The Comet’s Child by John Ward
Paperback
Bree McCready and the Half-Heart Locket by Hazel Allan
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Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-905537-11-2
£6.99
August 11th 2009
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“THIS ENCHANTING AND MAGICAL ADVENTURE STORY IS A REAL PAGE TURNER FROM START TO FINISH.”The Bookbag
Life is not much fun for Bree. School is a drag, and nothing happens at home on the Rockwell housing estate. Until she finds two halves of an old locket, which together spell out a set of cryptic instructions. With her best friend Sandy and new kid Honey Pizazz, Bree follows the trail to the hiding place of a dangerous magical book. But the evil Thalofedril is close behind, and determined to seize it from them. The race is on to keep the book out of his hands and Bree must find the courage to face him – and confront her own difficult past.
Reviews of Bad Faith
Catherine Czerkawska for Vulpes Libris Website
“By any standards whatsoever, this is a mature piece of work and whatever your age, you will not be able to put it down. From the first astonishing lines: Before I slipped on the mud and fell over the Bishop, our family didn’t have a lot to do with murder. A little, but not much’, to the unbearably poignant ending, the story fairly gallops along, polished, satisfying, all the time making the reader think…
Bad Faith is a murder mystery, but much, much more. Philip paints a vivid picture of three absolutely real young people: Cass (who narrates the tale) her boyfriend Ming and her brother Griff, all living in a dystopian future. It is realised with such a deft touch, with such self consistency that the reader is transported instantly into the completely credible world of the story Philip manages to combine lyrical writing about adult themes, absolutely believable characters and real dialogue, with a breathtaking switchback of a plot, by turns funny, moving and terrifying, that will have you reading on the edge of your seat. I was torn between envy of such style, and total involvement in the world of the story
But when you start it, remember to schedule in a good chunk of your time. Bad Faith will sweep you along and have you hoping for a sequel. I finished it in the early hours and spent the following day bleary eyed, and wondering exactly what had hit me.”
M.M. for crimesquad.com
“This book is a little different for CRIMESQUAD.COM given that it was originally intended for young adults. However, this is a mystery novel and its publishers are confident the story will cross over to the adult market. In the fantasy genre there are many examples of such a crossover; JK Rowling, Phillip Pullman and Stephanie Meyer to name but three. Perhaps Ms Philip will perform the same service for crime writing?
This is, dare we say it, an important book Bad Faith is a very clever satire, written with pace and humour and wholly deserving of a wider audience. My initial concern was that I would be able to identify with a narrator who was a teenage girl. But this notion was quickly dispelled as I was quickly caught up in the sinister dystopia that is Cass’s world.
Given the weight of her topic, Ms Philip wields her ‘pen’ with a deft and surprisingly light touch. Never preaching, allowing her characters to perform their roles within her themes and bound by the confines of a tightly constructed plot. All of life is here; family secrets and delusions, a state-sanctioned serial killer called Holy Joe and a disconcerting demonstration of what might happen if fundamentalism were ever to overtake these shores.”
Read more reviews at www.bookcrossing.com
