The Traitors by Tom Becker
Jul. 1st, 2012 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Betrayed your friend?
BEWARE. They’re coming to get you.
Adam Wilson is kidnapped and taken to the Dial after betraying his best friend. The Dial is a twilight world where teenage traitors are forced to atone for their treachery. It’s a terrible place, ruled over by a cruel despot, where every day is a struggle for survival – and escape. Legend has it that only one person has fled the Colditz-like prison. Nobody knows if he made it back to the real world, but he left behind a ray of hope that has reached through the years. Soon Adam is caught up in a deadly plan to escape. But who can he trust in a world full of traitors?
Adam Wilson betrayed his best friend Danny. Not only did he kiss Danny’s girlfriend but when Danny finds out and violently loses his temper resulting in his expulsion, Adam makes no attempt to defend him to the teachers.
But Adam isn’t going to get away with it.
He’s kidnapped and taken to the Dial, a fearsome prison in an alternative dimension where the teenage inmates atone for their actions. Staffed by brutal wardens and ruled over by a mysterious Commandant, Adam’s sentenced to serve 274 years. Although time passes more quickly in the Dial than on Earth, every day is a struggle for survival. Although only one person – Luca D’Annunzio - has ever escaped, this doesn’t stop over inmates from trying and soon Adam finds himself caught up in a dangerous escape plan.
But the Dial is full of traitors and one of the inmates is working for the wardens ...
Tom Becker’s middle grade novel is a boy’s own adventure that reimagines ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ into a dystopian setting. It’s a fast-paced, breezy read but the world building is a little undercooked and the female characters depressingly stereotypical.
Becker does well in showing Adam’s bewilderment at the strange world of the Dial, his guilt over his actions and his growing friendship with Doughnut. However once imprisoned, he doesn’t think about Carey and instead is drawn to Jessica for little reason other than that she’s pretty. The female characters in the book are very disappointing. None rises above stereotype and all are underdeveloped (although to be fair, all of the side characters are painted in brush strokes). I would have also liked to see more of the Tally-Ho Escape Committee, whose antics form the backdrop to the story but who are shown as little more than paranoid brutes.
The story hinges on what happened to Luca D’Annunzio, how to escape the Dial and who’s betraying the prisoners to the Mr Pitt. All rocket at a great pace. There’s a great sense of place with the Dial but there’s no information on the outside world or how it’s all been put together.
I felt let down by the open-ended conclusion, which seems to be there to set up a sequel although it’s difficult to see how there’s anything else to do with the world. Consequently although I wouldn’t read a sequel, I would check out other books by this author.
The Verdict:
Tom Becker’s middle grade novel is a boy’s own adventure that reimagines ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ into a dystopian setting. It’s a fast-paced, breezy read but the world building is a little undercooked and the female characters depressingly stereotypical. The book finishes with an open-ending, which felt like a let-down and although it seems to be a set-up for a sequel, it’s difficult to see where the story can go. I’d check out other books by Tom Becker, but wouldn’t rush to read a sequel to this one.
THE TRAITORS was released in the UK on 5th April 2012. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
BEWARE. They’re coming to get you.
Adam Wilson is kidnapped and taken to the Dial after betraying his best friend. The Dial is a twilight world where teenage traitors are forced to atone for their treachery. It’s a terrible place, ruled over by a cruel despot, where every day is a struggle for survival – and escape. Legend has it that only one person has fled the Colditz-like prison. Nobody knows if he made it back to the real world, but he left behind a ray of hope that has reached through the years. Soon Adam is caught up in a deadly plan to escape. But who can he trust in a world full of traitors?
Adam Wilson betrayed his best friend Danny. Not only did he kiss Danny’s girlfriend but when Danny finds out and violently loses his temper resulting in his expulsion, Adam makes no attempt to defend him to the teachers.
But Adam isn’t going to get away with it.
He’s kidnapped and taken to the Dial, a fearsome prison in an alternative dimension where the teenage inmates atone for their actions. Staffed by brutal wardens and ruled over by a mysterious Commandant, Adam’s sentenced to serve 274 years. Although time passes more quickly in the Dial than on Earth, every day is a struggle for survival. Although only one person – Luca D’Annunzio - has ever escaped, this doesn’t stop over inmates from trying and soon Adam finds himself caught up in a dangerous escape plan.
But the Dial is full of traitors and one of the inmates is working for the wardens ...
Tom Becker’s middle grade novel is a boy’s own adventure that reimagines ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ into a dystopian setting. It’s a fast-paced, breezy read but the world building is a little undercooked and the female characters depressingly stereotypical.
Becker does well in showing Adam’s bewilderment at the strange world of the Dial, his guilt over his actions and his growing friendship with Doughnut. However once imprisoned, he doesn’t think about Carey and instead is drawn to Jessica for little reason other than that she’s pretty. The female characters in the book are very disappointing. None rises above stereotype and all are underdeveloped (although to be fair, all of the side characters are painted in brush strokes). I would have also liked to see more of the Tally-Ho Escape Committee, whose antics form the backdrop to the story but who are shown as little more than paranoid brutes.
The story hinges on what happened to Luca D’Annunzio, how to escape the Dial and who’s betraying the prisoners to the Mr Pitt. All rocket at a great pace. There’s a great sense of place with the Dial but there’s no information on the outside world or how it’s all been put together.
I felt let down by the open-ended conclusion, which seems to be there to set up a sequel although it’s difficult to see how there’s anything else to do with the world. Consequently although I wouldn’t read a sequel, I would check out other books by this author.
The Verdict:
Tom Becker’s middle grade novel is a boy’s own adventure that reimagines ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ into a dystopian setting. It’s a fast-paced, breezy read but the world building is a little undercooked and the female characters depressingly stereotypical. The book finishes with an open-ending, which felt like a let-down and although it seems to be a set-up for a sequel, it’s difficult to see where the story can go. I’d check out other books by Tom Becker, but wouldn’t rush to read a sequel to this one.
THE TRAITORS was released in the UK on 5th April 2012. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
