Rating: 
Summary: A Classic Noir
Review: Martyn Pig is a noir in the classic sense. Brooks follows in the footsteps of the mystery writers whom he admires extremely well; he knows the genre. The twists and turns in this novel make for a gripping, quick read. Despite its sort of morbid subject matter, it turns out to be surprisingly funny. The reader can relate to the main character on all sorts of levels; this is a kid who's likeable and sort of vulnerable, and though you may think that he's a total idiot at times, you're hoping he gets what he wants in the end. Sort of. This is a book that illustrates that once you make that initial (fateful) decision, the cards fall and you just have to deal with them as they come. The way you handle the fallout shows you who you really are inside.I don't want to go into plot -- it'll just ruin all the suspense! I have a few criticisms: I was confused about where this story took place, at least initially. The main character had a definite British voice and throughout the story uniquely British terms were thrown around: "loverly turkey" and "bloody" and "trolley" and "bloke" and "pub" and on and on. At the same time, the author used "bucks" and dollars, referred to CVS and listened to NPR. It makes this reader wonder if the editors were trying to make the book more readable to the average American teen. If so, why not Americanize everything? Or just leave it completely British? Plenty of books originally published in the U.K. have had great success here, and not only Harry Potter. David Almond's Printz Award winner and the series by Louise Rennison (a sort of Bridget Jones Diary for teens -- also a Printz Honor) to name a few. Please don't insult the intellligence of U.S. teens! Another criticism I had was an error in fact: Brooks has the father's dead body "loosen up" (the affects of rigamortis reversing) after laying around rotting for a few days. And lastly, my edition had several glaring copyedit errors, including part sentences just not being there! But, criticism aside, it remains a great read, one that teens will love.
Rating:
Summary: Tone Ann's Review
Review: My opinion on this book is that I didnt like one thing about this story at the end he still didnt turn Alex in. But on the other hand I liked this story because it has suspence, danger, and jokes.
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