Chicken Mission: The Curse of Fogsham Farm by Jennifer Gray and Hannah George

Chicken Mission: The Curse of Fogsham Farm by Jennifer Gray and Hannah George
Buy Chicken Mission: The Curse of Fogsham Farm by Jennifer Gray and Hannah George at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: John Lloyd
Summary: A second characterful adventure in this enjoyable series – even managing to bring a vampire into proceedings.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 208	Date: April 2015
Publisher: Faber and Faber
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9780571298297
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Life is hard for a chicken. Threat comes from anywhere you look – which is where the Elite Chicken Squad comes in. Last time they had a nasty fox and his friends to counter, but this time they've got it worse. A local legend speaks of a vampire mink, concerned only with draining all fowl of their blood, and all indications suggest the legend is actually a lot more real and worrying. Even the barman – sorry, bar-chicken, Ichabod Comb, has vanished after an attack on his juice bar. What's more, it seems the mink's victim becomes a zombie soldier, fighting for her cause. Can the three plucky stalwarts of the Squad – Amy, Boo and Ruth – prove themselves a match for such evil?

I'm sure it hardly needs saying, but there is a fine line between the inventive and the daft, the sensibly odd and the surreally off. And while I might once have thought the whole idea of a secret cache of chicken warriors, with their headquarters replete with running water, gadget lockers and computer games, facing off against a vampire mink all rather absurd and too bonkers for anybody's reading health, in these hands it all works. There's even a Zimmer frame-throwing contest, er, thrown into proceedings too. Trust me, it takes a talent to be this weird and to have your audience accepting it all gleefully for the ride.

And a book such as this is a ride. There's silliness from the characters – mostly the baddies, obviously, there are unusual events and lots more that add a zip and a pizzazz to proceedings. What also stands out is the use of found documents to tell the story, such as meeting agendas, fake adverts and so on – this seems a staple of this series now and it's great fun, breaking the page up and making the book seem more special in a young person's hands. And while there's so much fantastic about the baddies here it has to be assured that a young person can read this – there is a perfectly low level of threat, nastiness and gore ideal for the under-tens.

Instead there is a brio, elan and appeal that generally lasts. I think some of the elements of the story are a little rushed, and perhaps there are too many gadgets, and again too much emphasis on Amy for being the bravest, most action-ready one of the oven-readies. But quibbles will vanish given the target audience's tastes. They will find this a more than welcome sophomore outing for this series, the second franchise for this author writing solo. As I found it a much stronger effort than the debut title, the signs are that things are firmly on the up. I won't be alone in looking out for any more Chicken Missions in the future.

I must thank the publishers for my review copy.

We're liking the idea of more stories in the series beginning with The Dreamsnatcher by Abi Elphinstone as well - perfect for young scares in the woods.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Chicken Mission: The Curse of Fogsham Farm by Jennifer Gray and Hannah George at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Chicken Mission: The Curse of Fogsham Farm by Jennifer Gray and Hannah George at Amazon.com.

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