Snapshot
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| Robert Swindells |
| Barrington Stoke |
| 184299347X |
| Oct 2005 |
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| Click. Victor takes a photo of a crime. Next thing he’s being followed. Someone wants those pictures. Someone with a gun.
This combination of unambiguous plot and short snappy sentences makes for a particularly accessible read. Set in a grey world of tower blocks, stinking lifts and rainy streets, and peopled by blokes in baseball caps and puffer jackets, it will appeal to teenage boys who get into a certain kind of hard, urban cool. Swindells strikes a good balance in his hero Victor. He’s disaffected enough to be tough but caring enough to be likeable. Victor narrates the story in his own words – colloquial language and slang designed to be easy to recognise and relate to. ‘Street language’ can be hard to write, it changes rapidly and what was right one day sounds wrong the next. But for the most part Swindells succeeds. Boys often enjoy non-fiction and relish discovering gruesome information. Victor’s accidental involvement in a world of petty crime and murder should prove exciting stuff for such readers. They will also appreciate the fact that that the story is based on a real-life drama. Barrington Stoke books aim to entice “disenchanted and under-confident readers”. Snapshot will do just that.
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