Todd Hewitt is counting down. In days he will turn 13, and in Prentisstown where he lives, 13 is the crossover from a boy to a man. He’s the youngest in town, the last ‘boy’. As such he is called Todd, where everyone else is called Mister …. There are only Misters, as no girls or woman live in Prentisstown.

Todd knows the history of his town. There was a great war where the Spackle (original inhabitants of the planet where Todd lives) fought the humans then released a germ called The Noise. This Noise allows everyone to hear everyone else’s thoughts – even from a distance. So even when mouths are shut, the cacophony of Noise that surrounds you, can send you mad.

Todd lives on a farm on the outskirts of town, with two men, Ben and Cillian, who took him in when his mother died. The germ that brought the Noise, also wiped out every girl and every woman, including his mother.

While out collecting apples for Ben one day, Todd discovers something. A patch of deep quiet. But how can that be? On further searching he finds the cause. Something shocking and soul tearing at the same time. A girl. Despite trying to hide it, his Noise betrays his secret and suddenly they are on the run – leaving everything he ever knew behind.

Chased by a town posse, a mad man, and the truth of Prentisstown history, Todd’s flight is full of life and death decisions to make for himself and the girl who flees with him. He soon discovers a world he never knew existed outside his town.

Prentisstown’s dark secrets drive the men chasing him. One of them has a task for Todd, to complete his own twisted prophecy.

Lies, secrets, aliens, and alligators along a manic flight from a crazed holy man and a growing army on horseback, The Knife of Never Letting Go is just that – it kept me on the knife edge of Todd’s escape and new existence away from the town he grew up in, and the only life he ever knew.

A tale of courage, loyalty and unspoken love, but also of control, cunning and simple survival. The imaginative premise of hearing everyone’s thoughts is key to the entire trilogy and something worth pondering. Could we cope being able to hear every man’s thoughts all day, everyday, all jumbled together in our head. How would humankind survive?

Author – Patrick Ness

Age – 12+

Read the rest of the trilogy (Click on the cover)

(2008, Walker Books, Lies, Secrets, Animals, Dog, Sci fi, Reading minds, Flight, Flee, Chase, Army, Truth, History, Alien, Series, Movie, Awards, Action, Advanced Jnr Readers 11+, Courage, Future, Murder)