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147th out of 186 books
—
269 voters
Playing Dead (Blade #1)
by
Tim Bowler
Nobody knows the city like Blade. You have to when you're on your own, when you can't trust anyone, when you've got a past you need to hide. Blade is practically invisible, perfectly alone, living only by his wits - just the way he likes it. Until the day a chance encounter sends his world crashing down around him and he finds himself on the run again. Yet he's not alone t...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
May 14th 2009
by Philomel
(first published 2008)
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“Trust no one,” A quote frequently used. Blade; Playing Dead by TIm Bowler is a very interesting drama. This book teaches a lot about knowing what is the right and wrong thing to do at very serious situations and teaches self-control.
Everyone has experienced a time where you feel like something bad is going to happen. With Blade, it’s a gift. He senses everything. “Otherwise silence, in the house, around the house. But it’s still not right. I’ve felt this before, many times, and I’m never wron...more
Everyone has experienced a time where you feel like something bad is going to happen. With Blade, it’s a gift. He senses everything. “Otherwise silence, in the house, around the house. But it’s still not right. I’ve felt this before, many times, and I’m never wron...more
Kyle Purcell
Block E
11/15/2012
I would recommend the book blade by Tim Bowler to a friend because it is an exciting story about survival, staying invisible, and that you cant run from your past.
Blade is a book about a teenager who is just trying to survive in the big city. When he is doing this he is faced with difficult challenges. Most that threaten characters lives. He is hated by gangs both male and female. This made the book rather exciting The book is exciting because of its suspense....more
Block E
11/15/2012
I would recommend the book blade by Tim Bowler to a friend because it is an exciting story about survival, staying invisible, and that you cant run from your past.
Blade is a book about a teenager who is just trying to survive in the big city. When he is doing this he is faced with difficult challenges. Most that threaten characters lives. He is hated by gangs both male and female. This made the book rather exciting The book is exciting because of its suspense....more
My grade for this book is a 91/B. I think it was a pretty good book but I've read a lot of better books than it. However, this book was kind of hard to put down at times and is filled with suspense and action. One thing I liked about this book is that you can really see what Blade's life is like. You can see the world through his eyes, which is way different that what you'd think. Blade is by far my favorite character, but he's the only character who's well-described, so I didn't have a wide var...more
Derek Hunter
Ms. Romaniuk
Reading/LA, Book review #1
21 September 2010
Blade: Playing Dead
A Wonder with the knife
Can you imagine living on your own at age fourteen stealing, getting beaten up well that is the life of blade? Blade is a young delinquent stealing for money so he can buy food and eat. There are many gangs that Blade must avoid. The only time he is not watching everywhere around him that is when he gets caught. When Blade gets caught it is not a pretty sight. When an incident happens Bl...more
Ms. Romaniuk
Reading/LA, Book review #1
21 September 2010
Blade: Playing Dead
A Wonder with the knife
Can you imagine living on your own at age fourteen stealing, getting beaten up well that is the life of blade? Blade is a young delinquent stealing for money so he can buy food and eat. There are many gangs that Blade must avoid. The only time he is not watching everywhere around him that is when he gets caught. When Blade gets caught it is not a pretty sight. When an incident happens Bl...more
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Blade has learned to survive. Alone in The City, he has studied every nook and cranny, staking out the whole community just to find a place to sleep. He has an arsenal of snugs, or homes, knows when their owners are absent and uses the places undetected. These days, his goal is to be invisible in The City. But he has a dark secret. It involves his skill with the knife, and it’s coming back to haunt him.
Blade: Playing Dead is the first in a series of books about a homeless teen in an unnamed UK...more
Blade: Playing Dead is the first in a series of books about a homeless teen in an unnamed UK...more
Blade is about a fourteen year old homeless kid with a past that he mostly keeps a secret. He is very familiar with his unnamed British city and manages to survive by stealing wallets and living in people's homes while they are not home. But one day things go wrong. First, he is tracked down and beaten by a group of teenage girls who leave him naked. An old woman named Mary gives him some clothes, but then two violent men show up at the door and they want Blade. Soon he gets on the run, with six...more
I think Tim Bowler wrote this as a thrilling adventurous tail. It is a fun story with a lot a twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. In the book the main character, Blade, spends most of the time trying to get away from his past, and in the end it came back to bite him in the butt. Bowler tries to show us that if in the past you have made mistakes, it is wise to just stand up strong and take care of it so it doesn't become a problem for you forever. I am under the impression t...more
Nov 02, 2012
Rory
added it
Blade wanted to remain hidden but people from his past found him so he started to run with a girl that got in trouble with him and his whole world started crumbling apart and he realized his past would always be in his future. i thought the book was a very good suspenseful story. At one point Blade was watching some grunts from a ditch, and one came up behind him and just stood there. You never know what's going to happen next. He could attack Blade, walk past him, or Blade could have attacked t...more
This book is full of non-stop action. Blade is not your ordinary fourteen-year-old street urchin. He does just enough pickpocketing to stay fed, and sleeps wherever there's an empty home. Everyone thinks he's just another homeless kid--until some thugs come after him and an old woman is caught in the crossfire. Suddenly Blade is on the run. A member of a hostile girl gang becomes an unexpected ally, and the reader is left wondering who Blade used to be. The lingo is very street and very British....more
Originally posted at PINOYPETERPAN.
A Letter to Blade (A Review of "Playing Dead")
To BLADE :
I remember you told me, "I'm going to blitz your mind".
Well that's what happened Blade . I was not that sure at first when you started telling me things about how to stay down, being invisible or the way you put it, "Playing Dead" . I was having trouble following you around the city that you knew so well because I'm not so sure why we are hiding on the first place. At the age of 14, you seemed so troubled...more
A Letter to Blade (A Review of "Playing Dead")
To BLADE :
I remember you told me, "I'm going to blitz your mind".
Well that's what happened Blade . I was not that sure at first when you started telling me things about how to stay down, being invisible or the way you put it, "Playing Dead" . I was having trouble following you around the city that you knew so well because I'm not so sure why we are hiding on the first place. At the age of 14, you seemed so troubled...more
4 likes · like · see review
Blade is running from his past but he gives few clues throughout the book to what that past entails. Blade lives in an unnamed British city, he is homeless, and he breaks into houses and apartments just to sleep, shower, eat, and read books, which helps to humanize him. The writing style is reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange with short, choppy sentences, an unusual slang, and the first person narration is directed at someone he calls “Big Eyes.” The short sentences contribute to the excitement an...more
Apr 29, 2013
Nanuqe
added it
Blade has its own kind of voice, it literally talks to you. You yourself are in the book. it has action, stealth trust and so much more scenes in it.
Any young teenager would like this book. The setting is in a city that Blade, (the main character) knows better then anyone. He has his own words like Gobbos, muffins, grinks, nebs, and other special words for certain types of people. I think that blade is a story that has great detail and so much personality. Maybe its your turn to read it now!
Any young teenager would like this book. The setting is in a city that Blade, (the main character) knows better then anyone. He has his own words like Gobbos, muffins, grinks, nebs, and other special words for certain types of people. I think that blade is a story that has great detail and so much personality. Maybe its your turn to read it now!
Blade knows the city better than anyone. He knows how to escape, how to hide, how to go unnoticed. But when he meets Becky and her daughter Jaz, everything changes. Because now they all have people after them, and it looks like Blade's past and Becky's past have joined forces, and there's nowhere left to run. This was actually really good, fast-paced, gritty and realistic. But it's very dark and depressing. It's the first in a series, and I don't know if I'll continue or not. On the one hand - r...more
I would definitely recommend this for reluctant teen readers, especially boys. Blade is a 14-year-old kid surviving on his own in an unnamed city. His toughness and self-reliance will probably appeal to boys, and there's a lot of action and suspense. This is the first in a series and Bowler raises a lot of tantalizing questions about Blade's past. Also, everybody, and teenagers especially, do judge books by their cover and this cover is sexy as hell.
I was really into this book, so I would give this a book a chance. I recommend this book to Georgianna Tikluk. She was wanting to read this book for awhile. Terrel Lord was reading this book at the time, so Georgianna did not want to interrupt his good reading time. Terrel was also into this book. That is why I moved it on to him to get him interested into the awesomeness "Blade Series". Now he's onto the second one. I would also recommend this book to Nicholas Gordon. It seems like he is into "...more
Instantly tense and engaging, this was a surprising thriller. As Blade speaks directly to the reader, Bowler spins an action packed story that takes surprising twists in the seedy world at the bottom of the British social ladder. Chapters are short, descriptions are economical, character development is nil. UK slang peppers the book, which might slow some truly struggling American readers, but generally adds to the flavor of the story. The conclusion came up a bit short for me, but the velocity...more
A SERIES REVIEW - CAN CONTAIN - DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS
Loved it for the language, the short sentences and the impending danger, everytime I turned a page.
Loved Blade for how he didn't have love in his life, but found it and couldn't abandon it when he got attached to it. (The little girl etc)
Made me want the books to be longer, so I could stay in that world for a little more, even though all books must end sometime.
A recommended read.
Loved it for the language, the short sentences and the impending danger, everytime I turned a page.
Loved Blade for how he didn't have love in his life, but found it and couldn't abandon it when he got attached to it. (The little girl etc)
Made me want the books to be longer, so I could stay in that world for a little more, even though all books must end sometime.
A recommended read.
I started out not liking the book, got sucked in a third of the way through, and the last third disappointed me greatly. The character was telling his story to us as it happened, but he failed to explain how he knew we were there. The character's past is never revealed, so we are left guessing way too much. Lastly, the ending didn't truly resolve anything...
This is a fast paced thriller that takes place in an unknown urban setting. Blade is a 14 year old kid with a past and has spent the last year trying to escape it. Unfortunately, just when he thinks he is safe, the past comes knocking on his door accompanied by some very serious weapons. Definitely a suggestion for boys/girls who enjoy chase scenes and spy movies.
3.5 is my reveiw not 4. Blade was a goodbook with lots of action and suspence. The author doesnt describe what happened to Blade since he was 7 so it left a lot of loose ends. Blade calls you bigeyes and your following him through the city. He doesnt say how he knows your there or why. If you want a book with a lot of action and suspencethis book it for you.
I purchased this book upon judging the summary and the cover - and least to say, I was disappointed. A 'exciting thriller' turns out nothing but to be a long drawn out plot that has no twists or anything worthy of commenting on.
Disappointing, I am reluctant to purchase the following sequels and I'd advise you to stay away from this book.
Marco.
Disappointing, I am reluctant to purchase the following sequels and I'd advise you to stay away from this book.
Marco.
First of a one-in-a-million new series I haven't found in the school library for weeks. Good plot, kind of mean to Blade though, letting him get beaten up, robbed from and stripped by a bunch of girls. This book made me realise that I am technically sexist towards females...despite being female myself??? Good, good, good, but not Beyond Awesome. Good slang-speech.
The action was great, but it was just one long action scene. For me, the book had not enough plot. I understand that the author is dragging out the revelations of Blade's past, but I couldn't get into him (Blade) enough to want to read the other 7 books and find out his dark secrets. It may really grab some reluctant readers and a bunch of boys, though.
I thought it was a good book, but the writing was sort of confusing. Do to the foreign slang,I couldnt follow the plot as easily as I thought. Parts of this book caught my interest with all descriptive writing, keeps the brain thinking. Getting used to a writing technique that I personally am not used to.
this was a great book. it never gets boring in this book. it makes you feel like you are right there with blade in the book. lots of people die too. so if your into that stuff read this book. it describes the blood and guts pretty well to. there is also plenty of suspense.
i bought this book so the synopsis was obviously good. i personally think the synopsis represented the book well. intense emotions were thrown around and with an intense lot and great theme what else could you expect. tim bowler has hit another strike.
Blade by Tim Bowler was a good book due to the fact that it constantly keeps you on your toes. I always was in anticipation on what was going to happen next. I think that this would be a great book for anyone that is seeking a thrill ride from a book.
This book is packed full of action and suspense, makes it hard to put down in fear you might miss something. A wonderful story about survival and being yourself. I had no idea there would be sequels to this but might be worth checking them out.
Nov 11, 2011
Callie
added it
i really can't wait til the next book! I liked what happened in this one, and if I hadn't looked it up on Goodreads, I might not have known there was a second book, but now I do! Wanna see how he gets along with Jaz again too.
Ends on quite a cliffhanger, and the sentence fragments got to me after a while, but the main character is charismatic and unique, and the mysterious backstory and constant action makes this a page-turner.
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Tim Bowler is one of the UK’s most compelling and original writers for teenagers. He was born in Leigh-on-Sea and after studying Swedish at University he worked in forestry, the timber trade, teaching and translating before becoming a full-time writer. He lives with his wife in a small village in Devon and his workroom is an old stone outhouse known to friends as ‘Tim’s Bolthole’.
Tim has written t...more
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