Department 19 by Will Hill - Revision history

Sue at 12:28, 21 August 2020

2020-08-21T12:28:44Z

Sue at 11:51, 2 April 2018

2018-04-02T11:51:56Z

Sue at 10:59, 22 December 2014

2014-12-22T10:59:57Z

Sue at 16:25, 8 September 2012

2012-09-08T16:25:32Z

Jill at 09:53, 27 February 2011

2011-02-27T09:53:23Z

Jill: Created page with '{{infobox |title=Department 19 |author=Will Hill |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Teens |summary=New entrant into the busy supernatural-horror-action-thriller market, and a fine exam…'

2011-02-27T09:51:46Z

Created page with '{{infobox |title=Department 19 |author=Will Hill |reviewer=Jill Murphy |genre=Teens |summary=New entrant into the busy supernatural-horror-action-thriller market, and a fine exam…'

New review

{{infobox
|title=Department 19
|author=Will Hill
|reviewer=Jill Murphy
|genre=Teens
|summary=New entrant into the busy supernatural-horror-action-thriller market, and a fine example of it. Great action sequences, lots of gore, a suitably unwilling-but-committed central character and good worldbuilding. Exposition detracts from tension somewhat, so it best suits readers willing to invest in a series.
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|paperback=0007354460
|hardback=0007354452
|pages=353
|publisher=Harper Collins
|website=http://www.department19exists.com/
|date=March 2011
|isbn=0007354452
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007354452</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0007354452</amazonus>
|video=-JvWlKT9src
}}

Jamie Carpenter lived a normal, happy, suburban life until the night strange creatures arrived at his house and men in black combats with strange, ultra-violent weapons burst in and executed his father. Since then, Jamie and his mother have lived in a succession of miserable, dour little houses and Jamie has become less and less interested in a succession of miserable, dour little schools. He resents his mother, like all good disaffected teenagers do.

But then he has a strange encounter with a red-eyed girl and his mother goes missing. And Jamie very quickly discovers that you don't know how much you need someone until they're gone...

... and you find out that everything Bram Stoker wrote was true. Vampires exist. And the descendants of the characters in Stoker's book form the core of the government's most secret agency: Department 19. Jamie's father had been a department operative and he was killed because he betrayed it. With his mother kidnapped, Jamie finds himself recruited by the department years earlier than is the norm. And he must quickly find his feet - because of his father's treachery, he's not trusted by everyone - if he's to have any hope of rescuing his mother.

This brand of high-octane, supernatural action novel is an overheated genre, so new entrants need to know their audience and hit the ground running. ''Department 19'' certainly does this. It has a suitably reluctant central character who finds courage and determination he'd never dreamed he possessed. It has powerful, ruthless, badder-than-baddies, plenty of technology and really good action sequences. There's a great cast of characters and it's all very visual. This book would translate well both to film and to video game. There's even a bit of edgy love interest for Jamie. It most definitely ticks all the boxes and I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite being about as far from the target audience as it's possible to get.

Unavoidably, in a series set up, the main narrative arcs - the kidnapping of Jamie's mother and a plan to reanimate Count Dracula himself - lose a little focus at times because there's quite a bit of exposition to get out of the way. Hill deals with this by a series of flashback sequences, which reveal the history of Department 19 and Jamie's family's role within it. This means the book is best suited to fans of the genre and readers who are happy to spend the best part of five hundred pages of reading time investing into a series. For them, Department 19 is going to be a huge hit. Of that I am sure.

My thanks to the good people at Harper Collins for sending the book.

They might also like [[Changeling by Steve Feasey]], about Trey, the last living werewolf. It's pacy and direct and the central character is wolfishly attractive. No supernatural, but [[Brainjack by Brian Falkner]] is a pacy action thriller about a teen computer hacker and a rather scary, self-aware AI. If they liked the gadgetry in ''Department 19'', they'll like it.

{{amazontext|amazon=0007354452}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8107277}}

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← Older revision		Revision as of 12:28, 21 August 2020
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	They might also like [[Changeling by Steve Feasey]], about Trey, the last living werewolf. It's pacy and direct and the central character is wolfishly attractive. No supernatural, but [[Brainjack by Brian Falkner]] is a pacy action thriller about a teen computer hacker and a rather scary, self-aware AI. If they liked the gadgetry in ''Department 19'', they'll like it.		They might also like [[Changeling by Steve Feasey]], about Trey, the last living werewolf. It's pacy and direct and the central character is wolfishly attractive. No supernatural, but [[Brainjack by Brian Falkner]] is a pacy action thriller about a teen computer hacker and a rather scary, self-aware AI. If they liked the gadgetry in ''Department 19'', they'll like it.
		+
		+	[[Will Hill's Department 19 Books in Chronological Order]]

	{{amazontext\|amazon=0007354452}}		{{amazontext\|amazon=0007354452}}

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:25, 8 September 2012
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-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=Department 19
 |author=Will Hill
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 |date=March 2011
 |isbn=0007354452
 |video=-JvWlKT9src
 }}

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 |buy=Yes
 |borrow=Yes
 |pages=353
 |publisher=Harper Collins
@@ Line 29: / Line 27: @@
 Unavoidably, in a series set up, the main narrative arcs - the kidnapping of Jamie's mother and a plan to reanimate Count Dracula himself - lose a little focus at times because there's quite a bit of exposition to get out of the way. Hill deals with this by a series of flashback sequences, which reveal the history of Department 19 and Jamie's family's role within it. This means the book is best suited to fans of the genre and readers who are happy to spend the best part of five hundred pages of reading time investing into a series. For them, Department 19 is going to be a huge hit. Of that I am sure.
 My thanks to the good people at Harper Collins for sending the book.
 They might also like [[Changeling by Steve Feasey]], about Trey, the last living werewolf.  It's pacy and direct and the central character is wolfishly attractive. No supernatural, but [[Brainjack by Brian Falkner]] is a pacy action thriller about a teen computer hacker and a rather scary, self-aware AI. If they liked the gadgetry in ''Department 19'', they'll like it.
-{{amazontext|amazon=0007354452}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8107277}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=0007354452}}
 {{commenthead}}
 [[Category:Thrillers]]