Tins

By Author / Illustrator

Alex Shearer

Genre

Mystery & Detective

Age range(s)

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

ISBN

9780330431910

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-03-2006

Synopsis

Fergal is a self-confessed nerd with an eccentric hobby: tin collecting. He likes the lucky dip aspect of buying tins that have their labels missing - after all, you never know what might be inside. It's Fergal's idea of living dangerously. That is, until the day he innocently opens up a tin to find . . . a bloodied human finger. Everyone thinks it's a joke. But not Fergal - and when his next tin discovery is a note with the word 'Help' scribbled on it, he feels compelled to track down the factory responsible for these mysterious and macabre products. Fergal might be hungry to play detective, but has he opened a can of worms . . . ?

This Dahl-esque black comedy will have readers squirming on the edge of their seats. Funny, frightening and totally gross - Alex Shearer taps into the repulsive-but-appealing tradition of urban myths that are perennial playground fodder.

Reviews

I thought that the beginning wasn't as good as the end. If it hadn't of been the class reader and I had just picked it up and read it on my own after about 10 pages I would of put it back down. If it hadn't of been for the ending it wouldn't have got the 2 stars I gave it. At the end, surprises and action came into the plot and made it a lot more interesting. The first part of the story was too slow so the story wasn't moving on. Description and word choice was phenomenal and gave it most of my 4 stars. If the first part was re-written and the story moved on faster it would take it to a great 5 stars.