Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Peter Jay Black - Shockwave (Urban Outlaws) - Book Review (Bloomsbury 2016)

The Urban Outlaws have been infected! Hector Del Sarto used them to spread the deadly Medusa virus and now the whole of London is in lockdown. Only Hector and his father have the antidote. Can Jack, Charlie, Obi, Slink and Wren work together to bring down the Del Sartos once and for all? The whole city depends on them!

One day, a team of super-skilled kids popped into Peter Jay Black's head; that was the day the URBAN OUTLAWS was born. The first book in this fantastic series was published back in March 2014, which only seems like yesterday. The authors love of gadgets and films have made a fantastic impact on the following series. The second book was entitled  "Black Out" and the third book "Lockdown". Both were published by Bloomsbury in 2015 with fantastically cool and vibrant book covers. Each book followed the characters through a series of impossible missions that left the reader hooked from the very first page.

The plot line in book four "Counterstrike" was extra special in many ways. It is definitely my personal favourite and was out early this year. I have loved every minute of this series and I hope that you do too, if you've not already done so. I have flexed my fantasy wings and flown higher than Mount Everest, even landing on the summit due to big action bangs in every book. I have really come to love the characters and their individual personalties as if they were old and new friends. Every adventure has stayed fresh in my mind until the next instalment is unleashed. 

We have now arrived at the latest book, SHOCKWAVE. As the book title might suggest, in more ways than one (giving nothing away), this could be the last pages that we read, but I really hope not! Jack, Charlie, Slink and Wren face their toughest challenge in a fantastic high-stakes battle to save their lives and everybody on the planet. The clock is ticking and so will your heartbeat as the action unfolds in this gripping and engaging mission to defeat Hector and the deadly virus. The story is told with heart and gusto; it has many chapters jammed packed with exhilarating action and adventure.   

The imaginative qualities found in all of the books will rival the dreams of kids. Any reluctant reader will drop into any of the stories and really enjoy them, as they are fun, fresh and totally cool. All of the characters are different and fantastically written, with brilliant personalties that any reader (regardless of age or gender) will relate to. There are characters who are creative with gadgets e.g. a techno geek who is good with computers and surveillance as well sporty and action seeking characters. Each person brings their skills  to make a great team as they all want to make a difference in the world in order to make it a better place for everybody. 

This is a fantastically feel good series for everyone; it is smart, funny and a bucketful of entertainment, but what will happen now? Have we seen the last of the Urban Outlaws? 

Guest Post: Peter Jay Black - Urban Outlaws - Published by Bloomsbury

Peter Jay Black....

I’ve spent my entire life daydreaming when I should’ve been doing more important things like, oh, I don’t know. . . learning to cook? Every meal I try to prepare gets exterminated in some glorious fashion or another. I even managed to set fire to an oven grill once, just because I didn’t realise the slab of fish had a foam/plastic thing under it. Apparently, you’re supposed to peel that off. Who knew?

So, as you can probably tell, I get distracted, A LOT. I’m often thinking and daydreaming about all sorts of crazy things.

I’ve dreamt about being able to fly – the places I’d visit, the way I’d feel swooping between buildings and over landscapes.

I’ve imagined being a ninja, sneaking up on nasty people and knocking them out with a swift chop to the neck.

I’ve also imagined inventing a time machine and what I’d do with it. In fact, if I did have a time machine, I think I’d probably travel back to the 21^st of October, 1983 (I was seven). I’d hang around outside my old house until six o’clock in the evening and then I’d storm into the dining room and slap the fork out of my seven-year-old self’s hand, just before I had taken the first bite of the dumplings on my plate. You see, I didn’t know it at the time, but my mum had made those dumplings out of a packet that had been two years out of date. TWO YEARS. I was so sick that it took another twenty years before I could look at dumplings without turning pale.

Anyway, you get my point - I’m a daydreamer. Always have been. Always will be. And, the way that I’ve used that is to write it down. To create secret bunkers, gadgets, to live in a world that’s a lot more fun than this one.

In my late twenties, I decided I wanted to be a writer. Now, because of all the daydreaming, I hadn’t done too well in school, and must have been asleep during English lessons. All of them. So, I taught myself basic grammar, worked on the craft, and eight years later I have a five book deal. Easy, right?

I wish it was.

After a lot of hard work, thousands of hours exploring our wonderful language, millions of muttered swear words, and billions of nuked brain cells later, I had a finished novel. I, of course, thought it was a masterpiece. I sent it to an editor, got torn to shreds, learnt from my mistakes, moved on. . .

Next was book number two. I wrote, rewrote, edited, rewrote again. . . You get my point? Finally ready, I slung the novel out to a few agents and one in particular was VERY keen. She suggested revisions, I worked hard and in two weeks I sent it back with high hopes.

I never heard from her again.

Man, the disappointment.

But, I didn’t give up.

That’s the theme here: Never give up. A cliché, yes. I don’t care – it’s true.

After that, I remember talking to a friend of mine and saying, ‘I want to write about five kids, who are independent, outsmart adults and have a lot of fun. . .’ Basically, something to fight back with. Something to pour every ounce of what I’d learnt into. Something that I hoped I could share with as many people as possible.

"And so, the Urban Outlaws were born: Five cool, clever kids, who are trying to do what they think is right."

Thankyou very much Peter for such a great insight into writing Urban Outlaws. This book is being published by Bloomsbury Children's on the 13th March 2014 - so make sure that you all grab a copy.

Twitter: @PeterJayBlack

Book Review: Peter Jay Black - Urban Outlaws - Published by Bloomsbury

Book Synopsis: In a bunker hidden deep beneath London live five extraordinary kids: meet world-famous hacker Jack, gadget geek Charlie, free runner Slink, comms chief Obi and decoy diva Wren. They're not just friends; they're URBAN OUTLAWS. They outsmart London's crime gangs and hand out their dirty money through Random Acts of Kindness (R.A.K.s).

Their latest mission - hacking the bank account of criminal mastermind Del Sarto - has landed them in serious trouble. Del Sarto is going head-to-head with MI5 for control of Proteus, an advanced quantum computer able to crack any code and steal top-secret documents in nanoseconds. It's down to the URBAN OUTLAWS to use their guile, guts and skill to destroy Proteus, avert world domination . . . and stay alive.

Book Review: I was really happy to receive this book out of the blue. The synopsis sounded too exciting to wait, so I got stuck into reading it straight away. I absolutely loved every minute of this book - it was a top class journey into an amazingly fresh, fantasy world. Daydreaming at its very best in my opinion. It's definitely a book that small boys will love and where 'bigger' boys will find themselves being transported back to their childhood.  

This book gives an insight into the cool, fresh world of gadgets and computers. Following the hacking and the hi-tech surveillance world, the geek in me was definitely unleashed within this book. I particularly loved the deployment of the spring-heeled, free-running shoes in this adventure. This was a fantastically crazy but very inventive element of the story. I also enjoyed the idea and development of the Random Acts of Kindness which can be found within the book. These are very thought provoking as they strike elements of the modern day Robin Hood theme into the heart of the story.

The story features five savvy children, each with their own special skills, who are very likeable. They take on the government, as well as some unsavoury characters, in order to act on what they think and believe is right. This belief leads to a high-octane adventure which is explosive to read. 

The author has written a great debut book encompassing a child's dream and the author's IT experience to create a blockbuster read. I would highly recommend this book for all readers. However this could really capture the imagination of any reluctant reader - they would never get bored whilst reading this adventure and would be hooked until the very end. With at least four more books to be published, we are in for a real treat.....

Published by Bloomsbury 6th March 2014

Similar authors; Eoin Colfer, Andrew Lane, Robert Muchamore, Anthony Horowitz.

Book Review: Oisin McGann - Rat Runners

After reading and enjoying other Oisin McGann books previously, I always knew that he was capable of writing such an epic adventure in his career. This new book, to me, has really delivered an all time great fantasy that even Eoin Colfer would be proud of writing. In fact four of the main characters each have Artemis traits about them that you will probably recognise - they certainly work well within the plot. Each has been brought together based on different personalities, goals and ways of working that impact on the adventure. 

Nimmo, Scope, Mankin and FX are all criminal-minded. They work in the blindspots of the city's shady underworld. However, they are soon caught up in a Hi-tech maze of deception, treachery and murder. If they were cats then their nine lives would be an advantage, but being Rat Runners they only have the one. Therefore the question is . . . will they need it? 

They have one simple task to complete which is to steal a mysterious box from a daughter of a dead scientist. This may sound simple, but first they have to invade the army of the "WatchWorld". These are masked, uniformed figures who run the city. They watch you and listen to you from every street corner using their well-equipped cameras, X-ray scanners, microphones and other hi-tech gadgets that we can only dream about. These terrifying SafeGuards can see through walls, hear your heartbeat, even analyse the smell of your sweat and that's just for starters. 

The main course involves the very controlling and evil BOSS guy, Move-Easy, who lives his life of crime hidden underground. With his army of controlled thugs, he deploys them to cause havoc. Then there's pudding - two rival gangs who all want a slice of the cherry pie. This brings an added dimension and a complex driven plot that will have you hooked to the last page. It is certainly a fast-paced, action-packed ride which is full of adrenaline. The imaginative ideas are, at times, slightly over complicated but they are used to good effect and definitely keep you on your paws!  

The attention to detail is phenomenal -  everything has been thoroughly researched from the gadgets, the computer hacking, the undercover surveillance and genetics. All make the reading both fascinating and inspiring. Nevertheless, he has been able to balance this technological combination to create an amazing interactive thriller which is a winner.  This is the best fantasy based book that I have read this year; I loved reading every single page. What can we expect next from Oisin?

Published by  Corgi Childrens (7 Mar 2013)

Alex Keller - Re:Wired - BK2 - Book Review

          

• Pages - 166
• Publisher - Mogzilla
• Date - 7 April 2011
• Age - 10+
• Isbn - 9781906132347 

An old family, torn from power, wants to rule again. But their heir is dead, and only one man can give them a new one: Mandrake von Guggenstein. In the thrilling sequel to Haywired, brothers Ludwig and Hephaestus are once again drawn into their father's machinations as they hunt for "Grilsgarter", a strange creature and harbinger of a nightmare future. It has come to collect on their father's promises. As the ghosts of von Guggenstein past catch up with the present, the brothers find themselves at the ends of the earth, desperate to stop a terrible war that will tear their home apart.

It's another book packed full of explosive encounters and fast paced action. It has lots of exciting twists and turns to keep any reader hooked. The author slowly reveals all of his cards by the end of the story. However, he doesn't always take the easy options - he certainly makes some major decisions towards the end, but at this point I'll say no more.

As I was reading this book, I got the sense that the author was particularly well read. I felt that the imaginative plot line that he has developed may have been influenced by some of the books that he has read over time. The author has a great foot in the fantasy world door with each book blossoming into a real winner. However, I would really like to see the author write a longer novel - maybe around the 300 page mark and not the current 160 page mark, so that the reader can really get their teeth stuck into it. Whilst I recognise that the writing is aimed at the 8-12 year age bracket, I feel a longer story would also enable more detail to be included and a greater complexity of plot to be experimented with. This would then appeal to an older audience, although many young and old fans are already enjoying this series.

For anyone who enjoys a good story with an abundant amount of imagination and some of the most interesting characters you'll find, then this is the book for you. It incorporates some great action and 'crazy' fighting scenes, and some fantastically strange machines that will keep you intrigued right to the very end. Please pick up a copy of this book, read it and then pass it on to your friends - you won't be disappointed. 

Watch out for the guest post coming soon from Alex. In the meantime, check out my book review for the first book 'Haywired'. Thanks for reading this post, and as always, I look forward to your comments.