Title: Scar Town
Created by Tristan Bancks
Published by Penguin Random House
RRP: $16.99 (AUD)

A missing father. A drowned town. A buried secret. Three friends on a dangerous mission to uncover the truth.
Seven years after Old Scarborough was drowned, a house is emerging from the water. Will and his friends Dar and Juno dare each other to explore it.
But when they find bones – and a stash of cash – they realise they’re not the only ones interested in its secrets.
Now they’re fighting for their lives against the men who want what they found. Will can’t leave the mystery alone, though. What if the bones belong to his missing dad?

https://www.penguin.com.au/books/scar-town-9780143791812

Bancks has nailed it with this one, it is tightly written and suspenseful. Scar Town will keep readers entertained for the duration. The plot has multiple facets that come together in a thrilling ending. The characters are well developed and the setting easy to visualise. The reader, like Will, J and Dar, really does not know who to trust as the three friends try to solve mysteries of the old Scar Town that are still felt in the new town. I think this is the best I have read from this author, his fans are going to love it!

Highly recommended for readers who like a fast and engrossing plot.

Book talk

Read pages 1-3 to “One day earlier…”
One day earlier Will and his 2 best friends, twins J and Dar, decide to explore the “old town”. The old town was flooded for a dam, after some of the houses were moved to the new location for the town. However, the dam wall is now leaking, and the previously flooded houses are beginning to show. The day before Will and his friends decide to explore one of these old houses. They swam out, waded through the ground floor and went to explore the top floor, now out of the water. In this top floor, in a house that had been submerged in water for a considerable amount of time, they find a bag of money and human bones in the walls. This adds to the other mysteries in Sarborough, known to locals as Scar Town, and these mysteries are all linked to Will’s family, including his policeman father, missing now for almost 7 years without a trace. As the three friends realise the increasing danger they are in, Dar is kidnapped, their homes are broken into and trashed, and J and Will must call in their parents to help, but can they really trust them, whose bones did they find, where did the money come from and who wants it?

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Teachers’ notes

Teachers’ notes from Penguin Random House can be located at this link.