Deeper (Tunnels, Book 2) [Hardcover]

Roderick Gordon (Author), Brian Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 2009 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The sequel to the New York Times Bestseller! Searching the bowels of the earth for his lost dad, Will stumbles across the Styx's diabolical plan to extinguish all Topsoilers. Dig DEEPER!

In TUNNELS, boy archaeologist Will Burrows went in search of his missing father--and discovered a sinister subterranean world. Now, wandering the dark, hot bowels beneath the Colony with his best friend, Chester, and his brother, Cal, Will stumbles across the Styx's dastardly plan to exterminate all Topsoilers by unleashing a lethal plague. Slowly he begins to piece together the plot. But how can Will save the Topsoilers from annihilation when his own life is at risk--and his killer stepsister is still at large?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–9—This volume begins exactly where Tunnels (Scholastic, 2008) ended—with Will, Chester, and Cal on a train taking them away from the Colony to the deeper underground wilds. The authors waste no time with backstory and leap straight into the plot; they maintain a frenetic pace throughout via short chapters and nonstop action. The Styx, who tortured children in the last book, prove to be even more malevolent in this one. After teaming up with two renegades in the Deep, Will discovers that the Styx are planning to kill all of the humans living Topsoil so that the Colony can reclaim the Earth. Determined to stop them and to find his father, who is wandering lost in this underground world, Will is constantly running for his life, enduring hardships or caught in skirmishes with the militant Styx. There are dark moments in this book—references to torture, drug use, and intense violence—and several important characters die, but the pace is so rushed that readers have no time to dwell. Purchase where Tunnels is popular or where there is a need for action/adventure for readers who aren't afraid of the dark.—Caroline Tesauro, Radford Public Library, VA
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From Booklist

In a clear case of bestselleritis, this bloated sequel to Tunnels (2008) offers a tangle of slow-moving plotlines both on and under the Earth—most of which are either eventually forced together by massive coincidences or left to dangle. Having survived multiple attacks from a subterranean religious organization plotting to clear the surface of human life, the main cast is left plunging down a huge well toward the planet’s center. What will they find? The many fans of the series won’t be left too far in the dark, thanks to any number of broad hints and a sneak preview of the next volume. Grades 6-9. --John Peters

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: The Chicken House; Complete Numbers Starting with 1, 1st Ed edition (February 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439871786
• ISBN-13: 978-0439871785
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #149,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Better than Tunnels, May 13, 2008

By 

Dave Jeffery "Author of Amazon UK #1 Bestsell... (UK) - See all my reviews

Let's get to the point from the off: Deeper is better than Tunnels. I guess the next question is: how is it better?

First up there is the pacing. Deeper begins where Tunnels left off, with unlikely protagonist Will Burrows still on the trail of his lost, curator father, and finding his friend Chester on board the train that is transferring him to the subterranean hell-hole that is The Deeps. The authors have pulled out the stops in grabbing - and maintaining - the reader's interest; something sorely lacking in the first book.

Secondly there is more depth given to some of the main characters, the relationship between Will and Chester moves from the one dimensional, making the reader care a little more for these two guys. Will's estranged birth-mother is also given some airtime; her personality - feral - based upon her fugitive lifestyle as she keeps one step ahead of the relentless Styx.

To discuss plotline so soon after release would not be fair on those who have not had opportunity to read the tome. Lest to say that I found it an entertaining, albeit mirthless, affair.

So why three stars? Well, for this reader, some issues remain. The narrative remains clunky in places and it is becoming increasingly clear that one of the authors is adept and the other, quite possibly, isn't. The book also comes in at 675 pages and is still in need of a good edit. It has the `well proof-read, but poor copy edited' feel of a self-published book, and the publisher - not the authors - must take responsibility for this.

Gordon's and William's subterranean opus continues. No-one doubts that the world they are creating is inventive and, in this post-Potter hiatus, refreshingly different. I will stay with these guys in the hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel - heck, I'm intrigued enough.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeper and Darker, May 27, 2008

By 

IndyCopperTop (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

I ordered a copy of Deeper from an UK Amazon third party (I couldn't wait for the US release). I was expecting a lot in the way of character and plot development and I wasn't disappointed. If you enjoyed Tunnels, you'll love this sequel! The numerous nail-biting chapters leave the reader nearly as exhausted as the characters in the story! As dark as the Colony is described in Tunnels, the world of the Deeps is even darker and more deadly. However, the harshness of the environment is not nearly as terrifying as the evil of the Styx. A fantastic series!!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rivetting to the end., February 25, 2009

By 

Claire "Claire Guthrie" (AURORA, Colombia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deeper (Tunnels, Book 2) (Hardcover)

I finished Deeper. It has to be one of the best books/series I have read. I truly enjoyed every page. Up in the night for "just one more chapter."

The only thing I did not like was that it contained for me, so much violence. It was just a lot "darker" than the first book. I would place it more as a book for adults than kids. I would have no hesitations with the kids reading Tunnels, but I found this one just a little "deep" in those areas for them. With the torture, firing squads, killing, shooting of one of the kids, it was just a bit much for what I would let any of my kids read at this point in their lives (aged 3 - 16).

Both Gordon and Williams have created a masterpiece here...it is truly EXCELLENT work, I SO can't wait for Free Fall.

WWW.ClaireGuthrie.com