Dead Weapons is a young adult, urban fantasy; a story of father figures fair and foul, broken friendships and the fleeting possibility of redemption.
Ciaran Richards’ father was a soldier. A hero. But now he’s dead. Or is he?
Ciaran has lost his way. He’s forgotten the boy he was and the man he wanted to become. Worst of all, he's betrayed his only true friend, Isobel, leading her to a tragic accident.
His estranged brother, Patrick, forces him to carry out one last job for his crew: collecting a stolen gun and delivering it to the gangster Eliza Frost. In return, Patrick reveals a startling secret: somebody faked their father's death.
When the gun malfunctions, fastening itself to Ciaran’s hand, he’s framed for the murder of two policemen and forced to go on the run. He searches for a way to remove the weapon and find his father, but the police, Eliza Frost and a black ops team of frighteningly modified soldiers are all hunting him and Isobel may be the only person who can help.
Simon Paul Woodward writes horror, science-fiction and dark-fantasy for adults and young adults. He lives just south of London (London, England that is … not one of the 10 Londons in the USA, London Kiribati or 8837-London, which is an asteroid). It’s best to be precise about these things.
Before he didn’t live on an asteroid, he was born in the Midlands, studied in the North and relocated to the South. His accent is a bit of a mess.
He loves Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Michael Marshall Smith, David Mitchell, Patrick Ness, China Mieville, The Flaming Lips, Elbow, Ennio Morricone, Sergio Leone, David Lynch, David Lean, Johnny Marr, Max Richter, football and running, gin and bagels... but believes marzipan was created by the Devil (after he finished spawning brussel sprouts).
You can visit him at www.simonpaulwoodward.com To receive email updates about new releases, and to receive a free copy of ALL THE DEAD THINGS, sign up for my Readers’ Group by clicking this link (opens a secure signup form in a new window).
Wow - I started reading this earlier this evening. The story is so engrossing - I had to carry on reading until I had finished the book. This is a brilliant novel, the first of S P Woodward's that I have read. Will definitely check out his other novels.
Troubled teenager Ciaran Richards, receives a phone call from his older brother Patrick. Patrick is currently in prison awaiting trial for murder, and coerces Ciaran into doing a job for him. He wants Ciaran to collect a case, then pass the case onto Eliza Frost, one of the most powerful criminals in Britain. Patrick tells him that their father's death was faked.
When Ciaran does find the case, he feels compelled to open it. Inside the case is a gun, that he picks up, but somehow the gun attaches itself to his hand. Police arrive at the scene, but they are gunned down by a strange winged character and Ciaran is framed for the murder of those two policemen.
He has no alternative but to go on the run. His attempts to remove the gun from his hand fail. The gun appears to be talking to him, tells him that the gun is now damaged and the only way to remove it is to connect via the shadownet. Unfortunately when he enlists someone's help to do that, his location is tracked and he has to abort the task and flee once again.
The gun (James) has been developed by DOWH (the Department of Weaponised Humans) and is a weapon that is changing the face of warfare. Hence the reason why it is so highly sought after.
Ciaran now believes that his father may be at the DOWH facility. Still being hunted by Eliza Frost, the police and the striders, he has to work out how to get to the facility, remove the gun from his hand, save James, find his father and hopefully stay alive.
This would make an excellent movie.
Many thanks to the author Simon Paul Woodward, for the free advanced giveaway copy. The above review is my honest opinion of the book.
This is a really fast paced page turner. There are a lot of cliff hanger (I got to read more) chapter endings, and the end of the story is explosive. I really recommend this book both for adults and teenagers.