Alex Abbott is [Un]Dead

In what is promised to be the first in a new series, Alex Abbott is living as a vampire. He is eleven, and he still has to go to school, but he can’t eat chips or ice-cream, (his parents make a special drink for him!) and he works hard to conceal his status from his friends, Mia and Archie. Contact with an ancient ghost who haunts the house next to the school leads to an opportunity to be restored to human life, but it’s complicated…

There are many other supernatural beings living in his town, Draihampton, one of which is his teacher, Mr Tilbury. Some are helpful, some are not: Alex blunders around making some wrong decisions, and most reckless of all, persuades his dad to take him to Mount Etna in Sicily, where he tries to make a deal with the tricky god, Vulcan, to restore him to life. Without giving too much away, this results in Draihampton being in grave danger, and threats to all that live there. Step up Gareth Forge, who goes on TV straight after the qualified scientist, for ‘balance’, assuring people that it’s all a hoax and that there’s no need to leave. (We can make our own real-life comparison!) Alex has to use all his ingenuity and friends to try to save the situation.

It’s a very exciting story, full of all kinds of supernatural beings and happenings, and although Alex has not totally succeeded, his friends now understand and support him, and we are promised more adventures to come.