24 Hours - It Begins now... Twenty-four Hours (Collins Flamingo) - Softcover

Mahy, Margaret

3.33

214 ratings by Goodreads

9780006755418: 24 Hours - It Begins now... Twenty-four Hours (Collins Flamingo)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006755410 ISBN 13: 9780006755418

Publisher: Collins Flamingo, 2001

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Compelling drama in which 17-year-old Ellis comes to terms with the meaning of death...

Ellis is an ordinary 17-year-old; someone who’s planning to finish school and go to university like any other teenager. The difference is that four months ago, his best friend Simon killed himself. Still – that was four months ago. Ellis has now ‘got over it’.

Except, of course, he hasn’t. Returning to his home town, he gets drawn into a situation in which the ‘old’ Ellis would never have become embrangled. He gatecrashes a party and persuaded to ‘rescue’ two sisters – Ursa and Leo, driving them back to the Land of Smiles – the ex-motel where they live.

From that moment on, nothing is the same again. The story is narrated hour-by-hour, as Ellis packs a life-time of experiences into the next twenty-four hours. Giving in to high spirits and booze, Ellis wakes next morning in a strange bed, with a stonking hangover and a shaven head! He learns that a child has been kidnapped, and is persuaded to help in her rescue...

This is a bizarre, surreal and powerful novel in which the reader is taken on the same roller-coaster ride as Ellis.

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Review:

‘Mahy’s cleverly structured and fast-moving book is split into time bands as the clock ticks forward and Ellis must find a way to escape. There is a strong dose of reality in the fantasy as Ellis lives a lifetime in 24 hours and learns to leave behind the past to face up to the dangerous world of adulthood.’
Guardian

From the Back Cover:

''Home, holidays, free,' thought Ellis. Well not quite free, with university on the horizon. Free although his best friend is dead. Free to think about the future. Free to transform his life.'

When Ellis meets up with Jackie and three mysterious sisters, he is drawn into a number of increasingly bizarre situations. They introduce him to the Land of Smiles, where appearances are deceptive and being different is the norm. Ellis is sucked relentlessly into a drama from which he cannot escape. It's a matter of life or death, but time is against him.

The clock ticks on.

In twenty-four hours, Ellis is changed forever.

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