel, as well as the already in production Prometheus sequel. The Ridley Scott-directed Prometheus was a very mixed bag but had its moments. You can read my review, if you like… http://www.geekzine.co.uk/2012/07/prometheus-15-editors-ranting-review/    – Aside over…)

I duly delved into Alien: Out of the Shadows, truly intrigued to see what author Lebbon would do with his peculiar premise.

To his immediate credit, Lebbon starts things fast and furious, with the familiar xenomorphs appearing by page 22, as we are quickly introduced to the main protagonist, Chris Hooper, an engineer aboard the aforementioned vessel, The Marion, property of the Kelland Mining company, who are revealed to be an unofficial subsidiary of the sinister Weyland-Yutani corporation… (a key plot point that does not go ignored)

The ship is orbiting the dry desert rock of a planet that is LV178, significant only for its valuable commodity of the ore Trimonite, mined deep below the surface (“Hardest substance known to man. It’s fifteen times harder than diamond, and extremely rare”). As two dropships return to The Marion from the surface of LV178 it becomes clear that all is not well – they have some rather vicious cargo aboard…

Disaster quite literally strikes The Marion, leaving her in a decaying orbit, and with a small crew of survivors. Hooper puts out a distress signal, and within weeks the unexpected arrival of, not a rescue ship, but the lifecraft Narcissus docks with The Marion, having homed in on the repeating signal. As to the why and the how of this, it is very well explained and runs as an ongoing mystery throughout the book. When the revelation comes, it is a WTF moment (an unexpected familiar character makes an unusual and inventive cameo).

Ripley is reawakened by Hooper and the rest of the ragtag crew and is horrified to find that the monsters she thought she had left behind are here waiting for her, down on the planet. Plans are made to abandon The Marion but, as fate would have it, the fuel cells that are needed for their escape are stored down at the mining facility on LV178… Shit, meet fan.

The trip to the mining facility on LV178 is where the bulk of the middle third of this book is set, and it would have been very easy for Lebbon to trade inventiveness for familiarity. Thankfully he does not, and the utter claustrophobic nature of the cramped conditions of the mines are gripping and a suitable contrast to what we have seen before in the ALIEN universe. And just when you think you know what to expect, you are left surprised; there are more than one or two moments where I found myself thinking that Lebbon had hit upon something really cool (some very intriguing other xenomorphic activity, in a neat nod to Prometheus). But the tension and pace is cranked so high that you can’t ponder any fresh contemplations – you are rattled along with the survivors (an engaging bunch and a cut above your usual xeno-fodder) as they seek to escape the mining facility with their fuel cells.

The final third of the story is where the meat of this book lies and it does not disappoint with its finale. Questions are answered, and revelations are confirmed, and Tim Lebbon is now an author I will read more of.

This is the first in a trilogy, followed by ALIEN: Sea of Sorrows by James A. Moore, and ALIEN: River of Pain by Christopher Golden. On the strength of Lebbon’s book, they have a lot to live up to.

 

Review by Geekine UK’s Editor-in-Chief, Andy Jamieson.

Check out Tim Lebbon’s website: http://www.timlebbon.net/ 

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Last of the Spirits by Chris Priestley

Jan 092015
 

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The Last of the Spirits

by Chris Priestley

Published by Bloomsbury, hardback, £10.99

The release of a new Chris Priestley book is a joyous occasion. The release of a Chris Priestley book at Christmas is even better. His track record for this wintry season is excellent. 2011’s The Dead of Winter is, was and remains one of the finest ghost stories committed to page, and is ripe for a television adaptation. 2012’s Christmas Tales of Terror was a wonderful compendium of yuletide scares.

The Last of the Spirits furrows similar meta-turf to Priestley’s own Mister Creecher, the  central conceit being that it branches off from an established literary classic – with MC it was Frankenstein, with Spirits it is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Sam and Lizzie are two street urchins (appearing ever so briefly in Dickens’ novel but I won’t spoil the revelation as to who exactly they are) living a rough life in the shadows of Victorian London. The Last of the Spirits is their story, and it is one of hardship and sorrow. Priestley’s depiction of Sam and Lizzie’s homeless vagrancy reads authentic, and feels evocative.

The plot kicks into motion when Sam, slighted by a brief and bitter encounter with Ebeneezer Scrooge, decides to perpetrate a mugging on the old mizer, and even goes so far as to break into Scrooge’s house. It is there that he and Lizzie witness the visitation of the ghost of Jacob Marley (Scrooge’s late business partner is revealed to have links to Sam and Lizzie, in one of the books more inventive plot strands).

Taking his lead from Dickens’ own structure, Priestley’s book mirrors slightly that of A Christmas Carol, as Sam and Lizzie encounter the same three ghosts as does Scrooge. Priestley displays his absolute knowledge of Dickens’ seasonal favourite, as the story of Sam and Lizzie weaves effortlessly in and out of Scrooge’s own plot strand. The conclusion, when it comes, is satisfying and emotionally powerful and, as a long time reader and fan of Priestley’s work, some of the author’s writing towards the end of this book displays some career best work. (I have page 157 seared into my mind, most specifically; “… for until then he had not understood how very heavy hate can be.”)

I don’t think this is Priestley’s best book (The Dead of Winter, without a doubt in this reviewer’s mind, is the author’s best book) but it once again demonstrates why he is one of Britain’s best and finest writers. The Last of the Spirits should be essential reading for anyone who is a fan of A Christmas Carol.

 

Review by Andrew Jamieson, Editor-in-Chief of Geekzine UK

You can follow Chris Priestley over on his blog: http://chrispriestley.blogspot.co.uk/

GEEKZINE Q&A: Gill Arbuthnott – November 2014

Nov 172014
 

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Local author Gill Arbuthnott appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this summer with her latest book, Beneath, a supernatural thriller set in 16th century Scotland. She took time out from her hectic schedule to answer Geekzine UK editor Andrew Jamieson’s questions:

Andrew Jamieson: How did your latest book, Beneath, come about? Is it a project you had been planning for a while?

Gill Arbuthnott: I wanted to write something that used one of the classic stories from Scottish folklore and got particularly interested in waterhorse legends when I found that they were common to much of northern Europe, not just Scotland. At the same time, the character of Jess was already in my head, and looking for a way out into a story. She’s so sensible that I wanted to put her up against something that would really make her question her logical view of the world, so the two elements came together rather nicely.

AJ: Given its historical setting, did you immerse yourself in the time period? Did you feel you had to do considerable research to bring the era alive on page?

GA: I love historical novels, and I’ve read quite a few set in that sort of period, but I always thought of this book as a fantasy, so I wanted the historical aspect to be very much ‘light touch’. I did read quite a bit about wolves in Scotland, which was fascinating – maybe we’ll see them back one day! It’s great fun doing any sort of research, but you have to force yourself to leave out at least 90% of what you’ve learned, or it really bogs down the plot. I’m sure there are anachronisms in ‘Beneath’, but if I’ve done my job properly, my target readers will be too interested in the story to find them jarring.

AJ: The book has a fine balance between the period setting and the more fantastical elements. Was that a hard thing to achieve, and was it ever tempting to to go further with the fantasy side of the proceedings?

GA: I’m delighted you think I got the balance right! I always wanted the book to be grounded in a version of the real world (all my fantasy is) and not to require too much suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. I wasn’t tempted to go more fantastical in this book, but I do have the start of a couple of stories that are much more fantastical. We’ll have to see if they ever make it past Chapter 3 though.

AJ: How much of your own personality do you put into your characters?

BeneathbyGillArbuthnott

Gill’s latest book, the spooky Beneath, published by Kelpies Teen

GA: They are composites of all sorts of people, of course, but there must be a bit of me in there. I suppose that many of my characters have traits that I would like to have, but don’t in real life. They’re certainly much braver than I am! I’d like to think that the resourcefulness many of them show is something I share to an extent, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking….

AJ: What other projects are you working on at the moment? How far ahead do you usually plan for future projects?

GA: I’m desperately trying to finish off two non-fiction books at the moment, before I can return to the novel I’m trying to write. It’s been on hold more or less since the end of July, which has been quite frustrating. I’m not really a planner at all – there’s not a list of books I plan to write stuck on my wall or anything – and even when I’m in the middle of writing a novel, I don’t necessarily know how it will end. This certainly keeps things exciting for me, because I’m finding out what happens at more or less the same rate as my characters, but it does mean a lot of rewriting, because by the time I get to the end of the plot, the beginning probably won’t make sense any more…

AJ: How did you start out as a writer?

GA: I’ve been writing stories since primary school, and always daydreamed about being a published author, but for a long time I thought you needed an English degree before anyone would take you seriously (I’m a biologist by training). Eventually I started trying to get published, with total lack of success for 10 years, during which I was writing for adults. Then I began a new story and realised it was for children. It turned into ‘The Chaos Clock’ and was published by Floris Books, and I discovered I was actually a children’s author!

AJ: What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

GA: 

  • Get on and do it! Don’t wait to be inspired, just get writing and try to write so often it becomes a habit and you feel guilty if you don’t do it.
  • Don’t expect to be good without practising – you wouldn’t expect to play the piano or be any good at a foreign language without spending hours on it. Writing is no different.
  • Read, read, read. And then read some more. Think about why you like your favourite books. Is it the characters, the plot, the setting? Try to bring some of this to your own work.
  • Don’t give up. You need to be determined. And never, never say you’d like to write but you don’t have time.

AJ: Do you have any favourite books that you come back to?

GA: Authors rather than titles: Jane Austen, Louis de Bernieres, Terry Pratchett, Candia McWilliam, Kate Atkinson, Dorothy Dunnett, P G Wodehouse (I always read him if I get stuck with punctuation, as well as for pleasure) Ray Bradbury… I could go on for a long time here.

AJ: What was the last good book that you read?

GA: I’ve hardly had any time to read recently, due to deadlines! But three of my very favourite recent books are ‘Life After Life’ by Kate Atkinson, ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern and ‘Scarlet Ibis’ by Gill Lewis.

 

Thank you to Gill for her answers. Beneath is out now in paperback (and ebook), priced £6.99, published by Kelpies Teen, an imprint of Floris Books.

You can keep up with Gill and her work over on her blog: http://gillarbuthnott.wordpress.com/

GEEKZINE Q&A: Curtis Jobling, author of ‘Haunt: Dead Scared’

Sep 162014
 

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Curtis Jobling is a man of many talents, some of them more obvious than others. Aside from his impressive sideburns, he is a multi-talented artist. Starting out as an animator, he rose to prominence due to his character designs for Bob The Builder. He began to branch out into other animation (Curious Cow for Nickleodeon) and illustration work (such as the Frankenstein’s Cat picture book – also a CBBC animation), before trying his hand at books for older children with the fantasy-horror series, WereWorld (a series of six books in total), published by Puffin. Most recently, he has had another CBeeBies animated hit with Raa Raa The Noisy Lion, and this summer had a new book out for older children, Haunt: Dead Scared, a ghost story published by Simon & Schuster, OUT NOW in paperback at £6.99, available from all good and nefarious bookselling emporiums. 

He took time out from his hectic schedule of witty Twitter posts to answer Geekzine UK’s mostly gentle questions,  from Editor-in-Chief, Andrew Jamieson….

 

Andrew Jamieson: Your latest novel Haunt: Dead Scared is a contemporary-set ghost story – could you discuss how the idea came to you and what challenges you faced in its writing?

Curtis Jobling: It’s based – very loosely – on my life growing up in Warrington in the northwest of England. Many of the things that occur to Will and his friend, Dougie (our protagonists), happened to me in my teen years, although admittedly I didn’t get killed in a hit and run. I don’t think that’s too much of a spoiler. I wanted to write a creepy tale that had a lightness to it. Haunt: Dead Scared is a darkly comic ghost story. The biggest challenge was writing in a very different style to my previous work, being well known as a fantasy author. It’s really a bit of a coming of age tale, with a first love and murder mystery thrown in for good measure.

AJ: Haunt: Dead Scared is quite a departure from your WereWorld books. Was it a deliberate choice to step away from the fantasy genre and try something else?

CJ: I would hope that I’m able to continue to switch genres as a writer. It certainly keeps me on my toes as I’m being challenged all the while, forced into remaining fresh. I wouldn’t rule out returning to fantasy – I have a number of stories set within the Wereworld universe that it’d be great to get my teeth into – but I have a number of other books lined up to write first. At heart, I’m still a big old fantasy geek, so there will always be fantastic elements to my storytelling.

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AJ: You are working on a sequel to Haunt. What can you reveal about this next book?

CJ: It takes place six months or so after the events in Dead Scared, and picks up with Will thinking he has a handle on his world and his strange predicament. However, fresh dangers come into his (un)life, and he starts to get to the bottom of why he hasn’t ‘moved on’. There are some shocking revelations that rock him to his core. Comedy is still on hand to lighten the mood, but there are some truly dark, chilling moments in the sequel.

AJ: Last month you appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and, as well as promoting Haunt, you were also there with your latest picture book, Old Macdonald’s Zoo (published by Egmont, OUT NOW, £6.99), illustrated by Tom McLaughlin. What is it about writing for different age ranges that you enjoy?

CJ: I guess I’ve always had to be versatile, being both an illustrator and author, so that switch of pace and style is something I’ve grown accustomed to. Working originally in the animation industry, climbing up the production ladder, I had to hustle for jobs and push myself. As a freelancers, nobody owes you a living, so you have to have a genuine hunger to succeed and get better at your craft. At any given time in animation I’ve been a writer, creator, designer, model maker, producer and director. The only job I never did was the animation! I’ve always loved those opportunities to wear different hats and I’ve carried that through into my publishing work. I can really let the big kid out when I write or illustrate picture books. To then move onto writing the older novels is a complete departure. That’s a thrill for me.

AJ: What other book projects are you working on?

CJ: I’m working on the second draft of a new book for Penguin US, the first of two novels featuring a character called Max Helsing: Monster Hunter. Big, unadulterated middle-grade monstrous fun! Tentacled horrors, dark fairies, trolls, bigfoot, non-sparkling vampires, goblins, ghouls and ghosts – we’ve got every corner of monsterkind covered in these books. Max is the last in the long line of Van Helsings, and he’s a slacker kid living in the ‘sleepy’ town of Gallows Hill, outside of Salem in New England. Think of a Lovecraft inspired, creature feature, cryptozoological monster mash and you’re getting close. As you can tell, I’m having a lot of fun with it. I’m also about to commence writing some exciting fantasy books for Puffin UK, but I’m sworn to secrecy presently. You can also look out from more picture books from myself and Tom McLaughlin through Egmont. Tom’s putting the finishing touches to the artwork presently, so it’s all go!

AJ: The Wereworld books really marked you out as a fantasy author to watch. Do you have any plans to return to a genre you so clearly love?

CJ: Would love to. I’ve an idea for a book that’s distinctly Young Adult in a fantasy setting – to be honest, Wereworld frequently wandered, staggered and bled into that area anyway. But this would be unashamedly darker and edgier. Again, it’s a case of finding the time to write it. Presently I’m having fun jotting ideas down and slowly building the world within documents on my laptop. It’s populated by, and pardon my French, a right shower of bastards.

Wereworld

AJ: You are also known for your animation work. Aside from Raa Raa The Noisy Lion, what other projects do you have in the works?

CJ: Nothing on the horizon presently, though I’ve not ruled out a return to animation if it’s the right project. I’m expecting to have some talks in the next 12 months about one property, but it’s a ‘wait and see’!

AJ: What animated shorts or features have stuck with you over the years? Do you have any favourites you return to?

CJ: Of my own? It’d be Curious Cow, a series of bovine-related animated suicides I conceived, designed and directed for Nickelodeon back in the day. It’s my homage to the shows I grew up loving as a kid – Tom & Jerry, Wile E Coyote & Roadrunner, Bugs Bunny etc. Basically, if it featured cartoon violence then it was right up my proverbial strasse. As an influence on me, I have to say the Oscar nominated The Sandman by Batty/Berry/Mackinnon is still a short film I show when I visit colleges and universities to talk about the industry. It’s the one that gave me a kick up the pants and made me think: “That’s what I want to do for a living!” The fact those three guys are friends of mine is secondary – it’s a genius piece of short animation. Watch it! Now! You can see each of the above animations on the Tube of You.

AJ: What advice would you give to any aspiring writers and / or animators?

CJ: Three words of advice for writers: read, read, read. And for animators, you’re ahead of me: sketch, sketch, sketch. Obviously, you need to write as well, but reading as much as you can from as many genres can only help you with your understanding of language and storytelling.

AJ: ….And what was the last good book that you read?

CJ: Extinction Machine by Jonathan Maberry. And yes, it was rather splendid. There’s a writer who can deftly change genre and audience. You should check out his Rot and Ruin series of YA zombie books. They’re fabulous.

 

Thank you to Curtis for his time.

Check out his rather good website: http://www.curtisjobling.com/ 

Haruki Murakami at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Sep 092014
 

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Haruki Murakami appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Saturday 23rd August in a special event to discuss his classic novel, The WInd-Up Bird Chronicle. On Sunday 24th August he appeared in another event, dedicated to his career, and his new book, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Intrepid Geekzine UK reporter, and Murakami fangirl, Kate West, went along to see the great man in action.

 

It is rare that Haruki Murakami gives interviews, making the chance to see him be interviewed in person that extra special. This was his first time appearing at the festival, though I hope for other’s sakes, not the last.

Murakami requested that there be no filming, and no photography, so sadly I can’t show you how ridiculously cool he looked. He had on a t-shirt with a record on it under a loose shirt, with another loose plaid shirt over the top, and dark jeans; he looks much younger than his 65 years. I can imagine him sitting alone in a bar sipping whisky watching the people around him go by.

Entirely as expected, Murakami came across as spectacularly intelligent and charismatic, and I’ll admit it was to my surprise that only once was his translator needed. It turns out it shouldn’t really have been a surprise, as Murakami mentioned his love of translating literature as a hobby, a fact I was previously unaware of.

Amongst many others, he has translated the entire works of Raymond Carver, a favourite author of his. He went on to explain that he translates as a way to experience the way that other writers work and experience the world. I’m paraphrasing here, but as a way to ‘step into another’s shoes.’ He was quick to clarify though, ‘not in high heels’…

He also referred to himself as an ‘engineer’, and said that he has never once experienced writer’s block; a statement which surely filled many in the audience with jealousy. When asked if it were possible that his daily routine can be thanked for this, he readily agreed. Murakami’s love of running as part of that daily routine was mentioned; he said that “running is the perfect speed” at which to get to know a city such as Edinburgh. Walking being too slow, and travelling by car being too fast. (What I wouldn’t have given to have passed Murakami on a daily jog around the city although I suspect though that he is a much early riser than I…)

He also mentioned that the rain had not deterred him, even though the change of temperature from Japan to Scotland made him feel that he was “missing the summer”. That gentle sense of humour that I always feel runs through his books is certainly present in the man himself, and is something that he says he hopes is felt in his new bestseller Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. The novel sold a million copies in its first week on sale alone in Japan.

Murakami_ColorlessTsukuru

His latest novel centres on the titular Tsukuru Tazaki; a young man cast out from his small tight knit community of five friends, who then fails to form meaningful relationships in his adult life before meeting Sara, a woman who encourages him to discover the reason for his exclusion. When asked about the characters in his books Murakami said that he feels that although the stories tend to centre around the male characters, it’s the women in his books who ultimately help them towards the end goals. He enjoys writing the female characters, and at this point said he couldn’t help noticing all the women in the audience. Which of course set the audience giggling. I can’t be the only one to have walked out of this event with a good-sized crush on Murakami…

One of the questions asked by an audience member was which character he most relates to (something got a little lost in translation), and Murakami answered that he liked Ushikawa, a character from 1Q84, a small part of the character description given in 1Q84 reads thusly: “His teeth were crooked, and his spine was strangely curved. The large crown of his head formed an abnormally flat bald area with lopsided edges. It was reminiscent of a military heliport that had been made by cutting away the peak of a small, strategically important hill.”

This again got a laugh; for those of you who don’t know the character, Ushikawa is a fairly odious man. He is a determined investigator, but ultimately morally ambiguous in the face of a monetary reward and self-preservation and, as stated above, an uncomfortably strange man to set eyes upon. When the real meaning of the question was explained to him, Murakami cited the talking cats in Kafka on the Shore.

Genius.

Seriously, what is not to love about this guy?

If you haven’t read any Murakami and think you might find him an interesting read (you will) I recommend as a first read Kafka on the Shore. It’s the first book of his I ever read, and it made me want to go out and read everything he had ever written, which for the most part, I now have.

I’m going to wrap up this piece with a wee bit of information that will see me sat in a whisky bar in the not so distant future sipping a drink I’ve never had before whilst reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle like the ridiculous fan-girl that I am; Murakami favours Laphroaig and Jura whisky.

You’re welcome.

Kate West, former bookseller, ardent geek and kick ass barmaid.

You can follow Kate on Twitter : @twoscoopsfresh

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami is OUT NOW in hardback, published by Harvill Secker, official RRP £20 (but shop around, you’ll find it cheaper than that). 

REVIEW: Haunt: Dead Scared by Curtis Jobling

Sep 032014
 

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Haunt: Dead Scared by Curtis Jobling

Published by Simon & Schuster, Paperback, £6.99 – OUT NOW

Author Curtis Jobling returns after six fantastic Wereworld books with a significantly different set of thrills. Set in a senior school (based on the author’s own school) in the north west English town of Warrington, the story opens with the protagonist, young Will Underwood, on his way to a friend’s house. But this journey does not end well, and Will gets knocked off his bike in a mysterious hit-and-run incident (that may or may not be an accident – to be resolved in the next book?) that results in him being killed. I’m not ruining anything for you there, this is all given away on the back cover, and this set-up works as a great narrative drive throughout the book.

This is obviously not the end of Will’s story and, as the title suggests, he returns as a ghost, gaining consciousness, of sorts, in Warrington General Hospital, where he sees his dead body, and his mourning family (an eerily effective and emotional sequence). Will, it seems, has unresolved business in this realm of the living. He soon discovers that the only person who can see him is his best friend, Dougie Hancock, who reacts as you would expect any sane person to do; with denial, grief, and eventually reluctant acceptance, when he realizes that this apparition of Will is here to stay. The bond between Will and Dougie is the lynchpin of the entire book, as so much of the enjoyment from reading Haunt: Dead Scared comes from the very convincing on-page friendship between these two geek buddies who, amongst other pursuits, are keen dice rolling Dungeons & Dragons fans. These aren’t the cool kids.

What proceeds, as Will and Dougie get used to this new angle on their friendship, is a version of a mystery thriller, as they try to ascertain exactly why Will hasn’t ‘passed on’. After one or two false starts (Dougie’s hilarious encounter with an older, voracious goth girl with a reputation as a psychic), they settle upon the idea of exploring Red Brook House, the nearby old condemned school building, and a local repository for tales of hauntings throughout the years. After a telling conversation with a local church minister, also the dad of one of Will and Dougie’s close friends, Stu, the two amateur sleuths build up the courage to step inside Red Brook…

To reveal more would, well, reveal more. The plot that ensues is so finely wrought and balanced, with some excellent twists and turns that make you turn those pages with a whirlwind urge, that it would be cruel to give anything away. These details I can give you: Will learns a little more about his post-life existence and his ability to manipulate physical objects, and he and Dougie uncover more mysteries than they set out to do, including the sad story of girl ghost, Phyllis. Her story sets the final third of the book in motion, with a great climax that surprises and thrills in equal measure.

Ostensibly this is a Young Adult book, and as a former children’s bookseller, and a YA author myself, I approached this title with some intrigue, curious as to how far the author would go with the scares. I was comforted by the fact that, at times, the frights were well orchestrated and very effective indeed!

Author Jobling recently confirmed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, at the Ghostly Tales event, that he is finishing up on the sequel (title to be confirmed). On the strength of this first Will Underwood book, he is onto a good thing.

 

Andrew Jamieson

Editor-in-Chief of the Geekzine UK website, and author of the award nominated fantasy steampunk novel, The Vengeance Path, volume one in The Chronicles of Edenos; http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vengeance-Path-Chronicles-Edenos-Book-ebook/dp/B00DQ0AIAI/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1409698972&sr=1-2&keywords=the+vengeance+path

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