Joe Rat

by Mark Barratt

Draker than the dirt of the street, a creature emerged, dripping. Crouched, cowering on all fours, its head swayed this way and that, checking up and down the street. It could have been a dog. It was too big for a cat. Then, as the creature straightened up, the whites of its eyes caught the light. It was a boy.

In the dark underbelly of Victorian London a boy named Joe scavenges for scraps in the rat-infested sewers of the East End. They call it 'toshing'. Viciously exploited by the woman he knows as Mother - a monstrous criminal mastermind who controls everything in the boy's small world - Joe scrapes a living in a city where no one can be trusted. Then a chance encounter with a runaway girl and a 'madman' turns Joe's world upside down. But is it a change for the better or are things about to get a lot worse for the boy they call Joe Rat?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult

310 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2008

Reviews

[Ricki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't find this book to be very engaging. The plot was very action-based, and the characters felt very far away from me, and it was very difficult to feel any connection with them. The only reason I gave it two stars instead of one was because I found the London street/sewer details to be interesting and the unfolding of the mystery was composed well. Other than that, I did not enjoy reading this book and did not find it to be a page-turner.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that is different from any other you may have read. Perhaps written for a child readership, but highly entertaining for adult readers. The reader cannot but delight in the characters and the plot certainly keeps you reading.

[Adrian Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic pastiche of Victorian fiction. Darker than Dickens it is full of compelling characters.

[Cathy Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finished reading it. Didn't much care for it. It wasn't the dark and unremitting misery of the characters' existence; it was the lackluster plot. It felt like the author had all this richly defined research on the underbelly of London and pinned it to a paper doll of a plot. It just didn't hang well in the end.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a couple of chapters to get into the story, but then I had to finish it. I don't think it was fully developed, though, as I couldn't fully understand some of the secondary characters motivations. This book was full of some very gritty, very harsh realities. Definitely not for younger children.

[Dotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can smell Joe Rat before you see him. He makes his living walking the sewers looking for lost valuables. Joe owes money to the boss and whatever Joe brings will never be enough. It’s a lucky day when Joe gets to the boss without getting beat up and robbed. If the sewer don’t kill him then the gangs will.

[Emma Burkhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gritty YA adventure set in the sewers and graveyards of Victorian London. Good characters and evocative setting.