THIRTEEN by Tom Hoyle [Book Review]

THIRTEEN
by Tom Hoyle
Published on 13th February 2014

A crazed cult leader named Coron will stop at nothing to kill thirteen boys who were born at midnight at the start of 2000, the new millennium. Convinced that they will prevent the new kingdom should they turn into men, at the age of 14, Coron orders the slaughter of the boys, with his final and thirteenth victim the most dangerous of them all: Adam – The Imposter.

Tom Hoyle is the pseudonym of a first time author who’s main day job is the headteacher of a boys school in London. Obviously, writing a book about murder with children involved might not be one you’d want to tell the whole world about when looking after children is your profession but certainly his work has helped in getting inside the minds of the children he teaches to produce this tense teen thriller.

The protagonist of THIRTEEN is a boy named Adam Grant. The first chapter does a fantastic job at dramatically setting the scene where a baby Adam is being born at a London hospital at midnight of 1st January 2000, and just minutes after being born, his life is already threatened. The book then skips forward to 2013, where Adam is thirteeen years old and is the last remaining child on Coron’s list. Coron fears that the boy will turn to a man on his fourteenth birthday and should that happen, it’ll be disasterous for the new world he and ‘the Master’ will be welcoming, as well as for Coron’s loyal cult, The People.

The character of Adam is your average 13 year old boy. He hangs around with his friends Asa, Leo and Rachel, and his best friend Meg, who he also has a crush on. He’s a strong, sensible boy who stands up for himself and those he cares about, which is evident when he defends his friend Leo from a school bully. After a trip to a music festival called Rock Harvest, everything starts to fall apart for the young lad, not to mention that he appears to be being stalked by a scarred 17 year old.

There’s a lot for youngsters to enjoy about this novel. It certainly speaks to them on their level and references things they’d be experiencing at that age. Hoyle’s certainly picked up on these points and his knowledge of how children tick is thorough. The kids in the book are experiencing all of life’s problems at that age, as well as all the fun and joys that are had with turning into a young adult. Hoyle’s plotline leaves the resolution well and truly to the kids, who must fight their battles alone and in some cases, against adults, which isn’t too dissimilar to the fact that teens are probably always battling against adults on a daily basis, as part of puberty and growing up.

Hoyle’s use of language is slightly hit and miss. At times I found it quite weak, with some sentences coming across as too basic, or ending prematurely. When I was in my teens, I was reading political journals by Hunter S. Thompson so reading Thirteen is quite childs play, for want of a better phrase. With only the odd swear word (3 maybe at most), and even at that they’re fairly mild, I’d say this book is more aimed at 11-14yrs. Some of the subject matter can be quite dark with a few shocking, grisly deaths occuring in the book that would be too much for someone younger. The language and structure used though is really accessible and easy to digest. Too easy for my taste, but saying that, I’m older than its intended audience.

Plot wise, there are a few things that didn’t sit well with me. One was the fact it was predominantly based in London and ignored the rest of the UK. In regards to the master plan of Coron and The People, the whole concept of children born at the millennium was strictly limited to London only, and it would have been more convincing if Coron had selected a few of those from further afield. Finally, the ending isn’t exactly the book’s finest moment. Events leading up to it were much more exciting for the reader, and the finale was a bit too flat for my liking. Then again, I’m not a kid, and someone of the readership age may be satisfied with it. The ending does, however, leave an intriguing cliffhanger, hinting at a sequel which Tom Hoyle is apparently working on now and is set to be published late 2014.

Despite the above issues, there’s plenty to enjoy from Thirteen, including the quite striking book cover and inked page edges. Thirteen has the action, the likable and realistic characters and it puts the children as able-bodied and of able-mind to tackle these problems on their own. Sure, it takes liberties at times, but I’m sure every kid would enjoy this dark thriller and easily imagine themselves as either protagonist Adam or his best friend Meg in this life or death adventure.

Rating: