Deadhead
Glenn Wood
OneTree House
Pub. 2020

June 08, 2021

Deadhead is a magnificent book that really hooked me in and I hope that it will hook you too.

It’s all about Spencer and his friend Reagan, who together borrow Spencer’s mum’s car so they can go to the cemetery to dig up Garrett, a former cop who died on duty. Spencer wants to use Garrett as a frame so he can install machinery and other robotics in him, so he can basically have a remote control zombie cop.

Spencer needs Garrett as a bodyguard because he made a boy called Carl and his gang really mad, so he thinks he needs the protection.

That night Carl and his gang strike, trying to get revenge on Spencer but Garrett successfully repels the attack while being controlled by Reagan. Meanwhile Garrett’s partner Cadence has been investigating the Death Despicable gang, who has been the mafia of the town for a long time. She thinks that they are the cause of Garrett’s death.

The story takes place in the 20th century, our time. I think that this book has many layers. I feel that the author has read and built on inspiration from many books and scientific debates.

Deadhead is written in the present tense and the characters are described from the other characters’ points of view. There aren’t a lot of moments when you hear the narrator’s voice. The author preferred to write his story in a way where the characters are the ones who described everything, not the narrator telling the story.

The book’s setup is pretty straightforward as in that Regan and Spencer, the two main characters, get on with their zombie cop plans, while Candence is trying to find out  the truth about Garrett’s death. Those two stories move alongside throughout the book, until they join together revealing the truth.

In my opinion the book’s selection of words makes it sound like it’s been written by a teenager with all of its teen jokes and fourteen year old characters.

The book is based on very realistic elements that are active in the world today, like crime gangs killing and selling things on the black market, and police officers trying to maintain order and calm. It also involves high tech technology and the efforts of creating robots with artificial intelligence.

The book is a fiction story, but it reminds me of Alex Rider, a 14-year-old who gets recruited by MI6 and becomes a spy, which is also a great book.

Deadhead is a beautifully written story that I think should be read all over the world. I recommend this book to kids eight and above who like adventure, humour and drama.

I liked all of its teenager jokes and realistic facts, and I think that Glenn Wood should jump right behind his desk and start writing the sequel.

• Lorenzo is 12 and lives in Thames.