Tinderbox [Hardcover]

Jo Bannister (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2006

The haunting new novel from an acclaimed crime writer - Laurence Schofield's world was torn apart when his teenage daughter vanished. No trace was ever found. But six years later, a TV crew filming in London records a few seconds' footage of a girl who just could be her. Schofield heads for the capital. But this isn't the London of the tourist brochures: it's the Tinderbox, an area of dangerous dereliction where the homeless have created an alternative society with its own rules . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Six years after the disappearance of Laurence Schofield's vivacious 15-year-old daughter, Cassie, the Birmingham architect desperately chases a clue to her whereabouts in this socially conscious stand-alone from prolific British author Bannister (Breaking Faith). Tom, Cassie's younger brother, believes he spots her in a school documentary about the homeless in London, and Schofield becomes obsessed with finding his daughter—opening wounds that he and his wife, Jan, had covered but not allowed to heal. He leaves Birmingham for London on a search that will take him to the Tinderbox, the titular brutish underworld even the police fear to enter, where he forms a relationship with a homeless teenage boy, Jonah, who saves his life. Schofield's journey rocks his solid middle-class values and notions of family, and forces him to make difficult moral choices. Bannister once again proves herself a skilled storyteller in this poignant, memorable story. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Laurence Schofield is a happy man with a good job and a nice family--until the day his daughter Cassie disappears. Fearing the worst, the Schofields wait as days, then weeks, pass with no word and no clue as to what's happened. Six years later, Laurence sees a program about the homeless. In one of the shots is the grainy image of a girl who might be Cassie. Filled with hope, Laurence vows to find her. Tracking down the reporter who made the documentary, Laurence learns just what an alien landscape the world of the homeless can be, especially for children and teens. Cold and hunger are constants, leading some to kill for a pair of boots. Laurence eventually finds a homeless boy named Jonah who offers to be his guide. The two face a series of frightening and violent people and events, and Laurence nearly gives up. The end result isn't exactly what he hoped for, but it teaches him valuable lessons about himself and the world. A spellbinding plot that grabs the reader from page one, combined with a gritty and disturbing look at the world of the homeless, make this blend of thriller and social realism an eye-opening and thoroughly compelling read. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 202 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (September 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727863878
• ISBN-13: 978-0727863874
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,613,107 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars big disappointment, July 24, 2007

By 

M. Evans-Hanson (Sugar Land TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tinderbox (Hardcover)

This book was an excellent read up to the end. Then it seemed as if the last chapter had been torn out or something. All the questions that kept me reading the book were left unanswered, it seemed as if the author ran out of paper and just stopped writing.

4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Realistic, November 14, 2011

By 

Ohioan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tinderbox (Hardcover)

This is a very good, well-written "mystery" about a teen who disappeared when she was 15 years old -- but is seen in a video six years later. Her father then sets out in search of his daughter, and this search takes him into the Tinderbox area of London, where intense poverty and violence rule lives. The story is compelling and realistic. The reason I give it four stars rather than five is that the ending kind of tails off: it doesn't feel conclusive or definitive.

5.0 out of 5 stars Underbelly of the Beast, January 15, 2010

By 

Bob Metz "Library Champion" (Denver, Colorado, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tinderbox (Hardcover)

This is very likely Jo Bannister's best novel thus far. I was first captivated by her compelling Castlemere mysteries, and hugely disappointed when she metaphorically moved away from Castlemere. Still, I enjoy her writing and characterization, as well as the often gritty nature of her stories. I moved back and forth among her other somewhat tentative, searching series (Clio Rees/Harry Marsh, Primrose Holland, Mickey Flynn) and finally sort-of settled on Brodie Farrell for my periodic Jo Bannister fixes. Brodie is at least fairly steady as a series, but it is Bannister's non-series books, and especially The Tinderbox, that really ring the bell of excellence.

This is a story of a family torn by the horrifying disappearance of a child. Fifteen years old when she vanishes from her life in Birmingham , Cassie's disappearance disrupts the precarious stability of the family and leaves each member affected in completely believable ways. When brother Tom is certain six years later that Cassie is seen in a documentary of homelessness in London, Cassie's father abruptly leaves home to seek her out in London's ugliest underworld landscape.

Bannister draws a vivid and compelling story of his search and the dangers he encounters, almost getting himself killed but for the intervention of a young denizen of that underworld who reluctantly befriends him and aids his search. The story winds its way to a totally unpredictable conclusion. If you seek a formula ending, I hope you will be converted by the thoroughly believable wrap that Bannister puts on this captivating tale. This story is up to date with conditions in the world and the characters are felt as deeply as those who suffer many of today's miseries in real life.