Nickel Plated by Aric Davis
Apr. 12th, 2011 04:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
”It was weird to just get a contact out of nowhere. She was a kid, though, I could tell that from just the few minutes on the phone, and kids have a funny way of finding me. I’m pretty sure it’s just the world’s way of reminding me that I owe a debt for Dad. Whoever the girl was, she either needed help or was setting me up. I’ve run enough angles that I’m sure there are a few people would love to get a face-to-face. I’ll die before I go back to foster care, and I’m not ready to start dying just yet.”
Nickel is a survivor. Raised by the state in abusive foster homes, he escapes at the age of ten to live his life the way his father wanted him to: not as a civilian, but as a warrior. Nickel pays his way by blackmailing paedophiles he tracks down online, selling marijuana to high school students, and working as a private investigator in between. Money talks, but for kids, Nickel works for free.
This time, it’s Arrow, a beautiful high school girl, who needs help. She believes that her sister Shelby was kidnapped, even though her parents and the police have written her off as a runaway. Nickel takes the case, scouring the internet and the posh suburban streets to find the missing girl. What he uncovers are children for sale and adults with souls black as the devil. Soon Nickel realizes that finding Shelby is one thing – but surviving is another.
Having spent his life in a series of abusive foster homes, and endured the death of the only foster father who cared for him, 12 year old Nickel knows what it takes to survive. Now he lives off the grid, earning money by blackmailing the paedophiles who prey on internet chat lines, taking on private investigation cases and selling marijuana to high school teens. It’s a lonely life, but a necessary one to avoid the attention of the authorities who’ll drag him back into the system he despises.
When 14 year-old Arrow asks for his help in finding her younger sister Shelby, who’s gone missing, Nickel takes on the case for free. The police have written off Shelby as a run-away but Nickel knows that darker forces are at play. Soon he finds himself embroiled in a violent world where children are sold on the black market and men will stop at nothing to keep their secrets. Nickel will need all his survival skills if he’s to make it out alive, let alone find the girl ...
Aric Davis’s novel is a dark and gritty YA noir thriller with a hero who reads as a cross between Philip Marlow and Alex Ryder. Nickel has a wonderfully world weary voice – tough, savvy and cynical about the failings of the world, but there’s also a loneliness about him and for all his self-sufficiency he needs someone in his life, which is partly why he’s so drawn to the older Arrow, a classic woman in peril who badly needs his help.
I did have some quibbles about the story e.g. the way the police dismiss the disappearance of an 11 year old girl as a runaway is a bit too convenient. My main issue though was with Nickel’s age as 12 was too young for him to get away with some of the things he does in the story and his knowledge about sex and paedophilia is disturbing at times, as are his sexualised feelings for Arrow. Had he been 14 or 15, I would have found him easier to believe in.
There are plenty of action scenes in the story, which are well handled and Davis weaves in the central investigation for the missing girl with a couple of other smaller cases. The themes are well drawn and there’s a set up for a sequel, which I would be interested in reading.
The Verdict:
Aric Davis has written a gritty and edgy noir YA thriller with plenty of action and twists. Personally, I would have preferred it had the hero been a couple of years older – if only to give added credibility to some of his activities and take away some of the discomfort associated with his knowledge of paedophilia. However that said it’s a well-constructed novel with a set up for a sequel that I’d be interested in reading.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
Nickel is a survivor. Raised by the state in abusive foster homes, he escapes at the age of ten to live his life the way his father wanted him to: not as a civilian, but as a warrior. Nickel pays his way by blackmailing paedophiles he tracks down online, selling marijuana to high school students, and working as a private investigator in between. Money talks, but for kids, Nickel works for free.
This time, it’s Arrow, a beautiful high school girl, who needs help. She believes that her sister Shelby was kidnapped, even though her parents and the police have written her off as a runaway. Nickel takes the case, scouring the internet and the posh suburban streets to find the missing girl. What he uncovers are children for sale and adults with souls black as the devil. Soon Nickel realizes that finding Shelby is one thing – but surviving is another.
Having spent his life in a series of abusive foster homes, and endured the death of the only foster father who cared for him, 12 year old Nickel knows what it takes to survive. Now he lives off the grid, earning money by blackmailing the paedophiles who prey on internet chat lines, taking on private investigation cases and selling marijuana to high school teens. It’s a lonely life, but a necessary one to avoid the attention of the authorities who’ll drag him back into the system he despises.
When 14 year-old Arrow asks for his help in finding her younger sister Shelby, who’s gone missing, Nickel takes on the case for free. The police have written off Shelby as a run-away but Nickel knows that darker forces are at play. Soon he finds himself embroiled in a violent world where children are sold on the black market and men will stop at nothing to keep their secrets. Nickel will need all his survival skills if he’s to make it out alive, let alone find the girl ...
Aric Davis’s novel is a dark and gritty YA noir thriller with a hero who reads as a cross between Philip Marlow and Alex Ryder. Nickel has a wonderfully world weary voice – tough, savvy and cynical about the failings of the world, but there’s also a loneliness about him and for all his self-sufficiency he needs someone in his life, which is partly why he’s so drawn to the older Arrow, a classic woman in peril who badly needs his help.
I did have some quibbles about the story e.g. the way the police dismiss the disappearance of an 11 year old girl as a runaway is a bit too convenient. My main issue though was with Nickel’s age as 12 was too young for him to get away with some of the things he does in the story and his knowledge about sex and paedophilia is disturbing at times, as are his sexualised feelings for Arrow. Had he been 14 or 15, I would have found him easier to believe in.
There are plenty of action scenes in the story, which are well handled and Davis weaves in the central investigation for the missing girl with a couple of other smaller cases. The themes are well drawn and there’s a set up for a sequel, which I would be interested in reading.
The Verdict:
Aric Davis has written a gritty and edgy noir YA thriller with plenty of action and twists. Personally, I would have preferred it had the hero been a couple of years older – if only to give added credibility to some of his activities and take away some of the discomfort associated with his knowledge of paedophilia. However that said it’s a well-constructed novel with a set up for a sequel that I’d be interested in reading.
Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the free copy of this book.
