DubaiReader

This was an unusual narrative, a mixture between the adventures of teenagers in an age now past, first love, discovery of an old building, films from the black-and-white era and the paranormal. As with most of the books I've reviewed recently, this was in audiobook format, but with a difference. Headed up by the actor Nigel Peever, this also encompassed music and sound effects, which gave it a cinematic feel, probably quite different form the experience of reading the original book.

David, Emma and Sam (the narrator), are passing time towards the end of the long summer holidays of 1985. Sam stumbles across an old movie theatre, The Electric, hidden amongst undergrowth and off the beaten path. It is spooky and he has a strange reaction to it, but he can't wait to share his discovery with his friends. Emma feels the strangeness of the place immediately, but it takes David a while before he is drawn in. Together they discover the history of the place, why it was built, who watched and what was shown.

I really enjoyed this novel but there were a few things that irritated me. Not being a film buff, I thought there was too much description of the films and this would probably have bothered me even more if I'd been reading. In addition, while I loved the sound effects, I did think the background rain or traffic might have been faded out to leave us with the narrative, instead of drumming on in the background.

The story had a personal element too; Sam's Dad had died and he was living with his mother, while Emma had also lost her mother and was living with her father. Their grief is still raw and comes to the surface during the narrative. This grounds the otherwise somewhat fantastical element of the story.

If you're into old films and don't mind a bit of fantasy, then this could be your next summer read.