Raven felt her mum’s hand quivering in hers.
‘I can’t do it,’ whispered Mum. ‘I just … can’t.’ She had lost weight recently and it made her eyes look huge.
‘It’s okay,’ said Raven. ‘I don’t mind going. It’s doing something for Dad.’
Actually, she did mind. Not because she was standing in for Mum, but because Gerald Rooney, her dad’s business partner, had pressured them. Her stomach knotted at the idea of having to smile and talk to people she didn’t know.
As though nothing was wrong.
It was becoming harder to pretend that Dad was only running late. That he’d turn up any minute with a laughing apology. Since he had disappeared there was a huge silence in their lives. The music had gone. The colour. The breath.
Raven’s dad went missing in Raven Lucas 1. It was the worst thing to happen in Raven’s world. But things are getting worse. Many people are trying to find him, besides the police who think he is responsible for several crimes. And many of those people think Raven knows where he is. Raven’s mum is still unstable, her brother is too young to help and her father’s business partner seems to have taken it upon himself to act in loco parentis. Raven is running. Running to stay ahead of the game, running to stay ahead of people prepared to do almost anything to find out where her dad is. And if she’s going to beat them to it, she’s going to have to up her pace.
Dead Wrong continues the twisting and turning of the first novel in this series. Raven is wealthy and smart, sassy and inventive. Time alone will tell if this is going to be enough to find out what’s going on. But she refuses to believe the worst about her father, just because others say so. She firmly believes in her father, just as she slips into the role of protector of her remaining family. But it’s not always easy to be sure who to trust. She has supportive friends but she’s reluctant to bring them into her troubled world. In many ways, she is on her own. A riveting mystery thriller for mid- to upper secondary-readers. Watch out for the third and perhaps final instalment in the Raven Lucas series.
Dead Wrong (Raven Lucas), Christine Harris
Omnibus Books 2012
ISBN: 9781862919280
review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author
Avaialble online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.
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