The Light That Gets Lost

'Lord of the Flies' meets 'Animal Farm'. The story is of a boy who is sent to a prison-cum-farm which is run by 'religious' men. Trey, the main character, has chosen to go there as he wants revenge. The story will appeal to those who enjoyed 'Bunker Diary' or 'Maggot Moon', as it is a grim story. It was well written, if a little verbose at times. It wouldn't be a surprise if this book makes next year's Carnegie list. 310 pages / Ages 14+ / Reviewed by Paula Hazlehurst, librarian.

Suggested Reading Age 14+

The novel is set in an unspecified near future, society is breaking down and a state of martial law exists in Britain. The story opens with seven-year-old Trey hiding in a wardrobe as his parents and brother are shot by an unknown man. The main action of the story takes place eight years later. Trey has heard a rumour that his parents' killer works at Camp Kernow, a prison camp for young offenders, and deliberately commits a crime to get sent to that camp. Trey's intention is to kill the murderer and avenge his family. On arrival, Trey finds a camp with armed guards and an electrified fence. Most of the wardens are not only sadistic, but it turns out they are running a drugs operation using illegal immigrants as slave labour. When this operation is unveiled to the authorities by one of Trey's friends, the staff abandon the camp and it desolves into anarchy with Trey and his friends against the rest. The premis of the story suggests a fast-paced adventure story. This isn't delivered by the plot, there are few action scenes and those that there are lack tension. Much of the novel concerns the relationships between Trey and other characters and how this impacts on his development. I found this unsatisfactory as so much was hinted at, but no depth or consistency of character was shown. The language used was lyrical and I thought it was one of the best aspects of the book, especially when used for description and science setting by the author. 272 pages / Ages 14+ / Reviewed by Kathryn Flagner

Suggested Reading Age 5+