As a long-standing fan and advocate of Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series, I was excited to discover a copy of his newest standalone novel, Airman, on the monsters’ shelves.  So, finding myself a comfy pile of something brown and gooey to sit in, I settled down to read.

My first realisation was that Airman is written in a completely different style to the Fowl books or, indeed, any of Colfer’s other superb works (The Supernaturalist, Half-Moon Detective Agency, etc.)  It feels more ‘grown-up’ while not written in a way that would alienate any of his current fans.

The story starts by introducing us to the unusual birth and comfortable childhood of Conor Broekhart – a young lad living on the Saltee Islands who is fascinated by the prospect that one day men might fly.  It isn’t long, however, before Colfer turns our hero’s world – and our expectations – upside down with a pair of murders and a dastardly cover story.

Once the action starts, it doesn’t let up for a second (including a chilling scene in the dungeons where bad guy, Hugo Bonvilain, plays the most audacious double-bluff ever comitted to paper!)  The reader is quickly transported from the relative opulance and happiness on Great Saltee to the diamond mines of Little Saltee – a prison so dreadful it makes our monstrous accommodation seem like a seaside bed and breakfast.

I won’t give any more away as I want you to enjoy this book for the page turner it is.  Clever, heartfelt and inspiring – Airman is great reading at its best.

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