I struggled with this book to be honest.

There are some things in life that just pass me by. I went to see The Matrix at the cinema and didn’t have a clue what was going on after about 5 minutes - if that! It was much the same with this book too, and I was sorely tempted to give up and start something else but I stuck with it and I’m kinda glad I did.

The blurb on the back of the book did warn me that it was a bit like The Matrix but that obviously didn’t put me off buying it - the £2.99 price tag on the front was the clincher there, and at such a large book I thought it a real bargain!

The gist of the story is that there are people living among us who can leave their bodies and head off into “other worlds”. These people are unsurprisingly called Travellers and as they are so rare and special, they require protecting - that job is given to people called Harlequins who are hard as nails and not to be messed with.

All these people live “off the grid”, that is to say they don’t exactly appear on any national database, don’t hold driving licences (at least not in their own name) and they don’t nip down to the library to vote every four years or so. The reason for this is that there are people out there hellbent on killing the remaining Harlequins and Travellers, for reasons best known to themselves.

As unbelievable and far-fetched as all that sounds, the skill of the author is evident in that while reading it I happily went along with whatever he said - don’t get me wroing, I knew it was fiction and not an autobiography but even so, this isn’t normally the kind of thing that I would happily take on board!

It wasn’t until I was finished that I realised this was Hawks’ first novel. To think that this can be someone’s debut attempt at writing a book is simply staggering.

The story isn’t confined to a small area either, the story spans the globe with every destination described in great detail and the action which is fast-paced at times is really brought to life by his writing.

This is apparently the first book in a trilogy - another thing I just found out! - and I’m in two minds now whether to read the others or not. Im torn because of the subject matter not being my usual cup of tea, but this is counter-balanced by the sheer skill of the author in somehow making this frankly ridiculous idea believable, enjoyable and enthralling.

You know what, I think part two will be in my shopping basket very soon!