The Black Tattoo

Demons, martial arts and vomiting bats combine to make a fabulous fiction debut from a HUGE new talent.

The stuff of teenage dreams, here executed with pace and panache

This densely written novel is fast-paced with excellent, detailed descriptions of battle scenes that literally take the reader's breath away. It kept me spellbound on the edge of my seat

He's clearly loving telling this story - there are some pleasing twists - and his energy creeps into the words on every page

Imagine a literary world where Philip Pullman meets Darren Shan and you have some of the flavour of this ambitious novel

An exhilarating cross between The Matrix and Hellboy, this is an impressive debut. Battles with powerful magic, demonic possession and vomiting bats combine to produce and action-packed and entertaining adventure

For the last ten years Sam Enthoven has been working as a part-time bookseller, living largely on a diet of instant noodles and parsnips while honing his skills as a writer of thrillers for young people. He is passionately - possibly 'certifiably' - committed to the ideal of books that make kids want to read; if you like The Black Tattoo, you should see what he writes now he can afford something decent to eat once in a while.

Jack doesn't know what he's got himself into. One minute he and his best friend Charlie were up in Chinatown having crispy duck with Charlie's dad (and Jack was having to listen to Charlie shouting at his dad for leaving his mum) - then next minute they were in a mysterious room above a theatre, with some of the strangest characters they'd ever encountered. And they were about to take The Test. . . and something very very weird was about to begin. 
The Test transforms Charlie - leaving him with the distinctive markings of the Black Tattoo - and with a temper that seems out of control. The boys' meeting with Esme, a young girl with the most impressive martial arts skills this side of Bruce Lee, her huge and hairy father Raymond, and the mysterious Nick seem to have swept Charlie and Jack into a world they had no idea existed. And it's only going to get stranger. . . 
This epic tale of good and evil, demons and hell, vomiting bats and huge battles marks the debut of an incredible new talent for children's books. Drawing on influences such as comic books, computer games and Eastern martial arts, The Black Tattoo is a book no self-respecting teenage boy will want to miss.

Sam Enthoven

If ever a children's book deserves to be given the big-screen treatment, this is it

TIM is Tyrannosaurus Improved Model. He's a genetically modified dinosaur that the government have been growing in a secret bunker under Trafalgar Square. And he's on the loose, after the Prime Minister decides he's just too expensive to keep. He's huge and clumsy, and with just a few steps could crush much of central London. He tries to get away but something's calling him back... 
 
Professor Mallahide is very very clever. But also slightly crazy. He's developed an amazing new invention, where nanotechnology means that objects and even people can be taken apart, remodelled, changed and used for any purpose. It's an incredible tool - but also could be a very dangerous weapon in the wrong hands. Unfortunately it's in the hands of a mad scientist... 
 
Chris and Anna are caught up in something very big and scary. Can these two kids help at all as TIM and Professor Mallahide do battle? A spectacular novel of goodies and baddies fighting it out in London, using Big Ben as a spear and throwing themselves into Buckingham Palace. Hilarious, wild and utterly original.

Sam Enthoven

Books by Sam Enthoven

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