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WRITE AWAY
- reviewed by
Kelley Townley |
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Slawter
is the third
book in
Darren Shan's
second
bestselling
series 'The
Demonata';
following
Lord Loss
and The Demon
Thief.
Arguably the
master of
children's
horror,
Darren Shan
continues to
pull no punches
as he dazzles us
with demons -
literal and
personal.
Returning to the
Grady household
we find out how
Grubbs, Billy-E
and Dervish are
coping after the
events in book
one - needless
to say, not very
well. Then a
little
brightness shows
and they are
given the chance
to focus on a
new task, a
brush with
Hollywood no
less. It's an
exciting
whirlwind of
fame and
celebrities on
the set of new
horror film,
Slawter. But
is an abandoned
village filled
with
horrifyingly
realistic demon
props really the
place to recover
from a
near-death
experience with
some real ones?
And just how
fake are these
demons exactly?
Brilliant. I was
much happier
returning to the
Grady family
again - never
quite clicked
with Kernal
Fleck. At first
the whole
Hollywood
calling/film set
thing felt a bit
random but by
the end I was
really enjoying
it. The twists
were really good
- I've still got
my suspicions
about some
characters - but
I felt totally
satisfied by the
end and eager
for the next
book.
This book is
actually really
rather tame
compared to the
others, with no
real gore until
the end - and
then it wasn't
nearly as bloody
as some earlier
encounters (or
maybe I'm
getting
de-sensitised!).
Instead we see a
lot more
character
developments.
Grubbs is great,
a real
tear-jerker at
times (but then
I am a girl) as
he wrestles with
his desire to be
normal against
devotion to
duty. Billy-E
seemed a little
under-used and
it might have
been nice to get
to know some of
the other cast
and crew more so
we lamented
their passing a
bit more, but on
the whole a good
job well done.
Also it was
great to see a
few familiar
demon faces come
back ( I can
like bad guys,
right?).
Top stuff but
still only
recommended for
11+ with the
stomach for the
darker things in
life. |
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