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Martyn Pig by Kevin Brooks
Feb. 6th, 2014 10:52 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
With his father dead, Martyn has a choice. Tell the police what happened – and be suspected of murder. Or get rid of the body and get on with the rest of his life.
Simple, right? Not quite. One story leads to another. Secrets and lies become darker and crazier. And Martyn is faced with twists and turns that leave him reeling.
Life is never easy. But death is even harder.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Kevin Brooks’s debut YA novel is a deftly written thriller that combines great characterisation with a twisting noir plot. Martyn has a great narrative voice (especially his self-deprecating comments) and I really enjoyed the depiction of his friendship with Alex who wants to be an actress but is stuck with techie Dean. I did find Dean and Alex to be more thinly characterised than Martyn but my main complaint would be about the ending, which I won’t spoil but I had hoped for something a bit more hopeful than what we get and while that’s not a bad thing, I’d become so attached to Martyn that I wanted more for him. All in all though, this is a gripping read and if you want a good introduction to Brooks’s work, this is a good place to start.
With his father dead, Martyn has a choice. Tell the police what happened – and be suspected of murder. Or get rid of the body and get on with the rest of his life.
Simple, right? Not quite. One story leads to another. Secrets and lies become darker and crazier. And Martyn is faced with twists and turns that leave him reeling.
Life is never easy. But death is even harder.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Kevin Brooks’s debut YA novel is a deftly written thriller that combines great characterisation with a twisting noir plot. Martyn has a great narrative voice (especially his self-deprecating comments) and I really enjoyed the depiction of his friendship with Alex who wants to be an actress but is stuck with techie Dean. I did find Dean and Alex to be more thinly characterised than Martyn but my main complaint would be about the ending, which I won’t spoil but I had hoped for something a bit more hopeful than what we get and while that’s not a bad thing, I’d become so attached to Martyn that I wanted more for him. All in all though, this is a gripping read and if you want a good introduction to Brooks’s work, this is a good place to start.
