The Disappearance of Tom Pile

Written by Ian Beck
Review by Linda Sever

In 1900, on a bitterly cold night, a young boy disappears from the forest close to the small, quiet village of Litton Cheney, Dorset. He is never found, but the man who was with him claims he was snatched by angels. Forty years later, mysterious lights are again spotted. The villagers suspect German bombers. Colonel Jack Carmody is sent to investigate by his boss, Captain Holloway. Both are part of a secret government department that delves into the unexplained, strange and supernatural. They believe something more intriguing is going on, especially when a boy appears in the graveyard, convinced it is the year 1900.

This double time-slip novel, so popular at the moment, is the first children’s book by author and illustrator, Ian Beck. It certainly lives up to the accolade from Philip Pullman that it is: ‘A cracker . . . Utterly convincing’. A mixture of sci-fi, supernatural and thriller, it is gripping to the last page. The voices are authentic, both in the first-person narration by Jack Carmody, as well as in the witness testimonies from both time periods. Meticulously researched, the story expresses the concerns of the populace in both time periods – the rise of interest in spiritualism, angels and all things paranormal at the turn of the 19^th century, and the concerns and anxieties about the Germans in the 1940s. The authenticity is enhanced by the author’s re-creation of photographs from the time periods and drawn facsimiles of old letters and other archive material, which the paperback version does not do justice to.

This is the first mystery in the Casebooks of Captain Holloway. I look forward to the next. It is suitable for ages 11+, and highly recommended.