Milo's Run is the follow up to Milo's Marauders and takes up the action precisely where the first book left off. Don't worry though if you haven't read the first one, there's a good few pages of detailed catch up at the beginning for those wanting to leap straight in.
The first book dealt with a gang of young-ish delinquents who, led by the titular Milo hold up a closed supermarket only to find it all go horribly wrong. I would highly recommend it as it's also very funny. It only suffers slightly in comparison as it had to take the time to set up the characters and the heist, whereas, with this book, everything is ready to go at full pelt from the start. Not that that was a bad thing, of course, King is a talented enough writer to make the journey as much fun as the destination, as it were. So, read that one first if you can, if not, you're in safe hands beginning with this one!
Er, so, if you're going to read it you might want to stop reading now or skip to the end because I'm about to give a few things away about the first book!
Okay, Milo's Run kicks off with Milo, Goody and Patsy speeding away from the not-so-smooth heist with £300,000 between them, most of the Hampshire constabulary hot on their heels and not a clue what they're going to do about it.
The book is essentially one long chase, but what an entertaining ride it proves to be! The story never flags for a moment and is breathlessly paced from start to finish. I won't give the details as it may spoil it, but my favourite sequence was, I think, an 18 hour oddysey where our on the lamb "heroes" find out what a vicious, harsh and inhospitable place the English countryside can actually be.
Being a Danny King novel, of course, this is not for people easily offended. Particulary by bad language as the dialogue is peppered with more f's and c's than an entire series of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares! For the non prudish among you though, this just adds to the overall frantic comic tone of the piece making it all the funnier. And it IS very funny, one sequence involving Milo liberating a chocolate bar, crisps and a satsuma from his unsuspecting and rather stupid friend, had me laughing out loud.
Overall, this is a great read and a perfect summer holiday book. Danny King is a very skillful storyteller and keeps the whole caper moving along at greased-whippet speed with razor sharp dialogue and never a dull moment! Towards the end, you'll be ripping through the pages to find out if Milo and co can get away with it and escape the ever eager law!
