All Sorts of Possible

Daniel is a boy of 15 whose mother has died. He sets off on a camping trip with his father. Their car falls into a sink hole. Daniel, though injured, manages to climb out of the car. His father is rescued and taken to hospital, where he is placed in an induced coma.

At the hospital Daniel has a weird encounter. He meets the Reverend Samuel Lawson, who says he needs Daniel’s help. Daniel has the ability to make something called the Fit, a link with certain mysterious people. Making the Fit may revive Daniel’s father.

It turns out that the reverend gentleman is actually working for a criminal gang. When he dies a gruesome death seeking to make the Fit, Daniel finds himself taking on the role of the gangsters’ prime player. Three narrative questions now pose themselves. Will Daniel succeed in making the mysterious Fit? What are the gangsters after? Can Daniel’s father be helped?

This book tries to be a genre hybrid. The details of the father’s medical case are well researched and convincing. But at the same time the book tries to be a crime thriller. The former narrative thread appeals to a reader’s human feelings and emotions. Then along comes the gangster story. Daniel is trying to make the Fit. Wallis is trying to make two dissonant genres fit and never quite pulls it off.