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London, 1936: The Invisible Detective can solve any mystery
great or small - but no one's ever seen his face. Truth is,
the detective is the creation of four incredible kids who
combat crime in his name...
How
can a daring bank robbery be linked to a missing cat? Why
are the local rats attacking people? What is lurking down
the sewers? These are all questions raised in Shadow Beast
and only the Invisible Detective can learn the answers as
the kids hunt for robbers - and track down a monster. But
there are monsters loose in the present as well as the past.
I
was a little surprised to see that Justin Richards was the
author of this book. Richards is well known for his unnecessarily
complex story telling in the BBC Doctor Who series,
so I was hoping that he would go a little easier while working
on a children's story.
I
was wrong. While this book is well written, it is not easy
to follow. Possibly the biggest complaint is that the chopping
and changing of events in the narrative, from past to present
and back again, are just too much to take in places. I felt
like I was unsure of what time I was in on more than one occasion.
Another problem is the fact that there are too many Arthur's
and calling one Art and the other Arthur doesn't help to separate
the two characters enough.
Sadly,
only the most determined reader will make it to the end. I
say sadly, because although this is like wadding through treacle,
it is actually worth it in the end. It really is a hard story
to get into, and it is not until around half way through that
you really start to see everything coming together.
By the final quarter of the book you'll be hooked, but how
many people will make it that far?
Heather
Simpson
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£4.79
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