Tunnels - Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams

Tunnels
(AKA The Highfield Mole)
Tunnels Book 1
Roderick Gordon & Brian Williams
The Chicken House an imprint of
Scholastic
ISBN 9780439871778

Few books that I have read were as compelling and addictive as this one, and with 3 more published in the series and a 5th on the way, it will provide many more hours of entertainment. This book was hard to put down. I just kept saying to myself as reading, one more section, one more chapter, and yet kept reading when I should have put it down. I had to stop reading it at work because I would not want my break or lunch to end. The story is fast paced, the plot twists uncanny, the characters incredibly interesting and the concept chilling.

Will Burrows (pun intended I am sure) is obsessed with archaeological digs, a passion his father has encouraged. His father is the curator at the local museum and dreams of finding something to put his academic career back on track. But they dig in secret, hiding their tunnels and their finds. Will works on projects for his father but also has his own side digs in areas of interest for himself. And in some ways he feels more at home underground than above. But when his father goes missing, and Will discovers a mysterious tunnel and journal, he and his friend Chester go digging, looking for Dr. Burrows. What they find will surprise them and just might cost them their lives.

The greatest strength of the story is the uniqueness of the story line. The plot is so enticing. Discovering an underground world and civilization is not a new plot, but how this one came about, and its interactions with topsiders, is unique and fascinating. Overall it was an excellent read and I cannot wait to read more books in the series. (Note this book was originally published as The Highfield Mole.)

Books in the Tunnels Series:
Tunnels
Deeper
Freefall
Closer
Spiral (2012)

(UK Covers on left and US covers on right.)