MARTYN PIG
Kevin Brooks
The Chicken House
Fiction
ISBN: 0439507529
230 pages

Martyn Pig is swimming in an unbearable life. It's not enough that the kids at school make pork jokes, he has to come home afterwards and deal with his alcoholic father and the fact that his mother left years ago. There's his awful Aunty Jean, who is out to try to prove that Martyn's father is unfit and to get Martyn to live with her. To add insult to injury, he has a crush on his neighbor, Alex, who's dating a real creep named Dean. Things can't get any worse, right?

The week before Christmas, Martyn's father dies accidentally. Martyn could go to the police, but he also knows there's a good chance the police will accuse him of committing foul play. On the other hand, he can't just leave the body there to rot. He ends up conspiring with Alex to hide the body, which leads to even more deception, confusion, and intrigue.

Mystery fans will welcome this first offering from British author Kevin Brooks. Martyn is believable as the unwilling introspective loner, but by far the most interesting character is Alex, who shields her true self from Martyn and consequently the reader. The one complaint is that this book seems to have been unsuccessfully doctored to make it "understandable" to Americans. The conversations are filled with British phrases like "bloody awful," but money is discussed in terms of dollars rather than pounds. Overlooking these inconsistencies, MARTYN PIG is sure to appeal to those interested in eliminating the impossible, looking over the improbable remains and finding the truth.

   --- Reviewed by Carlie Kraft

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.

© Copyright 2003, Teenreads.com. All rights reserved.