Fifteen-year-old Keith dotes on Annie, his charming, bossy and precocious three-year-old sister. When his mum has to go away for a training week she offers to pay him the going rate to look after her, as their dad's not exactly domesticated (and has to work, anyway). Event hough his two best mates are away Keith jumps at the opportunity to make some money and spend more time with Annie. He didn't count on the arrival of Reece, his widowed elderly neighbour's great-nephew. Reece isn't bad, but he's not quite right, he smells faintly of petrol, and he alternately repels and frightens Keith, while delighting Annie, who calls him Funny Boy.
I don't know what I was expecting from Firestarter, a book I borrowed solely because I planned to borrow the Stephen King book of the same name and found this one when checking the library catalogue. Certainly a more substantial plot, stronger characterisation, and some kind of resolution, but I don't think I had any ideas about the storyline. This is a good thing - the story meanders about, Keith is an uninteresting and wishy-washy narrator, and I finished this YA novella about a damaged teen arsonist wondering who thought it was worth type setting, printing, binding, distributing and selling.
It's always good to have a reminder that taking back-up books with you is almost always a sound policy. - Alex
No comments:
Post a Comment