Blog Tour & Book Review: “Sleeper” by J.D. Fennell
Title: Sleeper
Author: J.D. Fennell
Published: April 28th, 2017
Publisher: The Dome Press
Find the Author: Goodreads
I received this book for review on my blog! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.
Sixteen-year-old Will Starling is pulled from the sea with no memory of his past. In his blazer is a strange notebook with a bullet lodged inside: a bullet meant for him. As London prepares for the Blitz, Will soon finds himself pursued by vicious agents and a ruthless killer known as the Pastor. All of them want Will’s notebook and will do anything to get it.
As Will’s memory starts to return, he realises he is no ordinary sixteen-year old. He has skills that make him a match for any assassin. But there is something else. At his core is a deep-rooted rage that he cannot explain. Where is his family and why has no one reported him missing?Fighting for survival with the help of Mi5 agent-in-training, Anna Wilder, Will follows leads across London in a race against time to find the Stones of Fire before the next air raid makes a direct hit and destroys London forever.
First Thoughts
I love a good thriller as much as the next reader, but when it’s a YA Historical/Thriller that sounds like a fast-paced book straight from the movies, Sleeper just got a lot more exciting. I was extremely excited to be asked on the Blog Tour for this awesome book!
Review
As soon as I start reading Sleeper, we’re delving right into the action. I was intrigued to read such in-depth meets fast paced compulsive reading from a Historical Thriller from the get-go. First we meet Will Starling, our main character. He’s intelligent and memorable, and has been training since he was in his early tween years as an agent of VIPER, an organisation that not only had multi-worldwide facilities and connections, but more power than anyone could comprehend.
It’s 1941 when we first meet Will in England. He’s been trained for this day, and knows exactly what he had to do: steal a notebook packed with codes among other things, to give to VIPER, commanded to kill anyone that means to stop his mission. But Will is hiding a deadly secret of his own: he’s never going to give it to them. He’s planning a whole other kind of plan with the information within the pages. But before he can do just that, the chase is on. He ends up battling for his life at sea, only to be rescued with a blank slate of the boy he was. He doesn’t know why people are chasing him, who he really is, or why this notebook seems to be the only thing that will help him now.
Just WOW. This book had more turns and twists than I could keep up with. The action was played out comprehensively and effortlessly and I loved that there was a puzzle and mystery within the story lines. Will was an exceptionally memorable character, alike the kind of Mission Impossible and Andy McNab books with white knights and heroes worthwhile of their screen – or book – time. The pace was perfect for the novel and kept me reading until the early hours of the morning, unputdownable.
Overall, Sleeper is a thrilling and one-of-a-kind novel with an enthralling edge and mystery-driven plot. It had a certain kind of magic that makes a book just work. Even though at times Will’s character made choices that perplexed me (this isn’t a totally bad thing – surprises are good!) I would still rate this as one of the best books of it’s kind in YA. I’m so honoured to have gotten to read this book that I might not have had the chance to if I wasn’t on the tour. Completely amazing!
Rating
Guest Post
I got the amazing chance to ask J.D. Fennell a subject to write about for my Blog Tour stop! So, I chose: What YA Characters have stayed with you and why?
What do you think of Sleeper?
Will you be adding it to your TBR?
Let me know what you thought in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs or #SleeperBlogTour
happy reading!