No Way Out by Gene Kemp

No Way Out by Gene Kemp
Buy No Way Out by Gene Kemp at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
Summary: A great mystery, with tension and drama, that's of the high quality you'd expect from Gene Kemp. The sudden ending takes a little of the shine off, but it's still warmly recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 128	Date: March 2010
Publisher: Faber Children's Books
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0571244553
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Alex and Adam are twins, and they're telepathic to boot. They're very close, but are also like chalk and cheese: Adam's looking forward to their holiday on Uncle Ben and Aunt Sadie's farm, but Alex can't think of anything worse. Adam is always happy to read to their little sister Emmy, but Alex resents the attention she gets (she's disabled, y'see). By and large, they're just ordinary kids, with ordinary grumbles. When the car they're in goes through thick fog and crashes, they find themselves in a town from times past, with inhabitants who don't want to let them leave, and who have an eye on Emmy.

It's Gene Kemp, and you know exactly what you're getting: that excellent eye for how children's minds work, a plot that grabs you from the first page and keeps you hooked right to the end, drama and tension, but always perfectly pitched at its young audience. There's a mysterious air throughout the book - you're along for the ride with Alex and Adam; just like them, you don't quite know what's going on. Is it just the back of beyond, or have they travelled through time? Just what do the villagers want with Emmy, and what's the deal with the picture that looks eerily familiar?

My one criticism of No Way Out is that it ends too suddenly. Everything builds to a dramatic ending, and then within just a few pages, everything's resolved. I wouldn't go so far as to call it unsatisfying, but the suddenness did take me aback. The book is pitched at late confident readers/early teens, so obviously shouldn't be fraught with peril. However, having spent the whole book building up a sense of helplessness and no possible escape, when everything comes to a head, it's crying out for just a bit... well, more. Like any good mystery, there are a few unanswered question for you to ponder - I've no problem with those - so you may find the balance a little more to your taste.

Don't let me put you off: No Way Out is an excellent mystery that has plenty going for it. It's superbly written, as is everything by Gene Kemp. You'll love the inherent spookiness, the family dynamics, and trying to figure out just what's going on. Any tween looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary will lap it up. Recommended.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

If time travel is your thing, you'll love Gideon the Cutpurse by Linda Buckley-Archer. For spookiness - albeit with a heavy comic touch - you'll enjoy Frightfully Friendly Ghosties by Daren King. There are also plenty of excellent choices in our Top Ten Books for Young Readers That Feature a Passage Between Worlds.

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