I don’t want to go to bed

I don’t want to go to bed written and illustrated by David Cornish (Harper Collins) HBK  RRP $24.99

ISBN 9781460750582

Reviewed by Sharon McGuinness

First introduced to Rollo in I don’t want to eat my dinner, Cornish has delivered the obvious sequel which will again be appreciated by the parents of young children. Just when Rollo’s parents think they have routines sorted, the bedtime issue raises its head.

Rollo uses the usual stalling tactics of needing a story, food, drink and sorting out the monsters. Only when these issues have been dealt with does sleep beckon and Rollo finally succumbs to tiredness.

Cornish captures the mood of Rollo perfectly in his illustrations – from heavy frown to wide mouthed hunger and timid fear. Children and adults will enjoy Cornish’s  illustrations – Rollo’s mouth ‘as dry as a desert’ or his desperate face when needing the toilet.

What will be next for Rollo? I don’t want to go to school, perhaps?

Suitable for children aged 3 years and up.

The Enigma Diaries: Forgotten Future

The Enigma Diaries: Forgotten Future by Lynda A Calder, illustrated by Johanna Lum (Little Steps Publishing) PB RRP $19.95

ISBN: 9781925117660

Reviewed by Anne Hamilton

About halfway through this book, I realised it was a sequel: Hidden History is the first in this series. Any time travel book is a complex endeavour when the characters are moving back and forward between particular zones, but the storyline became even more difficult to follow with the introduction of characters who have a backstory in the previous book that wasn’t thoroughly spelled out. 

The opening is explosive, intriguing and a tiny bit confusing. Time parallelism is occurring even before it’s made clear it is. No doubt this would have been obvious to a reader of Hidden History but I didn’t quite pick it up immediately.  The Nephilim appear at Stonehenge during the summer solstice, ready to subjugate humanity, perhaps even obliterate them with their god-like powers. News reporters are waiting, alerted by the World Wide Web that this gathering on Salisbury Plain will be like no other. 

By the time James bows to the Nephilim, fifteen-year-old Cassandra Reid knows it is already too late to save the world from the unfolding disaster. Chronos has sent a time device two hundred years into the future, readying the planet for the return of the greater Nephilim brood.

Cassandra accidently winds up in the future herself when she goes to the beach with her friend Peony. There she has to escape the Nephilim, but also to get back to the past. Her time-twisting adventures as she meets up with old friends, new allies—and encounters herself in disguise—take her through to the far future and back into the past.

Although the cover suggests a New Adult audience, this book is more suited to avid Middle Grade readers and the lower end of the YA spectrum. 

Wild Boy and the Black Terror

Wild Boy and the Black Terror by Rob Lloyd Jones (Walker Books)

HC RRP $19.95

ISBN 9781406341409

Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Darker and more dramatic, this sequel to Wild Boy draws us into Mayfair in West London, 1842. Wild Boy the circus freak and his best friend Clarissa Everett have been hidden away by their guardian Marcus these last months after they helped him catch a murderer. This was due to Clarissa’s nimbleness and Wild Boy’s perceptive observational skills, which have become finely tuned assets to the children.

There is a great and sinister threat to all of the surrounding area which includes the Palace and Queen Victoria. A dark pervading presence that carries horrible symptoms has begun to envelope everyone. Its mysterious power causes past memories to resurge and its terror grotesquely transmogrifies the victim. This all consuming blackness in body and soul ends only in death.

Wild Boy and Clarissa are called upon to use their detective skills and particular gifts to track down and destroy this dark monster. Will they succeed? Can they do so before Marcus succumbs to the black terror? And what role, if any, does Wild Boy’s nemesis, Augustus Finch, play in this frightful story?

This is a fast-faced, heart-pounding mystery of great proportions suited for the 12+ age group, although it’s listed as 9+. Scary and graphic at times, its gothic horror will appeal to readers of this genre. It has a pit full of suspects, and just when you think you’ve guessed who the culprit is, another more convincing choice appears. It will be read in one sitting for there’s no way it can be put down before the last page.

Motive Games 2: Death Down Under

Motive Games 2: Death Down Under by LD Taylor (Rhiza Press)

PB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-1-925139-18-1 

Reviewed by Peta Biggin

In Canada, Phil Roland is a hero. He saved his dad’s company, Motive Games; solved his dad’s murder; and exposed a Mafia ring.  However, he soon finds things spinning out of control while attending the E3 East gaming show in Auckland.  It was supposed to be the big break for Motive Games.  Instead he is the focus of unwanted media attention, hackers and threats of ruination from Australian mega-distributor PFG.  It’s when a PFG executive turns up dead that Phil finds himself in the middle of a mystery that may mean the end of Motive Games and all his dreams

Motive Games 2: Death Down Under is the stand-alone sequel to Motive Games from Canadian author LD Taylor.  Having not read the first book, I was concerned that I would feel at a disadvantage.  This was certainly not the case.  There are enough references to the events of the first book to ensure that the reader feels like they are reading a self-contained story.

This is an action-packed, murder-mystery set within the world of computer gaming.  There is a good pace maintained throughout without too much violence.  There is only the barest hint of romance; certainly a book geared towards teenaged boys rather than girls.  There are also plenty of references to servers, hackers and online games for those technology or gaming inclined readers.

The lead character, Phil, can probably best be described as a whiz-kid.  He is also a teen that, by virtue of his experiences in the first book, has had to grow up fast.  He is loyal, intelligent and resourceful.  He is aided by his best friend Oliver and a quirky, ex-detective called Turpin.  Together they are a determined team that will not rest until the truth is uncovered.  They are not modern James Bond figures though – indestructible and all-conquering.  They are afflicted by their own fears, physical ailments and emotional baggage; and they work to overcome these as they endeavour to protect their friends and the future of Motive Games.

Above all, I enjoyed the minor characters.  There is a wide range of personalities and eccentricities that not only provide variety to the story but also help to bring out the humour, emotion and tension throughout the book.

Overall, I found this easy to read and very enjoyable.  It reminded me somewhat of the Conspiracy 365 books, but for an older reader, and would suit any teen who enjoys that style of storytelling.

LD Taylor began her career as a marketing writer for the 3D graphics and animation software industry.  Before her family’s immigration to New Zealand, she decided to spearhead a family project that would combine her teenage sons’ interests in video games with her own in mystery novels.  The result was Motive Games which won her the Caleb Prize in the Young Adult category. Motive Games 2: Death Down Under is her second book.  She can be found online at: http://www.motivegamesbook.com/#/