![]() ![]() It reads like a well-written thriller, but a thriller covering well-trodden ground. Strangely, though, the end result is almost too slick. The fact that the hero on the run is under 18 adds an interesting dimension: checking into hotels and finding modes of transport are that much harder than for an adult fugitive (though a pre-"chip-and-pin"-age setting helps). In this respect, I've little doubt that he achieved everything he set out to do. He builds up the sympathy for his fugitive, Robert, cranks up the tension and paints his characters with consummate skill. You know the sort: adventures where, more often than not, the pursuers are those who framed the protagonist in the first place or, worse still, have committed the crime they're publicly accusing him of. I suspect many a potential reader has been fed a film and television diet of the wrongly accused on the run. With that pedigree in mind, Being - Brooks's first novel for Penguin - has much to live up to. ![]()
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