Martin Chatterton

Trigger warnings: Imprisonment of a father

6/10, well where do I begin with this since this book started promisingly but then it just let me down in the end unfortunately and I felt that I could've read a better one than this or the author could've done a better job on writing this. It begins with a fascinating main character Rey Tanic who was the son of a drug dealer who was in prison however he escaped and was hiding somewhere while Rey was just hanging out with his two friends whose names I forgot when he saw that and decided to act upon that. He later finds out about his father's drug operation and how he made loads of illegal money that he spent on cars and even an entire skyscraper that would be built in Sydney, Australia. The side characters weren't that fleshed out and one of them was even abused in the past but I simply didn't care for them even though I should but they didn't have enough depth for me to give a hoot about it. Towards the second half of the book, it underwhelmed me as Rey smashed his father's car because he bought it with laundered money, to be fair it was symbolic but it's not ok to destroy someone's property which I didn't like and the ending was the last nail in the coffin as an image of Rey's father was projected onto the Sydney Opera House and the police somehow now knew where he was and his appearance and he was arrested and the ending just fizzled out like that, what a shame however if you like crime novels pick this or read Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks.… (meer)

Chatterton's writing is well-done and very funny. His book is a mix of Dahl-ish caricature-isms and 1930's mysteries. My nitpicks are few and far between. However, there are a couple.
Firstly, Sheldon. He is remarkably unformed. I would like a teensy bit more information on him.
Secondly, LANGUAGE. Me being me, this is a big one. This book is clearly directed towards a 10-14 age-group. These kids do not need to be taught to swear. To give him credit only his adult characters swear. To take it away- his adult characters (as with most of the infamous characters of Dahl) I don't think that ANY of his adult characters make very good role models.
And yet, he clearly has talent and there were several times that I giggled out loud. Sheldon, in spite of his rather ambiguous presence, has some very clever things to say about the role of the side-kick.… (meer)

Rey "Raze" Tanic is the youngest son of a Sydney crime boss who is currently in jail. In his spare time, he hangs out with a graffiti gang comprised of himself, Ids ( a Somali refugee) and Candy (his girlfriend but also the daughter of a cop who hates his guts. Then suddenly his father is broken out of jail, Rey and his brother Solo are arrested and questioned and everything starts to unwind. A feud between the Tanic empire and a rival boss called Sullivan escalates when Rey's house is sprayed with bullets and his dig and bodyguard are shot. Rey is suddenly on the run himself and frightened that Sullivan's gang will kill him Where can he hide and how can he stop himself falling into the pattern of crime like the rest of his family?
Action packed adventure series set in Sydney. It is obvious that the author writes screenplays as the plot is very cinematic. Boys from Year 8 upwards will like this despite the violence.… (meer)