Crusher

Narrator Daniel Weyman recounts the fiasco that unfolds after 17-year-old Finn Maguire jogs home from work at a London fast food joint and discovers his stepfather bludgeoned to death. Naturally, he becomes the prime suspect. Weyman generates sympathy for the troubled, angry young man as he tries to prove his innocence and achieve justice for his failed parent. Finn battles well-voiced underworld characters; endures a sudden appearance by his mother, who abandoned him and his father; and copes with a tough cop who seems to "decide what happens and selects evidence to fit." Leonard's action scenes, such as Finn's escape from a car that is in the jaws of a crusher, are recounted by Weyman with surprising credibility and perfect tension. D.P.D. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

September 24, 2012
Irish-born screenwriter Leonard (husband of Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James) makes his YA debut with a hard-hitting adventure that plunges its hero into a bleak, crime-ridden London. Seventeen-year-old Finn Maguire's life is dismalâhe's a dyslexic dropout with a criminal record, working at the seedy Max Snack restaurant. After his father, a washed-up actor-turned-screenwriter, is murdered and Finn becomes the primary suspect, he feels he has nothing to lose by hunting the killer himself. Convinced that local mob boss Joseph McGovern is to blame, Finn digs for evidence, even getting a job in one of his restaurants; when his life is threatened, he senses that he's on the right path. With both killers and police after him, Finn's only ally is the beautiful yet unpredictable Zoe. Leonard is clearly writing for the screen, with well-drawn action scenes, snappy patter, and a brand of noir undercoated with fast food grease. Last-minute revelations and a hasty conclusion diffuse some of the story's skillfully developed tension, but the thriller travels at a gripping pace, and has a thick-skinned, yet sympathetic protagonist at the head. Ages 14âup Agent: Valerie Hoskins Associates.