Book review
Written by Benjamin J. Myers
Orion paperback
Release date Out now

The Tuesday siblings – Chess, Box and Splinter – are employed by The Committee to find out what’s happened to the children stolen by the Twisted Symmetry…

Like Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights, this kids’ adventure is a convoluted fantasy about stolen children. It doesn’t boast the grand themes or adult crossover appeal of Pullman’s novel, but it’s a fast-moving, inventive story with believable child characters who attempt to act tougher than they really are.

Picking up where Myers’ last novel, Twisted Symmetry, left off, the tale finds 11-year-old Chess Tuesday and her older twin brothers gradually learning more about the battle between The Committee and Twisted Symmetry. Along the way they’re whisked to a parallel universe, encounter the graceful lizard queen and become caught up in a plot to collapse time and space.

Fans of the series will be relieved to hear that part three, Blood Alchemy, will arrive early next year, and a fourth instalment has already been commissioned. James Skipp

VERDICT: 7/10
A brisk, event-filled fantasy for younger teenagers.