Grab a compass and find South by south east (South by Southeast - Anthony Horowitz)

Member Name: blissman70

Product:	South by Southeast - Anthony Horowitz
Date:	05/05/09 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: brilliant easy to read novel for kids, (and adults alike)

Disadvantages: none

This is the third instalment in the Diamond saga, originally published in 1991 and written by the brilliant children's writer Anthony Horowitz, following the very enjoyable The Falcon's Maltesers and the even better 'Public enemy number two', both starring the rather inept private investigator, Tim Diamond and his brother Nick.



** BRIEF PLOT...

So called private investigator Tim Diamond, (real name Herbert Simple), and his younger, albeit more intelligent brother, Nick are broke living in a small flat and are again completely broke.
But when a rather strange man walks into there flat/office one morning, buying Tim's coat and leaving just as quickly as he came, their lives are about to take yet another road down dangerous alley.

With the discovery of a key and the mysterious coat buyer being found dead, and with Tim somehow being mistaken for a dangerous bank robber, it is not too long before the brothers are on the wrong side of the Law, especially their nemesis Snape and Boyle, who are soon on there trail, but also including a Mr Waverly from a higher authority, and with a more sinister reason for tracking the brothers.
Their investigations/ bid for freedom soon takes them from London to foreign lands in the hope of finding someone called Cheron, who happens to be a master of disguise, although short on digits, and the life threatening dangers to a visiting Russian diplomat.


** IN CONCLUSION...

When my eldest daughter brought this novel home from school I instantly wanted to read it, even though it isn't really aimed at people of my age. I just wanted to see if it was as good as the other Horowitz novels I had read in the past, hopefully bringing back some happy times from my youth.
When I finally got it off my daughter I began reading it and was soon engrossed in the story, finishing the novel in one sitting, reading it again a few days later before it had to be returned to the school.
And boy, did I enjoy reading it.

I found it to be another brilliantly written book by Horowitz, enjoying his writing style of short sharp sentences giving the reader plenty of time to take in every word. This one being almost as good as its predecessors, (Public enemy number two and The Falcons Maltesers), if not as good.
It is another novel which I simply loved reading, even though, as I said, it is supposed to be aimed at teenagers, I just like Horowitz's simple style and relaxing way he writes.
I could almost feel myself becoming part of this novel, creating images in my mind as I read each word, picturing the almost comical elder brother Tim as he bungled his way through life, supported by his younger brother Nick.

This one is as gripping as the others, with well described action, such an aeroplane chase through fields, a tunnel of love visit that is far from lovely and a very close call in a windmill.
The story itself has everything that a good childrens/teenagers needs to keep them enthralled and is well laid out so as not to become tedious at all.
The action in the plot starts quickly and continues throughout the entire plot, with some fantastic ideas of shear stupidity and naivety from the helpless Tim.

There is a bit of a twist at the end, which you expect with Horowitz, which, for me, was a little obvious whilst reading, but then again, this novel is aimed at younger people so they shouldn't get the twist until near the end.

In all, another masterpiece from the well known childrens writer who is Horowitz and will entertain whoever decides to pick it up and read.
And for the elder people who decide to read this and have ever seen a certain Alfred Hitchcocks movie you will recognise several similarities between the two, even though Horowitz does describe his version with some humour rather than horror.

*Would I recommend this..?
Yes I certainly would.
It is an easy to read novel with a brilliantly thought out plot which is simple to understand, even with the little twist toward the end.

You can get a copy of this book from amazon, (and other places of course) for around £4.00... And what a bargain indeed... (or do what I did and get one of the kids to get it from the school library).

Summary: Horowitz has done it again with Tim nice but Dim