The Doomsday Club
This confident, enjoyable début from author Kevin Moran will appeal hugely to fans of Eoin Colfer and Dave Rudden. Beginning in an ancient primary-school building, but featuring characters who are bang up-to-date, this zingy novel borrows from Irish mythology while exploring themes of friendship, bullying, bravery and growing up.
No time is wasted in delivering the reader straight into the action alongside Jack, Conan, Yash and Jerry, classmates who wouldn’t exactly call themselves friends but find themselves banded together once they witness a shape-shifting elk/bear/raven emerge from a portal right outside their school yard during one rainy-day detention. The title will resonate with somewhat older readers: this gang of misfits have the misfortune of being thrown together à la The Breakfast Club, and their strength lies in their differences.
Adventure, fantasy and humour mix together playfully in this novel, as do colloquial and inventive use of the English and Irish languages, while landmarks of Dublin city play a prominent part. This reviewer feels the book could have benefitted from a female character to supplement the four boys; however, honorary Doomsday Club members – the super-knowledgeable and brave librarian Bernie Regan and fiery school teacher Ms Murphy – make up for this.
With the Doomsday Club soon to finish their last year of primary school and forge different paths, perhaps a sequel isn’t in the works, but the boys’ new-found close friendship and the book’s judicious use of Irish mythology would lend itself well to new adventures.
