Grinny

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Grinny by Nicholas Fisk – 3 out of 5.

This one was another audio-book for the car. Nice & short at 2 disks (2 hours 25 mins), it's a kids SF book from 1973 read here by the legendary Andy Crane. Andy actually does a surprisingly good job here, reading with enthusiasm & making a really good job of using different voices for the various characters.

Our 3 main hero's, siblings Tim & Beth and their friend Mack, try to uncover an Alien plot, the vanguard of which comes in the form of Great Aunt Emma (G.A.E.) The plot is set out primarily in to form of Diary entrys by Tim about the months they spend with G.A.E. Uncovering her secrets & trying to foil her dastardly schemes.

The book seems a little unsure of itself in places & the characters don't seem to be quite nailed down, as sometimes the kids are really intelligence & at other times they are just normal little kids. This book could also be pretty scary for it's target audience, especially with some of the descriptions of G.A.E. Both physically & emotionally.

One irritating aspect of the book is over use of the words “etcetera, etcetera” (though this is probably exagerated as it was in audio book form). I fully intend to hunt down some more works by Fisk. SFX magazine (where I 1st heard of the author) also mentiones the book Trillions as being worth a look

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Fisk

A long interview with Andy Crane here (though nothing about Grinny)
http://www.denofgeek.com/television/60631/the_den_of_geek_interview_andy_crane.html