Review: The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham

Nathan's father has been arrested. He works for the Ministry of Defence and is accused of leaking top secret information. But as he is dragged into a police car, he gives Nathan a message. It leads to a riddle, but it's not from Dad. It's from an ex-Bletchley Park employee, Lily Kenley, and was written in 1940. Nathan begins to follow the clues left behind by Lily. But how can this war-time story link to his father's fate? Hope for Dad's appeal is fading fast. He must solve the puzzle. Time is running out.

As I said in Showcase Sunday I found out about this book through an Amazon suggestion - I really had no idea what it would be like, but it looked pretty good, and interesting too.

And it didn't dissapoint!  It's very fast paced, with the excitement starting in the first chapter - but this didn't make it hard to understand at all.  I loved how Nathan, the main character, had to find and work out clues to help save his dad from prison.  It really added mystery to the book, and it made me want to carry on reading to see where the clues would lead and what they meant.  I think it was a bit unlikely how quickly Nathan solved the clues, but if it had taken weeks for him to work out what they meant I don't think the book would have been so exciting and fast paced.  The mystery of who Lily was was also an excellent part of the story.

The ending was quite unexpected, and added some action - it definately ended the book well!  This is a short review because I can't find much else to say, this book is great.  I think the book was written for younger teens, but don't be put off by that, it's still a good read.  I would also reccomend this to people who enjoy reading about World War II.

Rating: 4.5/5