Even the dead tell stories.

Revolver is set in the Arctic Circle in 1910. This novel has a very dramatic start when Sig, a ten year-old boy, finds his father dead on the ice. Then a stranger knocks on the door and demands gold which he claims Sig’s father ran off with. When Sig and his sister Anna state they know nothing about it things turn nasty. Throughout the novel Sig’s mind turns more and more to their most valuable and prized possession, a Colt revolver.

The chapters in the novel are not in chronological order but switch between the past and present. At the beginning I found this quite confusing but after a while I enjoyed it and liked finding out things which happened in the past as if it was the present. I think this was a good idea of Marcus Sedgwick as in my opinion it made the novel more interesting.

There a lot of action and violence in this novel which makes you feel as if you are there, as you get so absorbed into the story. This novel may be best read by older children as the violence is quite aggressive and in a lot of detail.

‘Blood was pouring from his right hand; the thumb and at least his first two fingers were gone, and he clutched uselessly at it with his thumbless left.’

Sedgwick describes in great detail in how a revolver works and what happens to make it rust or explode. This shows he has taken care and interest about revolvers and had to find out quite a lot of information and detail on them which he has shared in this novel. Sedgwick informs us on how a beautiful and magnificent machine the revolver is but at the same time how terrible it can be to the person it is up against. Also he shows us people's different views on the gun.

‘”No! You mustn’t let him touch it. You mustn’t. Guns are evil. Evil, Einar.” Einar laughed. “The boy must learn respect for it while he’s young.”’

This novel gripped me from the first page and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I never wanted to put the novel down and Sedgwick definitely created a page-turner.  Revolver captivated me in a short period of time and Sedgwick created many scenes of suspense. The plot of this novel was excellent and well thought-out.  Another thing I enjoyed about this novel was that it was very unpredictable and the ending was a great surprise for me. 

I thought the length of the novel was good, not too long and not too short. However I think many people would disagree and perhaps would have liked it to be a little bit longer. I think the length was good because there was never a boring moment and if the novel had been longer I might not have found it so spellbinding. 

To conclude, I think this novel is exciting, excellent read therefore I am giving it nine out of ten.