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{{infobox
|title=Runaway Success
|author=S W Parry
|reviewer=Keith Dudhnath
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=The further adventures of Rosie and Archie Carr, the children of a famous footballer.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|format=Paperback
|pages=240
|publisher=Dogstar Publications Ltd
|date=March 2008
|isbn=978-0955176517
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0955176514</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0955176514</amazonus>
}}

Barton Vale's mascot, Barty Boar, is legendary. He is the hot favourite for the Mascot Grand National, he does lots of fantastic work for charity, and he always gets the crowd going at the matches to spur the team on to victory. However, no-one knows who the man in the suit is, so budding film-maker Archie Carr sets out to find out.

''Runaway Success'' is the sequel to [[Action Replay]], which introduced us to Archie and Rosie Carr, the children of Barton Vale's star striker Gavin Carr. Rosie is a huge football fan, and hopes to be a professional herself one day. However, school bully Eric Starling is giving her a tough time because she's a girl. Archie wants to be a film director, and is more interested in the world around football, rather than the match itself.

The plot strands in ''Runaway Success'' are woven perfectly together, giving the story a great balance, and creating a fun look at the lives of footballers' families. As in her previous book, SW Parry's vibrant writing style keeps the action thundering along to the final whistle.

The real life cultural references (CSI and err... Challenge Anneka) sit comfortably with the loose analogues (Alright! magazine and a take-off of Most Haunted). In mixing both fact and fiction, it means it's not just a list of things that exist, whilst also not being a list of cheesy jokes that wear thin. It all works wonderfully in creating a recognisable world that helps maintain interest throughout.

''Runaway Success'' is an even more enjoyable read than its predecessor, as it builds on the established characters and fleshes them out. It's a light read, but in a good sense: a great story that keeps you turning the pages. There's little surprise that everything ends up 'happily ever after', but it's still a satisfying conclusion.

Great fun. Recommended.

Thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

If you liked the football theme in ''Runaway Success'' you'll also like [[The Kick Off]].

{{amazontext|amazon=0955176514}}

'''Reviews of other books by S W Parry'''

[[Action Replay]]
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