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Haywired

ISBN: 9781906132330
Price: £7.99
Paperback
172 pages
Suggested age range: 11+

£7.99

UK P&P is free on books

This is a ‘Steampunk’ adventure by debut author Alex Keller. It's packed with murderous inventions, two desperate runaways and one mad dad.

Themes of science Vs superstition run throughout the story. We think this book will be ideal for readers of 11 and up looking for an exciting plot full of twists and turns.

THE STORY
In the quiet village of Little Wainesford, Ludwig von Guggenstein is about to have his unusual existence turned inside out. When he and his father are blamed for a fatal accident during the harvest, a monstrous family secret is revealed. Soon Ludwig will begin to uncover diabolical plans that span countries and generations while ghoulish machines hunt him down. He must fight for survival, in a world gone haywire.

WHAT THE REVIEWERS SAY...

'Keller has a fantastic writing style which draws you right into the story. The pace is phenomenally fast too and I was never bored. It was exciting and full of suspense - it’s certainly not one of those books where you can guess the ending... Rating: 5/5’ – Mostly Reading YA - A Blog about Young Adult Fiction
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'...the characters are varied and interesting and the adventure contains lots of good fun stuff and plenty of peril. The HELOT's are creepy as hell but somehow Jack is even scarier. It's intelligently written, with plenty of wry humour that adds to it's adult readability.
HayWired is a fun fantasy adventure full of family secrets, a circus, pirates, steampunk machinery, dark twists and some excellent grimness. I look forward to the next one.'
Un:Bound
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'‘The reader is gripped throughout as the crew attempt to escape and save not only their own lives, but those of people across other enchantingly captured lands… intrigue and suspicion pour from the pages thanks to rich characterisation. There is also a dark hopelessness as the story weaves on, a sense of imminent foreboding caused by an all too familiar hand. Even though the subject matter maybe somewhat fantastical, there is a solid reality to this world, a physical quality that makes it unnerving…. I am excited to find out what happens to his characters next, and just what mesmerising spin Alex Keller will take us on in future incarnations.’ Natalie Crawford (teacher and reviewer for The Solitary Bee)

'Haywired is very different to the steampunk books I have read so far. The publishers are calling it a steampunk fairytale, and I cannot come up with a better phrase to describe it, as that is exactly how it reads. The fairytale feel to the story is there from the very first page and at times it is as if the Brothers Grimm were alive and well and writing for a steampunk loving audience. Like many fairytales it is also relatively short, weighing in at a slim 170 pages, but even so it still manages to pack quite a punch. Of course, most adults know that the Grimm fairy tales were exactly that - grim. In their original form they were often full of pretty nasty stuff, involving nasty and bloody endings for characters both good and bad, and they were certainly not the sweet and sanitised stories that we came to supposedly know well thanks to the Disney machine. Haywired is like this as well - the story is deliciously dark in places...'

Book Zone 4 Boys
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'The book has lots of great twists and turns - the story is cranked up to various levels but threads beautifully together. The fight for survival brings out the darker side of the story, which keeps you on the edge of your robotic pants.' Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books
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READ AN EXTRACT
“... Ludwig scrambled towards the door as strange, dull thuds echoed into the room. He quickly glanced back. The HELOT coming up through the window was very different from the one he had built with his father. As it stepped into his room, Ludwig saw eight long, metal legs coming out from underneath its body, ending in nothing more than sharp, cruel-looking points. Each time it took a step closer, the tips sliced into the ground...”


INTERVIEW
'Mortal Engines' author Philip Reeve interviews Alex Keller

http://the-solitary-bee.blogspot.com/2010/09/conversation-with-alex-keller.html