Just Finished Reading: The Dead of Summer by Camilla Way (FP: 2007) [230pp] 

Anita’s world collapsed along with her mother when she was 11. The heart attack that killed her changed everything. Her father became a shell of his former self now happiest drinking beer in front of the TV. Her elder brother was now an enigma, disappearing for hours or days at a time but never seemingly short of money. Her sisters, no longer supervised, became the party animals they’d always longed to be. Two years later the family had moved from their home in Leeds to the outskirts of London and Anita was at a new school, alone, without a friend in the world. But accidents happen, and accidental friends will do when all else fails. Denis was first, just because he had been sitting next to her on the first day. Then there was Kyle, strange, distant, emotionally damaged (so she’d been told). Kyle had a tragedy in his family too, a lost younger sister who vanished in the night. It was the hint of a link, a distant echo of a possible friendship. That summer was hot, the hottest she could remember. With a new neighbourhood to explore and new friends to explore it with, Anita hoped that things might start to turn around. But nothing is going to be that simple. Kyle is fighting his demons and Anita has a few of her own to deal with. The problem with demons is that all too often they demand blood – lots of blood. 

This was another of those impulse buys in the ‘Buy 1 get 1 half price’ deals. It’s a way of trying out new authors or new topics. Mostly they are, at least, OK. This one however really didn’t float my boat. To be honest this wasn’t badly written. Indeed, I’d say that it was quite well written. All the characters seemed real enough, as did the situation they found themselves in. The twist, when it came, was well handled and wasn’t too telegraphed in advance. But one thing I had trouble with is a lack of sympathy from the majority of the cast of characters. The only one, probably on purpose, that I did feel sorry for was Anita herself – which added to the emotional impact of the plot twist. Then there was an ‘ick’ factor which I didn’t like (I won’t spoil which kind of ‘ick’ it was). Finally, there was a LOT of swearing which I didn’t really appreciate. OK, it was generally in context, and I have known people who talk like that, but please.... I can’t honestly say I enjoyed this very much at all, so I can’t really recommend it.   

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