The Defender

By Debbie Chown

The defender, written by Alan Gibbons, I believe strongly deserves the Blue Peter Book Award. Although it is probably more appealing to boys due to being an action novel with guys fighting and it is written in first person from a male perspective, the book is superbly written and I think many girls would enjoy it.

The defender is man named Kenny Kincaid who made a lot of mistake as a teenager, even taking a man’s life, however settled down when he married a young, beautiful girl named Tina. Shortly after Tina gives birth to son Ian a bomb is set for an oblivious Kenny, but it is Tina in the car when the bomb explodes. Desperate to protect Ian, a distraught Kenny moves to England, with £250,000,where he gets a new name (Peter Moore), a new house, a new car, a new job and a new identity. Fourteen years pass by but Kenny is still haunted by his past and, to add to that, now three other men are seeking revenge. They want their money and they want Kenny and nothing will stand in their way. Can Kenny protect Ian or is it the end for them both? How will Kenny prove as the ultimate defender? We all have choices, or do we?

The best thing about the book is that information from the past is integrated into the relevant chapters. This means that instead of a huge, boring block of background information at the beginning, between chapters you go back and read about Kenny growing up and how those consequences then affect his choices at present. It also means that you don’t have to flick back 200 pages if you think you have forgotten something important. I think the tagline, “we all have choices, or do we?” is very clever because the story would be so different if Kenny had made a few different decisions and it relates well to our lives as we all make big decisions each day and sometimes have to deal with the negative consequences. Overall, even though this book is classed as a young teenage book, I think the book may also appeal to adults alike. I would definitely give this book a read and I would hope you enjoy it as much as I did!