In his debut, Voake has taken a dollop of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl character, added a dash of atmosphere from Stephen King and Peter Straub’s The Talisman (2002) and created something uniquely and delightfully his own. Sam Palmer seems like an ordinary kid, with a more than ordinary interest in insects, when an accident puts him into a coma. But only his body is in the hospital; he has been transported into a parallel universe where he is pursued by the ultimate evil, rescued time and again by a smart-mouthed girl named Skipper and has to become a fighter pilot to save his own world from being invaded by squadrons of killer mosquitoes. Making the transition from dull boy to exciting hero isn’t always easy, but it’s full of adventure. Will Sam and Skipper save the world? If so, at what cost? An immensely enjoyable read, one can only hope that a series will soon follow. (Fantasy. 12+)
