The blurb had them begging for more, the cover had them cooing “oooh shiny!” Every child present at the big reveal was desperate for me to read “just one more chapter…”

The Blurb:

Finn is a free-running black belt, with a talent for acting – but when his big break arrives, it’s not the role he was expecting at all.

Recruited as a stunt double, he’s pushed to his limits—scaling walls at high speed, jumping from dizzying heights, and diving into rocky waters—all without any safety gear. He’s determined to push himself, but as the stunts get more dangerous, the lines between movie and reality really start to blur, and it becomes clear that he’ll be luckily to escape this shoot with his life.

The Cover:

 

My Review:

Finn finally has a speaking role in a major film, but the film’s star, Blake, is determined he won’t keep it. Fuming that he’s lost his part and thinking that no one is watching him, Finn does what he loves best; he goes free running over the set. When the eccentric director spots him, she’s found what she’s been looking for since filming began – the perfect Stunt Double.

As Finn, the cast and film crew jet off to Papua New Guinea, what should have been an amazing job rapidly descends into a web of danger and deception. The young actor quickly discovers that the people who are meant to keep him safe pose the biggest threat. As filming continues, and all of the young stars find that they don’t know who to trust, they realise that they must find a way to work together if they are going to survive…

An intense, fast paced, action packed thriller that had me gripped from start to finish. Packed with plot twists that demand you read on, I devoured this fabulous book in one sitting. Tamsin Cooke’s teen actors are full of life, and grow as the story races to a heart stopping climax. Her adults are as difficult to place your trust in as a well trained politician. Throw in the stunning, yet deadly, setting and Melanesian mythology and you get an absolute block buster of a book. It’s no wonder Year 5 & 6 are queuing to borrow it! Looking forward to the next book in the series already.

Great for fans of Boy X, The Inventory and Jimmy Coates: Killer.

Buy it from your local independent bookshop, or use the links below:

Amazon

Waterstones

Wordery

The After School Book Club Reviewer:

When Finn was acting in a Rio Dinoni film, Blake thought he wasn’t good enough, “Finn should be replaced by a girl.” But as Finn ran away, the secretive director had other plans for him, she wanted him to be Blake’s stunt double. Once on set, she doesn’t seem too concerned for his safety. What is the director’s secret? Should Finn have kept on running?

This is an amazing action book that I love. It is a great page turner. If you love action books, then join Finn on his fabulous journey as he goes through thick and thin with his new friends.

I read this book in two nights. It was so good I just wanted to keep reading. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger that has you itching to turn the page. I’ll be telling all of my friends to read it.

OP, Year 5

About the Author:

I’ve always lived with my head in the clouds, daydreaming about adventures in Narnia or how I’d enjoy befriending a vegetarian vampire. And now I feel like one of the luckiest people alive because I get to do the same thing as an adult. I can still live in the clouds, make up stories and go on imaginary adventures. Basically I have never grown up!

Find out more about Tamsin Cooke, and her other books, at her website, or follow her on Twitter @TamsinCooke1.

Many thanks to Oxford University Press for sending me a copy of Stunt Double to review. It now has a long waiting list on my school bookshelf. If you’d like to know more about the fabulous range of children’s fiction that they offer, just follow this link!