Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom

by William Sutcliffe, David Tazzyman (Illustrations)

Hannah's life is boring, boring, boring! Then Armitage Shank's Impossible Circus comes to town and Hannah's world is turned on its head when she meets Billy Shanks, his astonishing camel, Narcissus, and a host of other bizarrely brilliant members of the circus. But all is not as it seems; Armitage Shank, evil ringmaster and Billy's surrogate father, has a dastardly plan that could end in catastrophe for Hannah's dull little village and it's up to Hannah and Billy to stop his stinking scheme before it's too late!

Genres: Fiction, Middle Grade, Humor

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

William Sutcliffe was born in 1971 in London. He is the author of eight novels, New Boy, Are You Experienced?, The Love Hexagon, Bad Influence, Whatever Makes You Happy, The Wall, Concentr8 and We See Everything, which have been translated into twenty-six languages.

The Wall was shortlisted for the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal. Are You Experienced? has been reissued on the prestigious Penguin Essentials list.

He has also written a series of books for children: Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom, Circus of Thieves on the Rampage and Circus of Thieves and the Comeback Caper.

He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, three children, two cats and a tortoise.

Reviews

[Yaban Mentes]

Best leuk boek

[David Hawker]

Mr Gum-style capers in a book upending expectations, with a similar age target, but the quality of writing (especially footnotes) deserves to reach older children and adults. First of a series whetting appetite, but stopping at this one would have satisfied it just as well.

[Kerrie Reid]

Made up words, ridiculous footnotes, ample alliteration....whats not to love?!
A great book for ks2 :)

[Bianca]

Great kids book, well written, my daughter was hooked.

[Avni_]

3/5. One extra⭐ for quirky footnotes!

[Rachel Bridgeman]

How can a raffle be doomed? Read on and discover a hilarious adventure, sinister characters, plot twists and derring do!
The illustrations that accompany this book are just perfect! The cover alone has us all intrigued, we loved the story, the dialogue was very funny but there are dark undertones that maybe escaped the younger hangers on at book at bedtime in the Bridgeman house but Jenny found them spot on.

[Tim]

This was a real fun read. Wriiten in a very relaxed and conversational style which, at times, put me in mind of a Terry Pratchett for children.
Although the book content and material seems aimed at pre-teens I feel that some of the language might be to difficult (but just because I'm thick it doesn't mean the books younger readers are too).
I love the ammount of imformation contained in this book.

[Johara Almogbel]

Loved this. Loved the zany randomness, the footnotes, Billy, the pets, the nonsensicalness of it all. I especially loved that the writer didn't take himself seriously in the course of telling his book. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was how Hannah found everything boring, but other than that, it was massive fun.

Hated the cliffhanger, but then again patience has never been my forte.

Would I recommend this? Yes. I think I would.

[Matthew]

Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom has a very Snicket-esque, almost copycat air to it. The opening chapters are gratifying, but the unfunniness displayed during certain chapters (don't forget those mind-blowingly bad characterizations and needless plot holes)is enough to prove that a third-class kids book is not appreciated. I'd avoid if I were you.

[Jenny / Wondrous Reads]

4.5/5

[Vincent Ripley]

Book review to follow http://www.mrripleysenchantedbooks.com/

[Pippa Wilson]

My 9 year old loved all the cool big long ones that were used for comic effect. Great characters. A fun read.

[Helen]

an amazing little story and loved the illustrations

[scarlettraces]

(3.5) An amusing entrant in the category of let's-have-fun-with-words.

[Raimy]

4.5