Children’s Book Reviews: After Dark
James Leck, comedic Young Adult (YA) author of The Adventures of Jack Lime, delivers a suspenseful read in After Dark. Used to the mischievous freedom of his days at Choke Academy, Charlie Harker is less than thrilled at the prospect of spending the summer renovating an old inn with his mother, twin sister, Lilith, and his older, celebrity brother, Johnny. When oddball neighbour Miles Van Helsing seeks Charlie’s help to figure out why certain town members are acting like zompires -– a cross between zombies and vampires –- their joint investigation puts everyone Charlie cares about in danger. Suddenly Miles’ conspiracy theories look less like fiction, and the boring summer Charlie thought he was going to have seems ideal in comparison.Successfully pairing Miles’ eccentric behaviour and harebrained investigative schemes with Charlie’s skepticism and quick wit, Leck forms the ultimate detective duo with hilarious results. From ridiculously lucky escapes, to the difficulty of distinguishing those who are infected from those who aren’t, Miles and Charlie discover capturing the villain is going to be harder than they thought, especially when the true villain is as elusive and dangerous as this one.
Backed by a cast of engaging and quirky characters, everything is not as it appears in this previously sleepy town. And, with an ending that would make the likes of Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins proud, After Dark is both an astonishing and enticing read –- certain to leave readers clambering for a sequel.
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