Hints of Glee give way to Twin Peaks as this investigation of murder and mental illness turns surreal
Life is tough for Johnny Middleton, teenage hero of the new YA novel by the author of Henry Tumour and The Knife That Killed Me. Johnny's school is riven by gang warfare and bullying, of which he appears to have plenty of painful experience, and run by a deputy head who seems to have learned his management style from the Gestapo. Then Johnny's parents leave him home alone for a week, and he is accused of a series of murders.
At first glance it's knockabout mashup stuff, a parody of the classic hardboiled private-eye story crossed with Glee. The "murder victims" are school pets – a few stick insects, two guinea pigs called Sniffy and Snuffy, some chickens – and the "gangs" are the Drama Queens, run by the school's top diva, and the Lardies, whose non-PC name speaks for itself. Johnny plays the Philip Marlowe role, cracking wise in pursuit of the bad guys, taking the heat and coming back with even more questions.
But hang on a second – what's all this about Johnny forgetting to take his "meds", the pills that keep him on an even keel? It's clear something is badly wrong in Johnny's world, although whether the problem lies with the people we see through his eyes, or in the brain behind them, is a puzzle to tax even the most insightful detective – at least to begin with. The early chapters are full of detail and snappy dialogue, but it isn't long before you realise Johnny might not be the most reliable of narrators. There's talk of an earlier "episode" in Johnny's school career, a major crack-up that led to him almost being expelled and left him friendless. Yet several people offer him help – Emma, leader of the Drama Queens, and Ling Mei, a girl Johnny has idolised for years. Then there's his relationship with a stray cat who visits him at home.
At first Johnny's conversations with the cat are one-sided, the "detective" thinking aloud to a silent audience, sorting out the "case" in his mind. But eventually the cat begins to talk back to him, and from then on everything becomes far more disturbing and surreal. As Johnny's thoughts spiral downwards ever more deeply into paranoia I was reminded of Twin Peaks, so it was no surprise that the character with the vital clue turns out to be a dwarf schoolkeeper with a strange and tragic backstory.
Yes, it is an examination of one teenager's struggle with mental illness. But the genius of Hello Darkness (the title must be taken from the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Hello darkness, my old friend") is that like Henry Tumour, which also deals with a very difficult subject, it isn't relentlessly serious, but clever and darkly funny. Johnny is a great character – and as with all the best hardboiled detectives, he is a real softie beneath the cynicism, a romantic who deserves to be saved.
I have two quibbles. The first is that I fear some readers might enjoy the parody detective story so much they will miss the "true" story underneath. The second is that I really wanted to know what the future held in store for Johnny. But then it is always a good sign to be left at the end of a story wanting more.
• Tony Bradman's Young Merlin is published by Barrington Stoke. Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.
Life is tough for Johnny Middleton, teenage hero of the new YA novel by the author of Henry Tumour and The Knife That Killed Me. Johnny's school is riven by gang warfare and bullying, of which he appears to have plenty of painful experience, and run by a deputy head who seems to have learned his management style from the Gestapo. Then Johnny's parents leave him home alone for a week, and he is accused of a series of murders.
At first glance it's knockabout mashup stuff, a parody of the classic hardboiled private-eye story crossed with Glee. The "murder victims" are school pets – a few stick insects, two guinea pigs called Sniffy and Snuffy, some chickens – and the "gangs" are the Drama Queens, run by the school's top diva, and the Lardies, whose non-PC name speaks for itself. Johnny plays the Philip Marlowe role, cracking wise in pursuit of the bad guys, taking the heat and coming back with even more questions.
But hang on a second – what's all this about Johnny forgetting to take his "meds", the pills that keep him on an even keel? It's clear something is badly wrong in Johnny's world, although whether the problem lies with the people we see through his eyes, or in the brain behind them, is a puzzle to tax even the most insightful detective – at least to begin with. The early chapters are full of detail and snappy dialogue, but it isn't long before you realise Johnny might not be the most reliable of narrators. There's talk of an earlier "episode" in Johnny's school career, a major crack-up that led to him almost being expelled and left him friendless. Yet several people offer him help – Emma, leader of the Drama Queens, and Ling Mei, a girl Johnny has idolised for years. Then there's his relationship with a stray cat who visits him at home.
At first Johnny's conversations with the cat are one-sided, the "detective" thinking aloud to a silent audience, sorting out the "case" in his mind. But eventually the cat begins to talk back to him, and from then on everything becomes far more disturbing and surreal. As Johnny's thoughts spiral downwards ever more deeply into paranoia I was reminded of Twin Peaks, so it was no surprise that the character with the vital clue turns out to be a dwarf schoolkeeper with a strange and tragic backstory.
Yes, it is an examination of one teenager's struggle with mental illness. But the genius of Hello Darkness (the title must be taken from the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Hello darkness, my old friend") is that like Henry Tumour, which also deals with a very difficult subject, it isn't relentlessly serious, but clever and darkly funny. Johnny is a great character – and as with all the best hardboiled detectives, he is a real softie beneath the cynicism, a romantic who deserves to be saved.
I have two quibbles. The first is that I fear some readers might enjoy the parody detective story so much they will miss the "true" story underneath. The second is that I really wanted to know what the future held in store for Johnny. But then it is always a good sign to be left at the end of a story wanting more.
• Tony Bradman's Young Merlin is published by Barrington Stoke. Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.