SuitabookKnock down
Chris Ould
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside the reader, pausing after the opening injury and at moments when Holly takes risks. Afterwards, discuss whether the investigation’s resolution feels proportionate to those risks.
- Themes
- Teenagers in professional roles: Holly and Sam are sixteen-to-eighteen-year-old trainee police officers who are not always taken seriously but are presented as capable and dedicated. The narrative invites sympathy for their resourcefulness and treats some teenagers as responsible contributors rather than stereotypes.
- Crime and investigation: Holly investigates why Ashleigh was running frightened and barefoot before being struck by a lorry, amid several connected criminal acts. Police work and procedure are presented in a detailed, realistic-seeming crime narrative designed to sustain questions and suspense.
- Grit and consequences: The book is described as gritty and unsanitised, with violence, explicit language and references to smoking, alcohol and drugs. The book’s stance on this remains unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Content signposts include an unconscious fourteen-year-old with a head injury and arm laceration after being struck by a lorry, violence, swearing, smoking, alcohol and drug references.