This is a book that will have you gasping for breath, gripping your chair and biting your teeth all at once and from the very start. The characters are so realistic you feel you can touch them and the narrative is incredibly strong. As bestselling novelist Philip Ardagh says, ‘you can taste the blood in your mouth as you read this’. How right he is. Even the most reluctant reader will be ensnared. (14+)
Judges' comment:
This is original, fast paced storytelling that offers teenagers an uncompromising, powerful novel. The hero is untraditional, yet compelling; the story dark and violent, yet the violence is never gratuitous; it warns about the dangers of violence but is never didactic. This is superb writing.
Late one night, two brothers learn that their sister has died in the worst way imaginable. She’s found, strangled, in a desolate place hundreds of miles from their East London home.
Ruben is the smarter of the two, with a gift for getting into other people’s hearts; Cole may be older, but he’s a devil’s angel who doesn’t care if he lives or dies. Together, they set out to find their own answers and retrace Rachel’s final journey.
When I finished The Road of the Dead, I felt that I, too, had been on a journey. It was no walk in the park but I was very glad I’d been.
PHILIP ARDAGH, GUARDIAN
Readers will be pulled in by the strong and believable storyline, and the author’s sharp ear for dialogue.
BOOKSELLER
Author
About Kevin Brooks
Kevin Brooks was born in Exeter and studied in Birmingham and London. He has worked in a crematorium, a zoo, a garage and a post office, before - happily - giving it all up to write books. Kevin is the author of many acclaimed award-winning young adult novels, including Martyn Pig, Lucas, Kissing The Rain, The Road of the Dead, Black Rabbit Summer and iBoy. He now lives in North Yorkshire. The Bunker Diary won the CILIP Carnegie Medal in 2014.
