Book description
Set in the future as two rival gangs, the Volsons and the Connors,
struggle to control London. The city is almost cut off from the rest of
the country and surrounded by the Halfman Lands - a desolate area
populated by creatures, Halfmen, the resultsof genetic experiments to
create living killing machines. Val Volson dreams of uniting the two
factions by giving his 14-year-old daughter, Signy, as a bride to the
rival ganglord, Connor. A shocking betrayal almost wipes out the Volsons
- only Signy and her twin brother, Siggy, survive. The fate of both
gangs, and of London, is in their hands, but both must pay a terrible
price for power. Melvin Burgess began to train as a journalist and has
had jobs as diverse as bricklaying and silk-screen printing. An
Enterprise Allowance Scheme gave him the chance to develop his writing
and his children's books are now highly regarded. Melvin wonthe 1997
Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal for his powerful novel, JUNK. He
lives in Manchester.
