John's Book Review of The Machine Gunners by Robert Westall

'Some bright kid's got a gun and 2000 rounds of live ammo. And that gun's no peashooter. It'll go through a brick wall at a quarter of a mile.'

Chas McGill has the second-best collection of war souvenirs in Garmouth, and he desperately wants it to be the best. When he stumbles across the remains of a German bomber crashed in the woods - its shiny, black machine-gun still intact - he grabs his chance. Soon he's masterminding his own war effort with dangerous and unexpected results....

"The book has a fantastic plot and I loved the way Chas McGill uses his intelligence to dastardly effect. There are wonderful relationships that form between Chas, Cem, Audrey, Nicky, Clogger and Rudi (the downed German airman). Using all their initiative and effort they create a magical hidden world for themselves -- the ultimate den that we all dream of. Will Nicky find a new father figure? Will Rudi make his way to safety? These are some of the plotlines that keep the reader desperate to jump back into the novel for another exciting dose of Second World War adventure."

                                                     Book Review by John