Opening Sentence: "...The creature drove its body again and again into the glass, unable to understand why the air had suddenly become impossible to move through, desperately searching for some way out..."

This is a seriously good YA paranormal thriller. Author Mark Billingham and television scriptwriter Peter Cocks collaborate on their debut novel, the first of a planned fantasy trilogy. I am actually a big fan of Billingham and when I found out he was half of the pseudonym Will Peterson, I figured if this book was half as good then it should be OK, in fact it was much more than OK!!

Fourteen-year-old New York City twins Rachel and Adam are uprooted to spend the summer in the home of a grandmother they barely know in the aftermath of their parent's divorce. But when they arrive at the idyllic English village they are stunned at the hostile reception they receive. Triskellion is one weird village, the day they arrive the train station is empty, village streets are deserted, they are punched in the nose by two youths and even their frail Granny Root is oddly distant. Things take a darker path the very next day when Rachel and Adam see the two youths who attacked them being severely beaten by a dark mysterious person deep in the woods the next day.

Why do the villages hate the twins so much? Who is Gabriel and what is his connection to the bees? Does any of the mysteries have to do with the ancient chalk circle just outside the village? Dangerous gun-toting residents, a mysterious past, and some very big secrets mean Rachel and Adam will have to use their wits and extremely good intuition to survive long enough to solve the mystery that has been kept secret for over 2,000 years.

Picked up at the meet-up.

Grabbed by Kathy to read before it even hit my bookshelf.

An enjoyable read. Not everything was explained, leaving some things to your imagination and some to the sequel.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Travelling with another book. Books shouldn't travel alone.

This sounds good. Thanks amberC.

I enjoyed the overall story but was frustrated by the things that weren't explained. Rachel & Adam were as dumb as posts for most of the book & it seemed as if the authors kept forgetting how old they were - 14. I fail to see why the grandmother or mother couldn't have explained a bit about the village to them. Despite the irritations, I'd like to read the other books in the trilogy.

I loved the bees.

!