Action-packed adventure in which three friends bite off a whole lot more than most kids can chew when they take flight from a bully, and crash land into a criminal underworld of drug dealers.
Largely due to a bullying “cyber-slimebag”, Steve and twins Fran and Dan have decided that “the sooner they get away from here the better”. With almost Blyton-esque instinct, they’ve built a raft and are now ready to go. But it’s not long before they lose the raft and are forced to take shelter in a cave. While this does offer cosy protection, it also exposes them to unimaginable dangers when they discover a kitbag containing over £30k. And a gun. With their lives now in danger, fearless Fran steps up and deploys immense nerve in an effort to extricate them from this hugely hazardous situation.
The sharp, snappy style combined with criminal-themed content (not forgetting the white-knuckle ride of an escape scene…) put me in mind of Alex Rider, only with the action rooted around three small town heroes-next-door, rather than an international hi-tech hero. As such, this pacey page-turner will surely appeal to 10+ year-olds with a thirst for high-octane escapades, but also has enough grit to keep older – and perhaps more reluctant – readers on the edge of their seats.
Steve has had enough - enough of cyber-bullies, enough of adults messing up the world. Sharp-witted Fran and her brother worry-wart Dan feel exactly the same. And so, along with his dog Nessie, Steve and the FranDan twins leave town in the dead of night to start on the biggest adventure of their lives ...But if things were bad before, they soon get worse. Much, much worse. Some seriously bad men show up. Why have Steve and Dan been overpowered and led away as prisoners? Why are they kept tied up in the barn of a disused farm?Having managed to escape, and with no way to call for help, Fran knows it's up to her to mount a one-woman rescue.
Ron Butlin is a poet, playwright, novelist, short story writer and opera librettist whose works have been broadcast in the UK and abroad and have been translated into many languages. He is the author of bestselling poetry collections The Magicians of Edinburgh and The Magicians of Scotland, both published by Polygon, and the children's book Here Come the Trolls (BC Books). His novels include The Sound of My Voice (winner of the Prix Mille Pages 2004 and Prix Lucioles 2005, both for Best Foreign Novel), Night Visits and most recently Belonging. He was Edinburgh Makar from 2008 to 2014.
