Orphans are stock in trade for writers of teen fiction. Freed from parental tyranny, children can roam free and have fantastic adventures without being fear of being late for their supper or having to struggle through their homework.
Harry Potter is an orphan, and Alex Ryder, and, of course young James Bond, the teen spy on whom Higson cut his teeth in young adult fiction.
In the The Enemy, published this week by Puffin, Higson takes the orphan theme one step further: what if all kids were orphans?
An undiagnosed disease has wiped out (almost) everyone over the age of 14 leaving London's children to fend for themselves. Higson bases his story on the exploits of a group living in the remains of the Waitrose store in Holloway, a year on from the initial catastrophe. But this is no permanent picnic for the children. Food and water are scarce commodities, fought over with other kids (the nearby Morrisons crew), stray dogs but also the remaining adults not killed by the disease who are vicious zombie-like figures covered in boils, wounds and scabs.
The "grown-ups", as the Waitrose crew call them, are completely wild, as well as cannibalistic, and present the primary threat to the children as becomes apparent in the first couple of chapters during which one child is taken away and others expierence a vicious attack. The hand-to-mouth existence the children endure is nasty, brutish and potentially short, and so when a stranger appears at Waitrose with tales of a safe haven with food, water and comfortable beds it does not take the Waitrose and Morrisons group long to decide to risk leaving their fortresses for the dangerous trek across London.
The Enemy is absolutely not for the faint-hearted. Kids kill and kids die, sometimes horribly and nobody is immune: being popular or a leader of the group saves nobody in Higson's world.
I have just finished reading it to Paddy, my seven-year-old son, and he coped with the nightmarish vision of a post-civilised world extremely well - to the point that his first question on completing the book was when could we expect the next installment. I would not have read it to my nine-year-old daughter who would not have enjoyed the gore and the grief. So I don't see any particular point in recommending the book for particular age groups as children react differently. But if you have a child that is queasy about death and bloodshed, and the potentially upsetting scenario of being left without parents, you might want to try something else.
But Paddy enjoyed it hugely, "scary, exciting and funny", he wrote in his holiday diary, all of which it is. The gallows humour of the kids serves to off-set a lot of the tension and danger - trying on adult clothes in Selfridges was memorable - while the sheer adventure of kids being in charge and crossing London kept him transfixed. Something else he picked up on, that surprised me, was the multi-track story which flitted back and forth between the main group of kids, a small boy who is abducted by the grown-ups and the one child who remains behind. The story is well-structured, easy to read and has excellent pace and flow. There are great characters, well defined and the dialogue between them is sparky and entertaining.
Higson also leaves plenty of secrets hanging - how did the disease start? what happens to the older kids as they reach a certain age? - that helps to add an air of mystery to the strong suspense that is sustained throughout the 400 pages. He also finishes the story with a strong hint of the battles to come. Hence Paddy's question about the next book (next year apparently).
For adults, and young adults with a comparative literary bent, there are unmistakable echoes of Lord of the Flies in The Enemy, even if there is no obvious allegorical element. The way the kids interact and the way they organise themselves is fascinating politically.
The Enemy is clever, imaginative and a hell of a good ride. There's a danger that Paddy will want to read the next installment himself. But tough luck, he'll have to wait for me.
