Second novel from David Barker's London Falling series.
Out now from Tiny Tree Books
David Barker returns with his YA books which started in 2023 with the first book, Pax and the Missing Head, and is a rip-roaring dystopian set boarding school tale about the eponymous Pax Forby, a workhouse boy who is naturally gifted in robotics and coding. In the first book, he wins a place at the prestigious Scholastic Parliament.
Hoping for a quieter second year, outside the school, New London is as dangerous as ever. Cyber-attacks and drones have intensified causing a climate of fear and uneasiness. During this, Pax and his firm friends - Megan and Samuel - find themselves drawn to the underground resistance movement.
Borrowing from famous English literary titles and evoking the sense of fear and peril that can surround a huge metropolis can towards a young child (aged 9-12) as Pax is meant to be, Barker has again marshalled a story of great thrust and pulsating action.
Keen readers will see nods to the works of Rowling and Tom Brown's Schooldays and the use of Roacher reminded this reader of Batteries Not Included (1986) along with the ever threatening Big Brother-overlord mayor of London who threatens the subjects and citizens of New London.
The Pincher in question is a play on words for youngsters, it actually refers to pensioners, who when people get to an age they are quickly forgotten about and discarded from memory. This is a mark of Barker himself the writer, in his adult thriller series 'Blue Gold' he was very prescient to describe the eventual loss of water that will happen on our planet; and with the heating crisis happening now for our elder population this is a reminder that science fiction always makes the reader have a hard look at their present situation.
Quietly intense and a real joy to read, Barker has again provided a wonderful page turner that is whilst brief does stay with the reader making them look forward to the next instalment with fervour and excitement.
Pax and the Forgotten Pincher is out now from Tiny Tree Books on all formats
My thanks to Tiny Tree Books for giving me a preview copy for an honest review.
