Blindsided - Natalie Whipple

Blindsided by Natalie Whipple

 

Review by Little M
 

This is the sequel to Natalie Whipple's Transparent. Fiona McClean is a daughter of one of the most famous syndicate gang leaders. However, she is not normal like most girls. She is invisible. No one can see her and she can't even see what she looks like. A drug was made which gives humans mutant powers. In Fiona's case, she is invisible. This drug can also be given to enhance their abilities, this is where the syndicates comes into play. This time Fiona and her pack (gang) need to stop her father, the army and another syndicate from recreating this drug because the missing element has now been found.

I really liked both novels so much. Fiona really is a headstrong character.  However, my favourite characters must be Miles and Spud. Miles is Fiona's brother who has the ability to let off scents. Some are fruity others could be eggy. He can be quite funny but he is also mega protective over his sister and girlfriend, Spud.Spud is the infamous hacker who is on most of the syndicates kill or wanted lists. She is hilarious once she has hacked into something and her presence just really grew on me.

The Hot Key ring on this book says Blindsided is:

• Superpowers, I definitely agree with this;
• Romance is another, and yes this one fits too;
• Kick-Ass, this one I'm a bit confused about because I'm not sure if it means it's really actiony or adventurey though I think it should say action or mutant because this would say a bit more about the book.

Overall I really enjoyed it and I read on the 24 hour readathon.


Publication details: Hot Key Books, January 2014, London, paperback
This copy: review copy from the publisher

The Rig - Joe Ducie

The Rig by Joe Ducie

 

Review by Little M

Joe Ducie won the Hot Key Young Writers Prize for 2012 with his novel The Rig. I think this is a brilliant winner.

The Rig is about a prison where no one can escape from it, maybe not even Will Drake. Will Drake is a 15 year old boy who was sent to prison for stealing. He has been kept in many prisons, however, not one of them have successfully been able to contain him for more than a few weeks or a month. So now he has been put on the Rig. The Rig is an old oil rig which was changed into a rehabilitation centre for youths. It is based in the middle of the ocean with shark infested waters around it. Will is determined to escape and no one can keep him locked up.

Overall, I really liked this novel because the plot details are different to some of the books I normally read. I also really enjoyed the mystery aspect to it. I really liked the novel up until a certain sci-fi element came into it and I thought it didn't really need it.

This novel contains action, sci-fi and a lot of mystery! The Hot-Key Key Ring for this says 1/4th action, 1/4th friendship, 1/4th prison break and 1/4th mystery. I agree with all of them.

I think this novel will appeal to both boys and girls. It worked for me, and anyway I have a boy as the main character for once, not a Katniss or a Tris!

Publication details: Hot-Key Books, London, 2013, paperback

This copy: received for review from the publisher

The Elites - Natasha Ngan

The Elites by Natasha Ngan

Review by Little M

The Elites is a very good dystopian novel. I think it is well written and it is a standalone book whereas today most dystopian novels come as a trilogy which can be a pain.

This novel is about Silver. She is a teenager who was streamed into the Elite training program from a young age. Elites are people who have something special in their DNA. They are then put into the Elite training programme and then their job is to protect the city, Neo Babel. No-one is allowed to leave Neo Babel. But when the president is shot, Silver is suspected to have been involved. Because of this, she and her best friend Butterfly escape Neo Babel to save Silver from an awful fate and to also find her parents who have mysteriously disappeared.

The Elites portrays a world where the people who live in it think that they are the only civilisation left. But there is actually more than that but the people in power are hiding the truth about what is beyond the walls of Neo Babel.

Due to some of the confusing aspects of the plot, like the president’s shooting and the DNA streaming, I would recommend this novel for Year 7 and above. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the novel Divergent (Veronica Roth) and The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins). It includes a tiny bit of romance, lots of action and adventure, and an awful lot of science fiction.

 

Publication details: 2013, Hot Key Books, London, paperback

This copy: Proof received for review from the publisher

Boonie - M's review

Boonie by Richard Masson

 

Reviewed by M

Boonies are outsiders. JD is a Boonie, he just doesn’t know it yet. Set in a dry almost waterless fantasy (and maybe futuristic) world, an eco-message runs like an undercurrent through the novel, which takes a typical children’s quest story: a young teenager loses both parents (one to death) and goes on a journey of search and survival. Along the way, he makes a couple of good friends and the search quickly turns into an adventurous quest to uncover dark secrets of a world JD didn't know existed, save himself and maybe even the world. The cover image featured here is for the paperback edition and it captures the setting for Boonie really well (note: the black O is not a vinyl record!).

Boonie by Richard Masson - paperback edition

Boonie begins as an edgy, gritty read for older teens. However, it quickly becomes something more likely to appeal to a younger readership and I had to reframe my reading expectations.

Although it isn’t a fully happy-ever-after novel and there are some harrowing scenes, the overall tone is warm and the characters of JD, speechless Godrum and feisty Aqua are very likeable. There is a lot of moving plot and action. Boonie manages to pack in a lot of thought-provoking elements too. The plot moves quickly from one adventurous and dangerous scene to another (sometimes I wanted it to linger a little longer to find out more about what was going on in each one).

Themes and issues raised in this novel include the earth’s resources (especially water), slavery, power and rebellion. The overall themes and ideas reminded me of SD Crockett’s After the Snow, though the two novels are quite different and Boonie may appeal more to a younger, middle grade readership than After the Snow. The warm tone reminded me in some ways of Lois Lowry’s The Giver (again, these novels are quite different and The Giver isn’t really a quest story and is more hard-hitting). 

Younger readers who like adventure and would like to explore fantasy/science fiction may enjoy Boonie. The publishers’ Hot Key Ring indicates that Boonie's content includes Danger, Dark Future, Rebellion and Friendship. I would agree and maybe add a little of Eco/Environment.

Other eco/environmental novels for teens include After the Snow by SD Crockett (weather) and Breathe by Sarah Crossan (oxygen). There are also Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd and Julie Bertagna’s Exodus and Zenith (which I haven’t read yet).

 

Boonie's Hot Key Ring (by Hot Key Books)

 

Publication details: Hot Key Books, London, 2013, hardback (paperback out in August 2013)

This copy: uncorrected proof received for review from the publisher

The Dog Stars - M's review

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Adult fiction review

 

The Dog Stars was shortlisted for the 2013 Arthur C Clarke Award which annually awards the best science fiction novel in Britain.

I really, really enjoyed this book from the moment I started reading it.

The Dog Stars is about a forty year old man called Hig. He lives with his dog Jasper, a man called Bangley, and the Beast, his Cessna plane. Jasper is his best and beloved friend, Hig is partial to the Beast and he despises Bangley. Everyone and everything else they have known has been wiped out by viruses (including Hig's beloved Melissa): the world-as-they-knew-it has ended. There are few survivors, a lot of shortages, and a lot of unknowns. Not an original post-apocalyptic scenario yet still a scary and strangely fascinating one.

Hig is lamenting. Lamenting all that he has lost. Lamenting all that he has and what he has become – if you see something moving, kill it. No questions asked. Do not negotiate. And lamenting the future. Does he dare to change its seemingly inevitable course? This is a story about whether you dare to rename the stars - and then follow them. To boldy go...or not.

It is a compelling and quick read. I even interrupted my reading of another novel (by an established author whose books I enjoy a lot) to read this one. I loved Heller’s writing style, particularly in the first chapter. Short truncated sentences. Ellipses. This is stream of consciousness writing that I could readily understand and beautifully conveys the narrator’s immediate thought processes. It lets you get right inside his head and by the third page I had to put the book down and let the tears flow. Clearly, it hit a nerve.

For an apocalyptic novel, there’s an interesting mix of this being an action, adventure, masculinised novel and an introspective, emotional and relationship novel. In a weird sort of way, I found this exciting: a bit like I was going somewhere I’d never been before with the feminist in me sounding occasional alarm bells yet at the same time rushing forward with the story. If ever there was something that epitomises a man getting in touch with his feminine side (if you think there is such a thing), I think The Dog Stars achieves this. It’s a highly believable novel.

Book One was my favourite part of the novel although Book Two and Three surprised me. There are a few predictable ways the story could have gone. I think it was predictable – but not in the way I’d have predicted.

I thought there was good characterisation for all of the characters: there aren’t many but you have a good sense of who they are even for those characters who only make cameo appearances. I was able to empathise (and like) almost all of the characters (definitely barring one and maybe two). This really is a book about the essence of humanity (at both its worst and its best). Some of the behaviours and thoughts of the characters are really crude and base (and that’s probably exactly how some of them would be). There is a lot of killing in this book and themes of cannibalism but it is also the best kind of love story. In many ways this is a brutal book but based on my reading of The Dog Stars, the UK paperback cover (pictured) is spot on. Sublime.

Spoilerish thoughts

Without giving too much plot away, I was afraid to read this book. I thought it was going to shock me and leave me in despair. Parts of it shocked me. It did not leave me in despair.

The representation of women in the novel:

As a feminist, I did enjoy this book, I would highly recommend it and think that it does challenge sexist behaviour. However, from a gendered analysis, women characters are seen as needing protection and there was some traditionally heteronormative gender stereotyping, e.g. hysterical women and caring women. While heavily challenged, there is still some portrayal of woman as sexual objects. However, the overall point is that Hig is not Bangley.

 

Publication details: Headline Review, London, paperback publication: 9 May 2013, originally published in hardback 2012

This copy: paperback edition received from the publisher for review

Lost Worlds - Little M's review

Lost Worlds by Andrew Lane

 

Review by Little M

 

Calum Challenger was in a car crash which killed his parents and paralysed his legs. He is about sixteen and lives alone in a flat with a great amount of inheritance money. Calum never goes out and the one thing he hates most  is a wheelchair. He hates the name, the chair itself; he hates anything to do with it. When Gecko, a teenage boy crashes through one of Calum’s skylights, they immediately become friends. College student, Tara, is hacking into Calum’s website about animals that aren’t discovered. He sends Gecko to find her. In his high-tech apartment Calum directs a team on a journey into dangerous lands to get some DNA for him to try and cure his paralysed legs.
 

Lost Worlds was a brilliant, superb, action adventure novel. I definitely recommend this novel to action-adventure readers. It is fast paced so you never get bored.

My favourite character is Gecko. Gecko is the cool boy who free-runs. Free running is where you run across roofs/buildings without anything to catch you if you fall. He also comes up with awesome ideas and he can think on his feet!

The style of writing is not too difficult but also not too easy. It’s a nice style. One that makes you want to read on! When the second novel comes out I so want to read it!

Lost Worlds made me think about animals or beings that may not have been discovered. It really does make you think.

Andrew Lane is also the author of Young Sherlock Holmes.

 

Publication details: Macmillan Children’s, 25 April 2013, London, paperback

This copy: received for review from the publisher

 

Fractured (Slated #2) - Little M's review

Fractured by Teri Terry

Fractured is the second book in a trilogy by Teri Terry. The first novel is Slated (careful, this review of Fractured has big spoilers for Slated. You can read M's review of Slated here.).

 

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Fractured carries on from Slated which is about Kyla who has been slated. Slated is where memories get wiped from your brain.  Fractured is about Kyla finding out about her past and experiencing memories she shouldn’t have. I think this book is incredibly hard to review because I keep thinking I’m going to give away spoilers or not say enough.

Fractured by Teri Terry

Nico wasn’t a main character in Slated but in Fractured he is. Ben, who was Kyla’s boyfriend in Slated is not so important in Fractured but he does play a big role. Kyla is still trying to find him. Some characters in Slated were nice and kind but in Fractured they’re not what I expected them to be. There are new important characters in this novel. I preferred Fractured to Slated because I think the characters progressed more in this book and you find out more about the past. There’s also more action, knives, blood, and guns than there was in Slated.

Fractured was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. I liked the way it was written with flashbacks/dreams which play a massive role in the novel. This was also the case with Slated.

I think this book has lots of good points and some bad points. The good points are that a) you just can’t put the book down, b) the characters keep you hooked and you can’t wait to see what they do next (they keep you in suspense). Some bad points are that a) Ben is not a big character and Kyla misses him so it’s quite sad and b) I don’t think there are any more bad points.

Slated fans will probably like it but there is a bit more action in Fractured than in Slated.  I loved that.

 

Publication details: April 2013, Orchard, London, paperback

This copy: received for review from the publisher

Killchase: Codename Quicksilver #4 - Little M's review

Killchase (Codename Quicksilver #4) by Allan Jones

Killchase is the fourth book in Allan Jones's Codename Quicksilver series. If you haven’t read the first three books, this review will have some small spoilers. Here are my reviews for the other books in the series: In the Zone, Tyrant King and Burning Sky.

 

Killchase by Allan Jones

Zak is no ordinary teenage boy. He is an undercover project 17 spy. It is so secret that some of the government don’t even know it exists. In project 17 only teens go out into the field but adults do help them.

This time Zak is working without his unit and is going to help Archangel find the mole in MI5. When Zak gets a mysterious phone call from a man named Archangel who says he knows his long lost brother, Jason, will he be able to trust him?
Can he also jump 10 metres and will the General turn to Operative Rogue?

This wasn't my favourite novel in the Codename Quicksilver series but it is still one of my favourite series that I am reading at the moment.

Readers who aren't so enthusiastic about reading will definitely want to read more but it also may make them want to read other books. People who like spies and action should love it but readers who want a challenging read might find it a bit dull. I find them easy but I still do love them.

Altogether it was an okay book. Some people might love it but some might hate it. I am in the middle.

I can’t wait for the fifth novel, Adrenaline Rush.

 

Publication details: January 2013, Orion, London, paperback

This copy: received for review from the publisher.

 

 

 

 

Mortal Chaos - M's review

Mortal Chaos by Matt Dickinson

Mortal Chaos has been nominated for the Carnegie medal 2013. This review forms part of our Longlist shadowing and has taken the judging criteria into consideration.

The premise for Mortal Chaos intrigued me. It looked like it could be a complex, exciting and thought provoking story.  From the first page, it quite literally puts chaos theory’s butterfly effect into the story. Chaos theory is complicated but basically suggests that just one small change can cause much bigger and broader changes. even in a determined system. 

Mortal Chaos by Matt Dickinson

Mortal Chaos is a page-turning global action adventure. There are quite a few characters and sub-plots, as you would expect in order to demonstrate the butterfly effect. But the plot itself is thin: a butterfly startles a rabbit one morning in Sauncy Wood, England. The plot revolves around the events that this sets in motion around the world, very few of which are pleasant (although this in itself is thought-provoking). Some of the connected events also seemed a bit too contrived (e.g. film crews and producers) and I thought some of the links between  characters and events was occasionally tenuous (again, an area for debate).

The characters are vast and include a mountaineer on Everest, a woman pilot, a hungry six year old in Africa, a trainee astronaut, jockeys, vets, American psychos, thieves and kids who bunk school. Perhaps because the novel is quite short and there isn’t enough space or time to develop the characters (and because the focus is obviously on the events), the characters are quite flat. We don’t learn very much about them. However, many of them were stereotypically typecast – like the gambling plumber, an American psycho-divorcee, rich Japanese, poor African villagers. Interestingly, the two main female characters, Tina and Kuni, are not put into gender stereotyped roles, but while not giving anything away, male heroism dominates this novel. On the whole, I didn’t like many of the characters.

The language is highly accessible. There is also a lot of ‘telling’ rather than reading between the lines which makes the story very easy to follow (perhaps too easy).   With very short chapters, this was a page-turning quick read. I finished it – and quickly. But, I was relieved to finish it. The majority of the characters and plot situations revolved around adults in adult roles and I felt like I was reading a quick-read adult fiction novel rather than a complex teen novel.  

Clearly I am turning into an old prude because some of the gory details seemed superfluous to me and didn't enhance the story. The last page really turned my stomach. Of course, I know that none of this bothers a lot of other readers....as Little M would say, it probably just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm really disappointed because I wanted to love this story!

Other action-adventure reads on the Carnegie longlist include Call Down Thunder by Daniel Finn (it is an accessible action adventure that ticks a lot more of the Carnegie boxes for me – but it does have a singular plot and linear structure which is both less demanding and less exciting).

For a completely different perspective which highly recommends Mortal Chaos, see Beth Kemp’s review.

 

Publication details: Oxford University Press, 2012, Oxford, paperback

This copy: received for reviewing the Carnegie longlist from the publisher

 

 

Burning Sky: Codename Quicksilver #3 - Little M's review

Burning Sky: Codename Quicksilver #3 by Allan Jones

 

Burning sky: Codename Quicksilver #3 by Allan Jones

Codename Quicksilver is a series about young teen spies who are in a secret government organisation, Project 17. They track down criminals and help MI5. Burning Sky is the third book in the series. You can read my review of the first two books here.

In Burning Sky, the main character is Zak who has the codename Quicksilver. He is now part of a mission called Mozart. What he needs to do is impersonate a boy to help that boy get to safety.

I really enjoyed Burning Sky because it’s got a whole lot of adventure and action, which I absolutely adore. I have loved every single one of the three Codename Quicksilver books I have read so far.

Burning Sky is my favourite book out of the three I have read because the first one is about Zak getting into the secret agency; the second book didn’t have as much adventure in it.

Action, adventure, crime-fiction, and Codename Quicksilver fans should love this book.

  

Publication details:

Orion, 2012, London, paperback

This copy: received for review from the publisher

 

Katya's World - M's Review

Katya’s World by Jonathan L. Howard

Katya’s World is a futuristic sci-fi novel about artificial and synthetic intelligences. It’s also a real adventure.

It’s set in the future on Russalka, a space colony covered in water. There is no land and there is no warming sun or blue sky. The Russalkans, who came from Earth, live under the sea in pressurised environments. Fifteen year old Katya is on her first submarine trip as the new navigator when they’re forced to take on a couple of unwelcome passengers. From here on, the course of their trip changes dramatically, especially when they think they’ve struck gold. Little do they know that this ‘gold strike’ is about to completely change Katya’s world. And it seems that passenger Kane holds far more keys than he’s letting on.

Katya's World by Jonathan L. Howard

Katya’s World is a page-turning action and adventure sci-fi story full of strategy and puzzles for the characters to solve, and twist and turns for the reader to predict. There’s plenty of action but no gratuitous violence or lashings of gruesome. Where it’s thin on bloody detail it’s heavy on technical and scientific detail. For those of you who like to pick holes in the physics, you’ll enjoy.  Not because there are any holes (I don’t know!) but because there’s plenty of the science in the novel to occupy you.  For those readers where the science doesn’t appeal all that much, there’s plenty of plot and character in the sci-fi too.

It’s not a patronising plot either. Fifteen-nearly-sixteen year old Katya is faced with a situation that frightens and puzzles her just as much as it does the much older cast of war-weary military men and women. Katya is a strong and independent main character.

Published by Strange Chemistry, a new YA imprint from Angry Robot, I think this is a novel that can wear it’s YA label proudly. It’s a pageturner that packs in plenty of sufficient conceptual and vocabulary challenge too.  It doesn’t fall into any of the YA-as-a-genre trappings that so many other Young Adult novels do. I would happily recommend it to any confident reader, young or old.

Katya’s World is written as Book 1 in The Russalka Chronicles. Whether this is to be a trilogy or similar, what is promising is that Katya’s World has an ending which makes it a good standalone novel. There are no cliffhangers. Whether you like the ending or not, for me it was certainly a satisfying end. And I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next instalment.

Publication details:

Strange Chemistry, 1 Nov 2012, Oxford, paperback

This copy: Advance proof received for review from the publisher

Little M's review - Tiger Wars

Tiger Wars: The Falcon Chronicles by Steve Backshall

Tiger Wars by Steve Backshall

Tiger Wars is about a boy called Saker and a girl called Sinter. They meet when Saker is on the run from a clan that he was part of until he thought what they were doing was wrong. Each clan member was given a name by the way they move and act so Saker got given Saker which is a kind of eagle. The clan are trained to fight, steal and hunt. They grow up like that from before they could remember. But when the clan are asked to deliver a rich man some tigers, either dead or alive, Saker thinks it is so wrong to kill such a rare animal. So then he goes on strike (stops helping them).

As Saker runs away from the dogs and the clan he bumps into Sinter, an Asian girl who is forced to marry a horrid man. Because Saker is on the run he grabs her and then they run off together. They are going to get the tiger cubs back from the clan before it is too late.

It takes them from India to the Himalayas and then to China. Half way through Sinter gets captured by one of the clan. Are Saker and Sinter ever going to meet again and are they going to save the cubs before it is too late?     

I liked this book, but it was not my favourite because the author didn’t describe the surroundings very well and you could almost have been anywhere. Apart from the fact that it lacked the description, it was a pretty good book. I loved the idea where each member of the clan is given a name based on how they move and how they go about doing stuff.

I’m not quite sure what age this book is suitable for but I definitely know people who like adventure might enjoy this book.

Publication details:

Orion Children’s Books, June 2012, London, hardback

This copy: received for review from the publisher

Codename Quicksilver - Little M's Review, Gadgets & Book Giveaways

Codename Quicksilver by Allan Jones, a new spy series.
We have Little M's review, an author guest post on spy gadgets and a giveaway (closes 20 July 2012 at 3pm):  
 3 lucky winners will each win a set of 2 Codename Quicksilver books!

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Little M's Review: Codename Quicksilver 1 & 2



Codename Quicksilver: In the Zone

Codename Quicksilver: In the Zone is about a boy named Zac who lives in a children’s home in London. Zac is a pretty normal kid, apart from the fact that he has no parents. One day he witnesses a murder; the murder of a friend of his at the children’s home. His name was Spizz.

Zac wants to find out what happened to Spizz, but is his curiosity going to get him killed? When walking back to his children’s home a girl named Rina kidnaps him and says it is for his own safety. She claims she is a spy for MI5 but does Zac believe her?  She says she’s been framed as a traitor to MI5 and that if she can get back a memory stick with some vital information she will be able to go back into MI5...

I liked the look of this book but then I wasn’t so keen on it.  But once I started the book I said, “I’m not coming away, I love this book.” So that is how much I now love this book (an awful lot). When I finished this book, I got the second book and started to read it straight away (we got given the 1^st and 2^nd in the series).

I love spy books and this book was right up my street. I’m not quite sure why I love spy books so much. It might be the fact that each member gets given cool gadgets or it might be because I love the action in them too.

I would recommend this book to people who watch MI High which is a TV program on CBBC.  I would also recommend it to people who love spy books or spy films e.g. James Bond or Johnny English.  Age category -  I don’t really know. 

In this book there is a tiny bit death at the beginning, action, adventure, gadgets and, of course, spy fiction.

The second book, Codename Quicksilver: The Tyrant King….I can’t say what it’s about because it gives away the end of the first book but in one of the paragraphs it made me think of pancakes (I’m not quite sure why): “A host of competing scents wafted on the breeze. The tang of fresh fish, and ripe fruit from the open market stalls. The smell of hot tyre rubber on tarmac, and food being cooked in the seafront restaurants and cafes” (p.98). Then I had the craving for pancakes so I went and made some……

I absolutely loved this book too.

Publication details:

Orion Children’s Books, 2012, London, paperback

Our copies: received for review from the publisher

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And here's Allan Jones, telling us all about the gadgets in Codename Quicksilver series:

"The teenaged secret agents of Project 17 who appear in the new spy series Codename Quicksilver get sent out on some pretty tricky missions. They are asked to track down and confront the kind of people that us ordinary folk would do anything to avoid. Bad people. Dangerous people. Murderous people. They have to locate and defeat people with guns and bombs, and sometimes people with far more dangerous weapons – lethal devices that can kill thousands of people at the press of a red button or the click of a mouse.

Being super-fit and highly-skilled in martial arts such as Brazilian jiu jitsu, win chung and crav maga are vital, but there are times when even the most determined and expert spy needs a little something extra to call on in moments of particular peril.

The scientists who work in the Research and Development branch of the specialist and elite MI5 department known as Project 17 have come up with some handy gadgets to help their agents out when all else has failed. Some are defensive, some are offensive – but they have all been specifically designed to be portable and easy to operate in the field, whether that field happens to be the roof of a high-rise building in a big city, the roof of a speeding train, the middle of the ocean or a tunnel leading to a terrorist mastermind’s secret headquarters dug out under a mountain.

The scientists (‘white-coats’) at Project 17 give their creations official names such as the SGD706/EO3. But who’s going to remember that in a moment of crisis? “Hand me the SGD706/EO3, please?” I don’t think so. The young field agents have given the gadgets nicknames that are far easier to remember. Tags such as Snakescope, Whizzer, Flash, Chewing-gum and Fluze.

Gum

The Zipper. This is a smallish grey metal box, about 20cm x 15cm x 8cm. It’s lightweight and fits easily into a backpack. It has heavy-duty clamps at one end that can be used to attach the Zipper onto almost any fixed object – the lip of a rooftop, the frame of a window – a metal gantry. Two flexible and micro-thin steel cables come out of the other end. A webbing strap can be attached to the cables to act as a harness – because the Zipper is a quick way of getting up and down vertical surfaces. It works on a powerful xenon fluoride battery and can winch two people at a time up or down a ten-metre drop. Handy for making a quick exit if you’re in trouble.

Flash

Then there’s the Whizzer – a black ball about the size of a table tennis ball. The Whizzer is made from two halves that lock together. It is armed by twisting the two halves. Then you need to throw it really quickly, because ten seconds after it has been armed, it splits apart and emits a blast of thick white smoke as well as some really loud cracks and bangs and electronic screeching noises that will blind, deafen and disorientate anyone within five metres of it. A handy thing to have in your pocket in a tight spot.

Hotscope

Then there’s the Hotscope and the Kiss and the Ret-Det – not to mention probably the most important device of all: the standard issue Project 17 Mob. But if you want to know what these gadgets can do for an agent in the field, you’re going to have to read the books.

What kind of gadget would you like to invent? What would it be used for?"

http://www.codenamequicksilver.com/

UK Book Giveaways! Giveaways

Orion Children's Books are offering 3 lucky readers the first two books in the Codename Quicksilver series, In the Zone and The Tyrant King.

 To enter, simply leave a comment.

Entries close on Friday 20 July 2012 at 12pm.

3 winners will be chosen by random and announced on this blog on Sunday 22 July 2012. Please check back to see if you have won (in case we can't contact you).

This giveaway is UK only. If you are younger than 13, please get a parent's permission to enter - or ask them to enter for you. The books will be sent direct from Orion Children's Books.

Good Luck!