Blog tour: Hey, Sherlock! by Simon Mason

I'm hosting today's stop on the 'Hey, Sherlock!' blog tour. I'm delighted to have a fantastic guest post from author Simon Mason to share with you all. 

"In March 2012 I decided to try to write a crime novel featuring a teenager.

Why crime? Because of the interest: it’s obvious that human beings are deeply interested in wrong-doing. Also because of the story-telling: the best crime novels exemplify what I call ‘the ancient art of literary hypnosis’ – as practiced by other writers interested in crime such as Homer, Dostoevsky and Stephen King – that mesmerizing story-telling which will not let you go. I admire it very much, and I wanted to try it myself.

Why teenager? Of all the astonishing things in the world – the 2012 Olympics, say, or Triple Heart Bypass, the Chrysler Building or Trump – teenagers are the most astonishing. Human exploding devices bursting out into the world in great starbursts of attitude and inventiveness and fantasy and humour.

Why Garvie Smith? My mother, who is a therapist, would have something to say about the fact that a polite, unassuming, modest, conforming sort of person such as myself should have been drawn to the phenomenally lazy, spectacularly rude and often frankly infuriating Garvie Smith.

(Luckily she’s registered blind and hasn’t read the books.)

Actually, the idea for a super-bright, super-lazy, super-infuriating boy came from a friend of my son. I don’t mean he gave me the idea, I mean he was the idea. Between the ages of thirteen and nineteen he really did nothing at all. But he was probably the smartest person I’ve ever met.

It occurred to me that super-bright, super-lazy sixteen-year-old boys – the sort who can’t be arsed to do anything, who wag off school and slouch down to the kiddies playground to pass round a spiff and almost-empty half bottle of Glenn’s vodka – are very well represented in life but not in literature. They’re not great role models, it’ true. They’re anti-heroes.

But my hunch was that, actually, we relish anti-heroes – we positively cheer them on in their bad behaviour. Let’s face it: the word is full of stupid figures of authority, and who hasn’t wanted to tell them to their face that they’re stupid? Who hasn’t fantasised about just not bothering to do that interminably boring piece of work assigned to us some humourless superior? Who hasn’t wanted to tune out quite large parts of the world from time to time?

And I also had a hunch that if a very bright, very lazy boy got interested in something – a murder, for instance – he might just prove to be a little bit brilliant in working out what the police weren’t able to. Although he might arse it up completely for the official police effort, the case might get solved.

So Garvie Smith slouched into my imagination, and – upright, unbending, humourless – along came DI Raminder Singh too, the Sikh detective unfortunate enough to be the ‘official police effort’. Well, I feel sorry for him.

And in this way I arrived at my own variation on the classic detective duo (Holmes and Watson, Starsky and Hutch, Morse and Lewis): Garvie and Singh, a difficult teenager and an uptight Sikh.

 

What could possibly go wrong?"

'Hey, Sherlock' is out now, published in the UK by David Fickling Books. Don't forget to check out all of the other stops on the blog tour and come back soon to read my review of the book.

Review: All About Mia - Lisa Williamson

All About Mia by Lisa Williamson, published by David Fickling Books on 2nd February 2017

Goodreads synopsis:
From no. 1 Bestselling YA author Lisa Williamson, comes another insightful and unputdownable teen drama - All About Mia. A brilliant look into the mind of a teenager stuck in the middle.

Review:
‘All About Mia’ was a really fun and entertaining contemporary YA read. I finished it in one sitting because once I’d turned the first page, I was utterly absorbed into the story. I was surprised just how much I enjoyed it actually but I think it was exactly the sort of book I was looking for at the time.

The story is about three sisters and is narrated by middle-sister Mia. At the start of the book, her older sister Grace is coming home early from her gap year travels, while her younger sister Audrey is focused on school and swimming. Mia falls in the middle and this is precisely where she doesn’t want to be. She is the rebel of the family and is always the one pushing the limits with her mum and dad. She does stupid things and she can be pretty wild at times but as we get to know Mia we see that a lot of her behaviour is just a defence she puts up. She doesn’t always know where she fits in and what her niche is and this often causes problems, particularly with Grace who has always been the perfect daughter. 

I loved this book because the story was so relatable. I don’t have sisters but I do have two siblings and I am a middle child and while I can’t claim to be anything like Mia at all, I could identify with her in a lot of ways. Lisa Williamson’s writing and characterisations are spot on too and I really enjoyed seeing how the family dynamics changed and evolved in the book. 

Audrey was my favourite sister and I’m glad she got a bit more page time in the second half of the story. She is always trying to keep the peace between her older siblings and sometimes gets forgotten because she’s not always the loudest or the liveliest. I thought she was a very sweet character though and I liked her focus and determination.

A brilliant read about love and family and fitting in. I would highly recommend.      

Review: Shadow of the Wolf - Tim Hall

Shadow of the Wolf by Tim Hall, published by David Fickling Books on 4th July 2014

Goodreads synopsis:
So many tales have already been told of Robin Hood. Already he's the hero with a thousand faces. First, forget everything you've heard. Robin was no prince, and he was no dispossessed lord; he didn't fight in the Crusades; he never gave a penny to the poor.

His real name wasn't even Robin Hood. Marian called him that as a kind of joke. Sir Robin of the Hood. A name Robin would cling to when he was losing grip of everything else. Mind you, one thing you've heard is true. He was blind.

No, that's not right. Let me put that another way. Truer to say, Robin Hood didn't see with his eyes. In fact he was the only one who saw clearly in this place of illusion and lies.

 Review:
'Shadow of the Wolf' is an astounding new interpretation of the traditional tale of Robin Hood by debut author Tim Hall.  I was very excited to read this book because I'm a huge fan of the original story and I couldn't wait to see which direction Hall was going to take with the plot and characters.

The story follows a young Robin who at the beginning of the book finds that his family have abandoned him.  Left to survive on his own, he uses his independence as a shield to protect himself against further hurt.  His solitary life begins to change however when he meets Marian in the forest and discovers his true soulmate.  The two seem destined to be together but when Marian is taken from him, he determines to do whatever it takes to get her back. 

My favourite part of the story was the very beginning when Robin and Marian are young and roaming free together.  They are living an idyllic life which they both know won't last forever but which they cherish for the simple fact that they are with each other.  They embrace the beauty of the forest which is all around them and revel in having nobody to answer to but themselves.  Although deep down they realise they are playing at living a fantasy, nothing else matters to them except for being together.   

Throw out all of your preconceptions about Robin and Marian because these two characters are unlike anything you could have anticipated.  Marian is not the helpless heroine you may have been used to seeing her as.  She is headstrong, fiery, determined, intelligent and above all resilient.  She endures terrible things in the book but I had absolute faith in her that she would always manage see things through.  Although there were times when I found her less that likeable, mainly due to her spiky temperament, I never stopped admiring her strength and endurance.  Robin too has to face unspeakable horrors and is far from the merry figure with his bow and arrow that we are used to seeing.  I felt great pity for him throughout the book and I kept desperately hoping for something good to happen to him.      

Some other familiar faces crop up in the story with Will Scarlett, Much, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Sir Bors all making appearances.  It was great to see Tim Hall interweaving all of these secondary characters, although again don't expect them to act like you would have imagined.  The Forest too is like a character in itself.  It is dangerous and mysterious and conceals many secrets which slowly begin to unravel.     

'Shadow of the Wolf' is an unusual combination of history and fantasy which took a little bit of getting used to.  The plot took an unusual and unexpected turn about half-way through which turned everything on it's head and made me think about the book in a totally different way.  It is incredibly rich in detail, wonderfully written and so unique that this truly is a Robin Hood tale unlike anything you could ever have dreamt of.  I was still left with so many questions at the end however, that I am looking forward immensely to the next instalment in the series.    

Review: The Waking World - Tom Huddlestone

The Waking World by Tom Huddlestone, published by David Fickling Books on 3rd October 2013

Goodreads synopsis:
The Island is in peril. For years, bloodthirsty Marauder pirates have raided along the coast, carrying off goods and cattle. Now they're growing bolder, striking further inland, even taking slaves to man their black ships. An invasion is underway.

As the son of a wealthy Law, young Aran should be safe. The underground farmstead of Hawk's Cross lies miles from the sea, and even the killing winds that sweep down from the moors can't penetrate those solid steel gates. But Aran doesn't want to be safe, he wants to be a warrior: to fight for his friends, his family and his home.

Many tales have been told of the boy who became our greatest King. Very few have spoken of the future . .

Review:
'The Waking World' is a futuristic Arthurian tale on an epic scale.  It's set in a future society which is completely unlike the one we know today.  The Earth has been ravaged by pollution and climate change and the people live as they did in the past, surviving off the land.  The story is set at Hawk's Cross, the home of Aran, the main character in the book.  He is one of the sons of a wealthy Law but the Island on which they live is under attack from the invading Marauders.  Aran is desperate to protect his home but also must discover the secret of his true heritage if he is to fulfil the destiny laid out for him. 

I really liked the fresh take on the Arthurian legend of Arthur and Merlin.  It's one which so many people are familiar with but I thought that Tom Huddlestone still managed to bring something entirely new to the traditional tale.  At the start I wasn't sure how he was going to link everything together but bit by bit all the pieces started to fall into place.  It's an entirely different slant but it does work extremely well and the story is packed full of excitement and adventure. 

One of my favourite aspects of the book was the friendship between Aran and his friends Cas and Mohanna.  They have grown up together and know each other inside and out and I liked seeing them look out for one another when they were in some dangerous situations.  I also loved the bond which develops between Aran and the mysterious Peregrine.  The latter was extremely intriguing and it was a delight to get to discover more about him throughout the course of the story. 

I presume this is the first in a series as I finished it feeling like there was lots more to come.  I hope so because I enjoyed getting to explore Aran's world and I'm hoping to read more about him and his friends in the future.      

Review: Such Wicked Intent - Kenneth Oppel

Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel, published by David Fickling Books on 2nd August 2012

Goodreads synopsis:
When does obsession become madness? Tragedy has forced sixteen-year-old Victor Frankestein to swear off alchemy for ever. He burnd the Dark Library. He vows he will no longer covet Elizabeth, his brother’s betrothed. If only these things were not so tempting.

When Victor and Elizabeth discover a portal into the spirit world, they cannot resist. Together with their friend Henry, they venture into a place of infinite possibilities where power and passion reign. But as they search for the knowledgeto raise the dead, they unknowingly unlock a darkness from which they may never return.

Review:
*There may be spoilers from the previous book in the series.

I absolutely loved this book!  It's the sequel to 'This Dark Endeavour' and the series forms a prequel to Mary Shelley's classic novel 'Frankenstein'.  I adore gothic novels and this fits perfectly within this genre.  Gripping, thrilling and at times quite nerve-wracking, this was a fantastic read.

Bereft after the death of his twin brother Konrad, Victor vows to burn the Dark Library and leave his previous endeavours behind once and for all.  However, an unexpected discovery leads to him once more embarking on a new experiment to try and enter the spirit world and bring his brother back.  I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but Elizabeth and their friend Henry Clervall both become embroiled in Victor's quest and this may change their relationship for ever more. 

Victor's thirst for knowledge is unquenchable.  He has a scientific mind and is always pushing the boundaries of what is and isn't possible.  He generally has good intentions but his experiments don't always run smoothly and he does have a habit of drawing others into his plans.  He's always curious to see how things work which is an admirable character trait to have but it is this passion which causes a lot of problems for him and his friends.   

I read this book in one evening because the story was so gripping.  There are many elements to it which lead the reader one step closer to the events of 'Frankenstein' and these were fascinating to see unravel.  It had a truly explosive ending which had me on the edge of my seat and I'm now absolutely desperate to read the concluding part of the trilogy. 

Brilliant storytelling by Kenneth Oppel makes this a fitting tribute to a much loved classic.  I've heard that film rights to the series have been sold so I'm also looking forward to seeing it transferred to the big screen at some point in the future.