MILLIONS
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Macmillan (Paperback)
ISBN: 0-330-43331-8
October, 2004
Millions
In transforming his own original screenplay into a children's novel, Liverpool author Frank Cottrell Boyce - whose film credits include the wonderful Welcome To Sarajevo - has created a mini-masterpiece, with his first novel.
The story revolves around two brothers, Anthony and Damian, who inadvertently find themselves in possession of a vast amount of cash that drops on them from the sky.
Faced with the joyous prospect of being
able to buy anything they want, the pair also find themselves up against
the clock because the pound is about to become a currency of the past
in favour of the Euro. On top of this is the fact that a gang of thieves
want their money back … pronto!
Boyce has written a story of
incredible humour and poignancy that, though primarily for children
of the 9-12 age range, will be equally as enjoyable for adults. An inventive
and complex plot never relies on its own cleverness, manages to keep
the right side of funny without ever becoming silly and deals with grief
in a deft and understandable way that could never be described as upsetting
for the younger reader.
Boyce also uses his personal
experiences of family life - he has seven children of his own - by illustrating
perfectly the foibles and adventures with a shrewd understanding that
never becomes laboured.
Millions captures the imagination
from the first page and its well, drawn-from-life characters and superbly
developed scenes ensure that the pace never slackens.
The movie, directed by Danny Boyle, stars Pearce Quigley (Cutting It)
and James Nesbitt (just about everything good on British TV at the moment,
but especially Cold Feet & Bloody Sunday) and is sure to be a box
office hit on its release at the end of May, 05. The book, however,
should rank amongst the all time classics of children's literature for
some considerable time to come.
Order this book online - Linghams Booksellers
break the rules as I see fit.” - Chris High 2003.