Phillip Gwynne – The Debt Series

I am up to the last in this series and whilst I have found it reminiscent of the Conspiracy 365 series have enjoyed it more – there is less repetition in the action and the idea of a new task to repay the family debt (or lose a pound of flesh) gives each story a certain freshness.  The main character Dom, like so many novels of the current era is a teenage boy expected to do extraordinary things (think Young Bond, Muchamores’ Cherub) in this case face and complete a series of challenges (capture a teen bandit, turn off the lights in the Gold Coast, bring back a treasure hunter, get a new whizz bang model of a mobile phone and so on) to repay a family debt that goes back to Italy/Australia in the 1800s. If he doesn’t complete the challenges he will lose a limb/pound of flesh. Dom is likeable and is not some teenage superhero. He struggles with the tasks and gets sufficiently hurt/beat up that we empathise with him.  The subplot of what his father did to repay the debt for his generation and his family background no doubt will be resolved in the final instalment.

An easy but fun read – I have been recommending it to students between Yr. 7-10