Customer Reviews

Blade: Playing Dead

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! The suspense is palpable right from the get go as fourteen-year-old Blade is chased and savagely beaten by a gang of ruthless teenage girls. The author uses short, clipped sentences to create a breathless tone that keeps readers on edge and turning pages at breakneck speed. Blade is a gritty British street kid on the run from murderers, drug users and thugs. He's a survivor with amazingly keen instincts and startling skill with a switchblade. He knows how to seem invisible, to go unnoticed and stay alive. Blade watches silently from the shadows to learn whether homeowners are in or not, and then uses unoccupied homes as snugs, safe havens where he sleeps, eats and reads. Books are Blade's one solace, and his love of books softens the character of this streetwise thief. This book is a solid choice for reluctant teen readers who are willing to accept the British slang. "Quite a few nebs here too but they're all muffins" translates to, there's lots of people out in the neighborhood, but they're harmless. It's easy enough to interpret and adds flavor to an overall exciting story.

I went into this book expecting a thriller, but ended up getting an average story. There was action, but you couldn't connect with Blade enough to feel strongly that you wanted him to live, and it's written so blatantly you don't feel upset, even though Blade does.

There are a lot of blank spaces and unanswered questions. Blade alludes to a violent past, but we are left completely in the dark. I think if there had been more information about his past we could empathize with him more. It's difficult to feel for someone when you don't really know why you should.

The ending was pretty bad. Maybe it was just me, it was probably 1:30am, but it came together much to well, and way to fast. There's no conclusion, it's just "danger, danger, danger, end." I assume that this is because it's a series, but as only the first and fourth books are available here on Amazon, it's not much of a series is it?

If the next books became available I would probably read them, if only to see if they get better, but this one was... thin. Like a thin soup. Like he had a template for a book and wrote it from that. Everything is done right, but it doesn't seem right.

Well, I hope that was even slightly helpful. :)

Kaitlyn