Will Hill's third novel in his successful 'Department 19' series, entitled 'Battle Lines', is just about as good as it gets. Spoiler alert - if you haven't read the first two novels, you might want to come back to this article when you have; and if you do, you won't regret it.
In this third book, we're at the point where Jamie Carpenter, a descendant of one of the founders of 'Blacklight', a secret government-funded anti-vampire agency, is still reeling from the aftermath of Valeri Rusmanov's devastating attack on Blacklight. Resulting in the death of one of Jamie's closest friends and the kidnapping of the organisation's director, Henry Seward, who Jamie was also very close to.
At this point there is only fifty days left until the newly resurrected Count Dracula regains his full strength, and if that's allowed to happen there's not an organisation on the planet that can stop him, and the whole world will fall.
This series of novels has to be one of the best in the young adult SciFi genre; it's fast-paced, the plot is believable, the gadgets are cool and the characters are endearing. There are two things you should consider before parting with your cash though.
Firstly, this definitely isn't for the younger end of the young adult market, as it contains some very graphic descriptions relating to torture, and some quite frankly shocking murders. That being said, Will Hill's writing is not rude or smutty in any way, quite the opposite in fact - all the very best characters, good or bad, are very well-spoken, and impeccably well mannered.
Secondly, the secret organisation that is Blacklight, lets the descendants of the founders join by default, and within six months the 17 year-old Jamie Carpenter rises to the rank of lieutenant, and even starts training the recruits who are chosen from the SAS, MI5, SIB etc. From a military point of view, it's just not realistic that a teenager could match the battlefield skills of recruits with that sort of background, let alone train them.
However, you can overlook those two minor blemishes for one simple reason: THESE BOOKS ARE AWESOME! As a piece of entertainment they're matched by few; the writing is compelling, the subject matter, although entirely fictional, seems incredibly well-researched, and Will Hill orchestrates his characters with such bravado that you can't help but root for them the whole time.
So if you're looking for something to spend your pocket money on, you'd be hard pressed to find better than a novel by Will Hill.
