Running with the Reservoir Pups (Eddie and the Gang with No Name)

In a slump when my 11yr-old stepson has read all his favourite authors' (Horowitz, Colfer etc) latest books and he's read the Wolf Brother etc I was very pleased to find that one of my favourite authors had started writing for older kids. I bought Reservoir Pups and he swallowed the first 84 pages in an evening and I had to tell him to stop reading at 1am.

Why should I read Reservoir Pups? (10/12 people found this helpful)

Let's not forget that this is, first and foremost a childrens' book. A book for children,which is something many reviewers seem to have either forgotten, or not noticed. It is well written , in Mr Bateman's inimitable style and is centred, like many of his books around a central character, in this case, Eddie. It deals with Eddie's move to the city after his parents' break-up and his dealings with the local gangs and with authority. The adventure is enthralling and credible, even when the reader is taken into the realm of fantasy. The characters are realistic, (we all know an "Uncle Andy", for example), and the interactions and relationships between them make the reader feel as if the characters are indeed, real. It is a great children's book and, in my opinion, as good as anything Roald Dahl has written. It will not be to everyone's liking, but I could not put this book down, I loved it, and I look forward to the Eddie's next adventure.

Departure from the wrong platform. (5/16 people found this helpful)

As a fan of Bateman's this is by some distance his poorest work to date. As you flick through it vainly hoping that at some point it will ignite into something more interesting (sadly it doesn't)one is left with the distinct impression that all trace of inspiration has left him, the book's title itself reveals as much. All the leading characters lack substance and with it the chance of securing or sustaining our sympathies, in the event the reader ought not to care what befalls the child or his 1950s mother and her lamentable 'Uncle Andy' type partner. The Belfast Bateman describes here is as sterile as it is inaccurate in depiction and throughout one is struck by the absence of the minute but colourful detail which covered up for a multitude of sins in his previous work. There's little humour to redeem this book either, it merely presents as both tired and tiresome. It's also unclear who the book is actually for - it won't win many friends in the young adult market and will alienate his existing readership among older book buyers. Roll on the return of Starkey in April 2004 !

Running with the Reservoir Pups (Eddie and the Gang with No Name)

Colin Bateman

Reader Reviews:

Thank you, Mr Bateman (4/4 people found this helpful)

Why should I read Reservoir Pups? (10/12 people found this helpful)

Departure from the wrong platform. (5/16 people found this helpful)

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