quippe | Entries tagged with simon lelic

The Blurb On The Back:

When pupils start going missing from a prestigious boarding school, Ollie Turner knows it’s a job for the Haven.

Below the city streets, the Haven is a hideout for kids, run by kids.

Ollie and the Haven’s Investigations Team put their lives on the line, going undercover to find the missing children. But little do they realise that a deadly enemy awaits them - one with plans to destroy everything they hold dear.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

The second in Simon Lelic’s THE HAVEN SERIES for readers aged 11+ is another fast-paced action thriller filled with high stakes and jeopardy. However, while Lelic does tackle some of the unbelievable developments from THE HAVEN, plenty more emerge in this book and it still suffers from a lack of character depth that leaves side characters as pretty much interchangeable and the antagonists are cartoonishly drawn such that I’m not sure I’d read on.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Underneath the city there exists a secret organisation.

It’s called The Haven - a sanctuary for kids run by kids, with an investigation team that fights for justice everywhere.

Alone and on the run, 13-year-old Ollie Turner is taken in by The Haven - and finds himself in a world of danger and adventure he could never have imagined …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Simon Lelic’s children’s book for readers aged 11+ (the first in a series) is a fast-paced and solid action thriller that has a neat underlying idea (an underground network of kids helping kids who the authorities let fall through the cracks) but the OLIVER TWIST references didn’t work for me, none of the characters have any depth and the plot is pure hokum that requires you to suspend your disbelief, although I’d probably check out the sequel.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Every house has a past.
Every couple has their secrets.

Londoners Jack and Syd moved into the house a year ago. It seemed like their dream home: tons of space, the perfect location and a friendly owner who wanted a young couple to have it.

So when they made a grisly discovery in the attic, Jack and Syd chose to ignore it. But that was a mistake.

Because someone has just been murdered. Right outside their back door.

And now the police are watching them …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Simon Lelic’s psychological thriller has a gimmicky twin narrative device (with Syd and Jack essentially writing their stories for each other) but despite a creepy set-up in the first quarter the twists were too easy to guess and the revelation of secrets meant that I rapidly lost sympathy for one of the main characters while the antagonist’s plan relies on contrivance and people behaving in unbelievable ways to work.

THE HOUSE will be released in the United Kingdom on 2nd November 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.