REVIEW: INVISIBLE FIENDS: MR MUMBLES BY BARRY HUTCHISON

Cover Illustration: Jonny Duddle

INVISIBLE FIENDS: MR MUMBLES

BY

BARRY HUTCHISON

ISBN: 978-0-00-731515-4

Pages: 255

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books

Publishing Date: 4 February 2010

On the Cover:

Kyle hasn't seen Mr Mumbles in years. And there's a good reason for that: Mr Mumbles doesn't exist.

But now Kyle's imaginary friend is back, and Kyle doesn't have time to worry about why. Only one thing matters from now on: staying alive...

   This book starts out with a very intriguing prologue, and after reading that I was really looking forward to finding out what happens.
   In the first few chapters of the book you find out everything you need to now about Kyle and his situation. This is done in a natural way, and does not feel forced on the reader.
   Hutchison also sets the tone for the book nicely, it doesn't take long for the first scary thing to happen. And there's plenty of scares to come later in the book, after all this is Horror.


   The first person narrative works very well here. You get an instant feel for Kyle, and how the situation he's thrown into plays with his mind. And Hutchison is also very good at playing with the mind of the reader. It's difficult to get a grip on what is really happening, what is illusion and what is reality, and this helps keep an eerie atmosphere throughout the book.

   The story unfolds at a quite rapid pace, there really is not much of a rest between the action sequences. And there is plenty of action in the book. Hutchison is also very good at keeping you mystified, things that seem ordinary can come back as haunting riddles later.

   This is a very good debut by Hutchison. The story managed to grip me, and I will certainly get hold of the rest of the books in this series. And if you like a good horror story with a few twists and plenty of action along the way, I suggest you pick it up too.

   I have to end this with a little note. As you may have noticed this book was published by HarperCollins Children's Books, and on the back cover there is a label that says 9+. This should in my opinion be treated like video-game labels, not fit for children under nine, but with no upper limit of how old you should be to enjoy it. My + is 27, and I see no problem in recommending this to anyone who likes a good scare regardless of age.

   The next book in the series, Invisible Fiends: Raggy Maggie is out 5 August 2010.

LINKS: Barry Hutchison  HarperCollins Children's Books