Subterranean adventures
Tunnels
By Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, Asia Books 450 baht
Youthapong Charoenpan
(Lev Nikolayevitch) Tolstoy, the Russian philosopher, social activist, and writer, once said, “All happy families resemble one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”.
While this saying may seem a bit vague initially, it appears to take on more meaning when you apply it to the family at the heart of Tunnels.
The main character in the book is 14-year-old Will Burrows, the son of an amateur archaeologist (Dr Burrows) who is also curator of the local museum, and a television-obsessed mother, who seems to spend most of her time glued to the “box”.
Will’s precocious 12-year-old sister busies herself by taking responsibility for the family’s shopping and finances, while Chester, Will’s latest friend, is a fellow outcast at school.
Will and his father enjoy going on archaeological digs together in the hope of unearthing something of value or interest. But one night, Will’s father mysteriously disappears. Will suspects his father was working on something in secret and then the adventure really begins as Will and Chester start trying to track him down.
The boys come across a mysterious tunnel Will’s father seems to have been investigating, so the boys decide to take a closer look for themselves. Doing so leads them to a fascinating subterranean society – a land that time forgot. Indeed, it turns out that the society has been in existence in isolation for a century, ruled by a merciless underclass called the Styx.
While Will and Chester continue their search for Dr Burrows, they start to learn more about the underground community.
Slow starter
This writer found the development of the book’s plot to be quite slow, while some of the characters’ actions seem somewhat disjointed. However, once it gets going, there’s plenty of adventure, including chases, twists and turns in the plot, strange creatures, political and social drama, and even death.
Will’s mother and sister virtually vanish from the plot, while the decisions made by some of the characters in the book are also questionable, in the opinion of this reviewer.
But despite these limitations, I would say that as a novel for young adults, Tunnels offers both suspense and entertainment. It certainly could be improved upon, though, and I’d personally like to see greater attention to background detail paid by the authors in the sequel.
Timeline
2005 - Authors publish novel themselves with a limited run of 500 hardback copies and 2,000 paperbacks, financed by the sale of Gordon’s home.
Press show interest in the novel, while the entire hardback run sells out in a single day.
November 2005 – Cunningham announces that he plans to publish The Highfield Mole, which is the book’s former title, along with a sequel. The authors say the second book has been completed and the authors are apparently working on a third.
Cunningham’s involvement with J.K. Rowling and his decision to publish Tunnels led the book to become branded “the next Harry Potter”.
2007 – Tunnels becomes a best-seller in Britain, while its film rights have been snapped up. The book has now been licensed for production in 34 foreign languages. |
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Obsession
By Jonathon Kellerman, Asia Books 350 baht
Patty Bigelow thought she'd finally figured life out. Then her wayward sister Leila abandons her child, Tanya, on her doorstep. The aunt and troubled niece slowly learn to live together, with the help of Dr Alex Delaware's counseling.
Now, fifteen years later, Tanya is back in Alex's office, a self-possessed Harvard student, about to enter graduate school in clinical psychology. Patty — the only real mother she's ever known — has died and left Tanya with a chilling legacy: a deathbed confession that her aunt murdered a man years earlier.
Tanya has tried to let go of the confession. But it soon becomes clear that nothing short of finding out the truth will do. And she needs Alex's help ...
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Crusade
By Robyn Young, Asia Books 350 baht
It’s 1274 and in the fortified city of Acre, the last major stronghold of the Crusaders in Palestine, an epic conflict is underway.
Will Campbell is a Templar Knight, trained for war, but as a member of the mysterious group known as the Brethren, he is also a man of peace.
After years of bloodshed, the Brethren have helped to create a truce between the Christians and Muslims. But Will now fears they have been betrayed. King Edward of England has promised the Pope that he will lead a new Crusade, while in Acre itself, a ruthless cabal of Western merchants, profiteering from slaves and armaments, is plotting to reignite hostilities in the Holy Land.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, Sultan Baybars is caught in a power struggle. His son and heir has become involved in the dangerous designs of the insidious soothsayer, Khadir. While Baybars wants to take on the mighty Mongol empire, Khadir and others want to destroy the Christians once and for all. As war looms, Will is torn between his oath as a Templar, his secret role in the Brethren, and his duty to Elwen, the woman he loves but is forbidden to marry.
He is caught at the center of a web of deception and destruction, as he and all those around him rush headlong towards one of the most dramatic moments in history.
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Blaze
By Richard Bachman, Asia Books 350 baht
Clay Blaisdell is “one big mother”, but his capers are strictly small-time until his mentor introduces him to the one big score every small-timer dreams of – kidnap.
But now the brains of the operation has died – or has he? – and Blaze is alone with a baby as hostage. The “Crime of the Century” has just turned into a race against time in the white hell of the Maine woods.
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This Year it will be Different
By Maeve Binchy, Asia Books 350 baht
Filled with Maeve Binchy’s trademark wit and true storytelling genius, This Year it will be Different powerfully evokes the lives of wives, husbands, children, friends, and lovers, all set during the one holiday when feelings cannot easily be hidden.
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