Customer Reviews

Martyn Pig

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Martyn Pig to the Rescue! I was looking for a book to read my students during their weekly library time. I didn't want to bore them with a story about things that could never happen. I saw Martyn Pig, picked it up, and couldn't put it down. I read it to my students and they loved it. They kept asking me to keep reading even after the school bell had rung. It kept my interest and definitely my students'.

Martyn Pig is a noir in the classic sense. Brooks follows in the footsteps of the mystery writers whom he admires extremely well; he knows the genre. The twists and turns in this novel make for a gripping, quick read. Despite its sort of morbid subject matter, it turns out to be surprisingly funny. The reader can relate to the main character on all sorts of levels; this is a kid who's likeable and sort of vulnerable, and though you may think that he's a total idiot at times, you're hoping he gets what he wants in the end. Sort of. This is a book that illustrates that once you make that initial (fateful) decision, the cards fall and you just have to deal with them as they come. The way you handle the fallout shows you who you really are inside.

I don't want to go into plot -- it'll just ruin all the suspense!

I have a few criticisms: I was confused about where this story took place, at least initially. The main character had a definite British voice and throughout the story uniquely British terms were thrown around: "loverly turkey" and "bloody" and "trolley" and "bloke" and "pub" and on and on. At the same time, the author used "bucks" and dollars, referred to CVS and listened to NPR. It makes this reader wonder if the editors were trying to make the book more readable to the average American teen. If so, why not Americanize everything? Or just leave it completely British? Plenty of books originally published in the U.K. have had great success here, and not only Harry Potter. David Almond's Printz Award winner and the series by Louise Rennison (a sort of Bridget Jones Diary for teens -- also a Printz Honor) to name a few. Please don't insult the intellligence of U.S. teens!

Another criticism I had was an error in fact: Brooks has the father's dead body "loosen up" (the affects of rigamortis reversing) after laying around rotting for a few days.

And lastly, my edition had several glaring copyedit errors, including part sentences just not being there!

But, criticism aside, it remains a great read, one that teens will love.

I read Martyn Pig from beginning to end in a brethless rush. It was a suspense novel with the perfect mix of black comedy and teen elements thrown in. The story chronicles a teenage boy, Martyn, dealing with his father's sudden death. Martyn's dad was a runthless abusive drunk, so the death dosen't really upset him at first. After weaving a web of lies to cover up what really happened, Martyn and his friend Alex find themselves caught up in a mystery much like the dective stories Martyn loves so much. It's an intricately woven book that you won't forget long after you put it down. Brooks writes with much honesty and intregity, making it feel like you're in right in the story. From the beginning to the end the book is facinating and memorable.

The book Martyn Pig is very intriguing and suspenseful. It will knock your tube socks off. It is about a young laddy with an intoxicated daddy. One day the young Mr. Pig makes the mistake of yelling at his drunken father. Martin shoves the drunken man to avoid getting hit by him. The drunk loses his balance and hits his cranium on the fireplace and perishes. After this the lad makes a further error of not calling the cops. This leads to a quest with Alex his neighbor who he secretly admires. They try to get the drunk's corpse out of the house without getting caught. But they have many barriers to cross. You will be astounded and stuck to the pages of the book. Get ready to embark on an astonishing journey!

Martyn Pig is swimming in an unbearable life. It's not enough that the kids at school make pork jokes, he has to come home afterwards and deal with his alcoholic father and the fact that his mother left years ago. There's his awful Aunty Jean, who is out to try to prove that Martyn's father is unfit and to get Martyn to live with her. To add insult to injury, he has a crush on his neighbor, Alex, who's dating a real creep named Dean. Things can't get any worse, right?

The week before Christmas, Martyn's father dies accidentally. Martyn could go to the police, but he also knows there's a good chance the police will accuse him of committing foul play. On the other hand, he can't just leave the body there to rot. He ends up conspiring with Alex to hide the body, which leads to even more deception, confusion, and intrigue.

Mystery fans will welcome this first offering from British author Kevin Brooks. Martyn is believable as the unwilling introspective loner, but by far the most interesting character is Alex, who shields her true self from Martyn and consequently the reader. The one complaint is that this book seems to have been unsuccessfully doctored to make it "understandable" to Americans. The conversations are filled with British phrases like "bloody awful," but money is discussed in terms of dollars rather than pounds. Overlooking these inconsistencies, Martyn Pig is sure to appeal to those interested in eliminating the impossible, looking over the improbable remains and finding the truth.

In my own opinion, Martyn Pig is a gripping teen novel that is well written. I think this is a great book for teens that enjoy a mysterious, secretive, life-changing character work of fiction.

It takes place in a small town in England. Kevin Brooks' story is about fourteen year old Martyn Pig, who struggles to connect with his father, an alcoholic. In the beginning Martyn accidentally kills his father, so Martyn and his friend Alex try to get by with hiding the body and murder. Along their adventure, they run into a few treacherous obstacles.

Among other things, Martyn has to make his father look like he's sleeping, not dead, to trick his visiting aunty. He also has to figure out a plan to keep his father's money away from Dean, Alex's boyfriend.

Do you think Martyn will get away with murder or be caught and sent to jail? You'll have to read the novel to find out. Have fun!

This story is about a boy named Martyn Pig who lives with his father and does not know or remember his mother. Martyn's father is a horribly mean father who gets drunk every night and occasionally hits his son. One night when he is drunk Martyn pushes his drunken father causing his father to loose balance, fall over and crack his skull and die. Martyn freaks out and decides not to tell the police but to tell the neighbor girl, whom he has a crush on, what happened to his father and together they decide to hide the body. This story is really SLOW at the beginning and then it starts to speed up and get better after the first 170 pages. Not as good as Lucas but its not horrible either. But I do recommend checking out this book at the library before buying it.

Your Mom is dead, your Dad is an alcoholic, now he is dead in your house, and your a teen left to raise yourself. What do you do? As you can see this is a really interesting book that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. This is a different book, because it is not the same old plot. The plot to this story is very twisted. There are many unexpected situations, which keep turning the pages. I like that throughout the book Brooks keeps things interesting. From the minute you start reading you can begin to picture how everything is laid out. You can also really picture what is going on, and you feel like you are in the situations that the characters are in. This helps you understand why they make the decisions they do. Most books are all the same and you know what to expect at the keeps you on the end, but in this book every time you think you know what is going to happen something changes.

Martyin Pig is an electrifying story. Martyin's life changes when his dad dies. He has to make a huge scene that makes it look as if Dean killed his dad, with the help of Alex.
Watch out because this book has many twisted parts that you will feel you were riding a roller coster! It also has a confusing ending. I would recommend this book. I give Martyn Pig four stars.

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this stotry is about a boy who lives with his dad. the dad is a drunk. Aunty jean was martyns annoying aunt. the mystery is that martyn kills his dad and people are out to get him. the best part of this book is the middle to the end. the book gets really intresting at the end. alex is martyns girl friend and she is a very good actor and you will see that towards the end. my personal opionion was that it was a little better then 3 stars so go on and by the great book Martyn pig. or get it at your local library.