Jack Dahl is 16, with no home, no parents and his little brother Matty to look after. Jack will do anything to keep Matty with him and not lose him to foster care. He soon faces things so formidable, they’ll leave scars on a life that is already battered and gouged from a daily struggle.

Their father, Leland Dahl, is in prison, their drug addict mother dead, and with winter’s sharp teeth already biting, the brothers have nowhere to go. Jack knows what he must do. There is a briefcase full of money somewhere. The reason his father is in prison. That briefcase will save them, and keep them together.

However, there are others searching for the briefcase. Men who will kill in a heartbeat. Men who believe the money is theirs.

Jack’s father didn’t work alone. Although his accomplice Victor Bardem avoided prison, he never knew where Leland hid the briefcase. Biding his time, Jack is in his sights.

Bardem is a cold, cruel man, ready to shoot and step over any man who gets in his way. He does have one weak spot – his daughter Ava.

Raised alone by her merciless father, Ava has no friends, no other family and the belief that it is essential not to let anyone or anything into her heart. This is her safety net. Until she meets Jack and Matty.

As Jack strives to keep Matty safe, the drug dealers and Bardem are close behind. These vicious men leave a trail of bodies in their wake, leaving the police trying to piece the carnage together, and always one step behind.

Ava must make a choice between two boys she hardly knows, her father’s iron grip on her life and an uncertainty of surviving the day ahead of them.

What Beauty There Is, is a thriller, a story of a brother’s love, and another of a girl discovering she can feel after all.  Almost the entire atmosphere of this novel is brutal – the men chasing a long-hidden briefcase of money are remorseless killers with one thing in mind. A father lashes out leaving blood soaked clothes and broken bones, and another controls then hunts his own child. Even the weather plays an unrelenting role, pounding parentless brothers every chance it can with steely, slicing, soul-sucking cold.

I say almost though for a reason. Matty, the little brother and reason for his big brother to strive forward against the painful life they have been dealt, is sweet and brave, although not naive. His innocence is a light in the novel but soon used against him – racing this story to a painful climax.

“Not Matty,” I thought to myself as I read. “Please…not Matty.”

Brutal, brilliant writing. Keep your wits about you, as the point of view shifts amongst the pages, taking you deeper into the backstory and hearts of the characters, black though they may be.

Author – Cory Anderson

Age – 14+

(2021, Penguin Publishers, Snow, Bleak, Murder, Crime, Robbery, Control, Courage, Family, Love, Thriller, Shooting, Brothers, Siblings, Suicide, Prison, Violence, Action, Winter, Money, Poverty, Secret, Award winner)