Tenth Anniversary Edition
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Charlie Blake is a 14 year old orphan. He’s about to be adopted by a seemingly kind Funeral Director named Jacob Willoughby – a widower living out in a small countryside town. But Charlie is nervous; he suffers horrible nightmares where he sees someone about to be killed. The last one he had was just before his tenth birthday, and the day before his father was murdered. And now they’ve started again – just as his life is supposed to return to something resembling normality. He’s to go to a new high school, and make new friends. But will the nightmarish visions stop his happy, rural life?
Talisman of El was first published in 2012, by Stone, to mixed reviews. Most people loved it – and for a very good reason. It’s a great book, with a strong leading character in Charlie. He’s relatable – a troubled teen who hates bullies and will stand up for what he believes in. He’s got a temper, but doesn’t every teenager? Hormones and puberty make teenage years challenging, and that’s something Stone hasn’t shied away from. In the first few chapters, we find Charlie trying to quell the urge to hit a bully, hear voices in his head and become confused when a girl offers him the hand of friendship. That’s definitely relatable, and in my view, makes him incredibly likeable.
As the story progresses, more and more strange things start happening either around Charlie, or to him. Stone writes his confusion and compulsion to investigate the happenings in a sympathetic way – again making him completely believable.
While we have Charlie’s sheer confusion and slight angst, Alex, the girl who befriended him on his first day at school, is a form of comic relief. She provides a wry humour, poking fun at her parents many phobias – from heights to tech – and bemoaning the villages local Killjoy.
I honestly enjoyed this mammoth tome – it’s three books in one, and each one filled with enough action to keep anyone entertained. I was reminded slightly, of Anthony Horowitz’s The Power of Five series.
S. A.
This book was originally reviewed on Reedsy as part of their ARC program. You can read the original review here.
You can buy this complete edition of Arcadia by clicking on the link.