The Boy Who Felt No Pain
When croaky-voiced fisherman Billy Bates decided he was going to try his hand at smuggling, he did so under cover of storm and darkness. Hiding from the Jenkins family that run the criminal activities in Deal, but when Dale Jenkins, leader of the Jenkins clan dies; a battle for leadership emerges and Billy decides that his smuggling empire should not be hidden any longer. Together with a mysterious orphan, a rag tag band of street thieves and a huge African former slave, Billy makes a play to run Deal. Until the Jenkins decide to take it back.
The Boy Who Felt No Pain is an exciting read. It doesn’t spare the horrors of orphanages; neither does it shy away from the brutality of life as a pauper and pickpocket. Billy is a standout star character that would be an actor’s dream to play; dark and brooding with a hint of menace but fiercely loyal to those who are loyal to him.
There is a bit of an issue with repetition in this book, and the author would benefit from the services of a copy editor. Not that this in any way diminishes the story, but it would make the leap from a good book to a great book.
The Boy Who Felt No Pain is the first in the series and is followed by The Boy Who Led Them. I can see this being a successful series, especially if the editing was attended to more thoroughly.
