The Little Man causes a Massive Problem! (The Falcon's Malteser - Anthony Horowitz)

Member Name: Markatron

Product:	The Falcon's Malteser - Anthony Horowitz
Date:	29/05/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Witty, funny, binding and ingeniously written

Disadvantages: Quite complex and graphic for young children

"The Falcon's Malteser" is the first in the Diamond Brothers series by Anthony Horowitz, the well renowned author most famous for writing the stories of Alex Rider. Having read the Alex Rider series, my expectations for this book were extremely high due to the calibre of the author, and how right I was.

This book was written by Horowitz in 1986, and a clever plot combined with some extremely witty writing creates a superb read. It revolves around two brothers running a detective agency in London. Business is drab when all of a sudden a South American dwarf called Johnny Naples enters the building and tells them to look after a mysterious package for a lot of money. Tim Diamond, at the prospect of some money, chooses to accept the offer. The next day, Johnny Naples is found dead and the Diamond brothers are thrown into a world in which every villain in the vicinity seems out to get them!

One of the main assets of this book which promotes it to a teenage audience is the age of the main character, Nick Simple. He is a young boy, which means that teenagers can relate to him and empathise with him effectively. Some of the tasks that he undertakes are simply stunning, and the levels of tension created at some points are launched right to the top by a clever twist in the tale from the ingenious Horowitz.

Another key feature of this book is the humour, and I caught myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions while reading this book. Many of the jokes in this book evolve from the detective Herbert Simple - who works under the pseudonym of Tim Diamond. The humorous side of the character is portrayed by his name, because Herbert Simple really is simple. His stupidity and lack of common sense are the basis of a number of jokes throughout the story, and humour is always introduced by Horowitz at exactly the right time. The abundance of jokes in the story is great, as they are mainly first-class!

The book also warns us to trust nobody, and this is portrayed in a humorous way by the sheer number of "bad guys" involved. I'm not going to say them all now, because they play a fundamental role in the plotline and add a great amount of comic effect to the story. Just trust me when I say that you will not be disappointed at the quality or quantity of criminals in the story!

The book retails in most stores at a maximum of £4.99 (paperback), and this is great value for money, especially considering that you will be able to find cheaper if you look around a bit. Buying this series in bulk is also a good idea, because they are all of an extremely high quality.

I would recommend this to people above the age of 12. The reason I say this is because much of the extremely clever storyline will be missed by children too young, and there are numerous scenes involving violence described quite graphically. This fits in well to the story despite being unadvisable for children that are too young.

Summary: Absolutely superb read - recommended!