The story of an 11 year old boy after his father dies. The story uses a unique story telling device where it's told from the boys mind (or imagined diary), but the result is a stream of consciousness, littered with rule-breaking authoring techniques.

I can imagine this method coming off as forced or trite. But Haig's book manages to execute really well.

There's some vivid scenes of loss that touch my own personal childhood, remembering my own mother in the early chapters.

The boy himself believes he's being visited by his deceased father who asks him to enact revenge for his recent death.

The boy, Philip, struggles with his own confused feelings of being a boy, being 11 and starting to see more of the world, and being thrown into a new family structure. It's all too much for him.

Being inside his head you can understand his actions, and it makes me wonder about how we judge someone from the outside who behaves so oddly or "badly".

Ultimately we're left to decide for ourselves whether the boy is really seeing ghosts, though one thing is clear by the end: he'll need counselling to get through the next 15 years.

A good, fast, little read, perfect for holiday reading.

15 Highlight(s)

Location 2

Nan lives in Sunderland and she speaks Sunderlanguage.

Location 8

then I heard Mum. She was howling like a WOLF and the noise hurt my stomach and I closed my eyes

Location 9

I wanted to go and tell her it was OK but that would have been a lie and so I just sat there and did nothing.

Location 40

then I waited for a long time. It might have been two hours or five minutes because in the dark time is different.

Location 76

if you speak to yourself people think you are mad but if you write the same things they think you are clever.

Location 90

It smelt of God which is the smell of old paper.

Location 93

She said I hate God. I said Why? She said Because he says you cant do things like you cant steal. But he steals. He steals people. He stole Dad and he let Mum die

Location 104

His eyes had mouth locks in them so I couldnt speak.

Location 112

then we played Rugby. I didnt know the rules I just knew that if you catch the ball everyone jumps on you so you didnt want to catch the ball.

Location 156

Children dont change into different animals when they grow up. It is not like they are caterpillars going into butterflies.

Location 179

if I was just a wimp who does things in his head and not in real life.

Location 185

I knew that Rome began because of Romulus and Remus who were brothers and who were protected by a wolf and then found by a shepherd.

Location 254

Grandad used to say that when you get older time gets shorter and walks get longer.

Location 277

I thought about Mr Fairview and I wondered if Leah and Dane felt it go out of them and it didnt matter that it was an accident just like it didnt matter if Dads crash was an accident because it still happened and its what happens that matters not why.

Location 318

There comes a time when you have to put the dead to rest Philip. When you have to trust the living instead.