October 2015 Debut of the Month There are echoes of Dahl in this unusual and hugely engaging debut novel. Archer B. Helmsley is held virtual prisoner in his home by his mother, who is suspicious of the power of his imagination and of dreamers in general. She’s determined he won’t follow in the footsteps of his paternal grandparents, intrepid explorers believed to have been lost on an iceberg in Antarctica. But that’s exactly what Archer wants to do, moreover he’s determined to leave straight away on a rescue mission. He enlists the help of two other children, Oliver his best friend, and new girl Adélaïde, who claims to have lost her leg to a crocodile. Together they do indeed find Archer’s grandparents, but not in a way they, or the reader, expect. One of the wonderful things about this story is that it never does what you expect, and is full of surprises. It’s full of humour too, plus incident and adventure. The author’s own colour illustrations add to the charm, making this really special. ~ Andrea Reece
Archer B. Helmsley longs for adventure. But how can he have an adventure when he can't even leave his house? Archer B. Helmsley has grown up in a house full of oddities and treasures collected by his grandparents, the famous explorers. Archer longs for grand adventures but ever since his grandparents went missing on an iceberg, his mother barely lets him leave the house. So, along with his best friends, Adelaide L. Belmont and Oliver Grub, Archer forms a plan to get out of the house and set off on a grand adventure with crocodiles and parachutes and danger. It's a good plan. Well, it's not bad, anyway. But nothing goes quite as they expected...
Nicholas Gannon studied art and design and held a number of odd jobs before becoming a full time author. He lives in Brooklyn. The Doldrums is his first book.
