Amazon.co.uk Review
When Graham and his family move into their new home they have no idea that an extraordinary chain of events linking the past and the present to the future will change their lives forever. As soon as they move in Graham feels uncomfortable in his new home, as if something or someone is trying to warn the family away. When Matty, Graham's little sister, starts to sees ghosts at her window, Graham decides to investigate the history of the house to see if he can find out what happened there to leave such an atmosphere. Meanwhile their father is busy working on a top secret government defence project, and this is causing an atmosphere all of its own--he is distant, rarely there and always anxious about his work, leaving him little time for his family. As the story--part ghost story, part spy story, and part story about a once close-knit family under pressure--begins to unfold, it gradually becomes clear that it is no coincidence that the ghosts of the past have started to invade the family's present lives.
Control Shift is an unusual and intriguing novel for older children. Written by Nick Mann who, if this impressive work is anything to go by, is certainly one to watch, the story is cleverly and intricately plotted with a tension that mounts from the moment we meet Matty in a conversation with a clinical psychologist. After that, the reader has no choice but to read on and find out what happens. Well written, suspenseful and, to coin a cliché, a true page-turner, Control Shift is an uncompromising novel that will leave readers wide-eyed and breathless. (Ages 10 and over)--Susan Harrison
Books for Keeps
The writer reveals a talent for the atmosphere of the ghostly real as the past permeates the present.
