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TITLE :- Stone Cold
AUTHOR :- Robert Swindells.
MAIN CHARACTERS :-
LINK :- Homeless person. Born 20-3-1977 Bradford, Yorkshire. Got 5 GCSE’s but couldn’t get onto a training scheme as they were all full. Got his nick name from a sign post Thames link. Didn’t ... Read review
Advantages: quick read Disadvantages: guessed the ending
...:- Stone Cold
AUTHOR :- Robert Swindells.
MAIN CHARACTERS :-
LINK :- Homeless person. Born 20-3-1977 Bradford, Yorkshire. Got 5 GCSE’s but couldn’t get onto a training scheme as they were all full. Got his nick name from a sign post Thames link. Didn’t smoke, then started to after.
SHELTER :- Murderer. Aged 47. Ex Army dismissed on medical grounds after 29 years service. Lived at 9 Morington place. .../>
Bruises from lying on stone floors. Depression, stomach cramps from hunger. Fleas, lice, cold, toothache. Hallucinations from hunger.
Fright from being kicked around by lager louts or accosted by perverts.
Being peed on by dogs or humans whilst sleeping, one mans bed is another mans lavatory.
Washing in public lavatories.
Cannot get a job looking like a tramp. Cannot get DSS as there is no address to send it to. more
My Daughter is reading this book as part of her English course work for her exams. Me being an avid reader, thought I’d spend an hour reading it to see what children these days had to read. It did only take an hour to read, about a hundred pages. I don’t know how much the book costs or were you buy it from as my daughter got it from school.
I don’t want to tell you the plot and out come of the story, like Mary was hurt fell in love happy ending. I will tell you bits about the characters and let you fathom the rest out yourselves.
TITLE :- Stone Cold AUTHOR :- Robert Swindells.
MAIN CHARACTERS :-
LINK :- Homeless person. Born 20-3-1977 Bradford, Yorkshire. Got 5 GCSE’s but couldn’t get onto a training scheme as they were all full. Got his nick name from a sign post Thames link. Didn’t smoke, then started to after.
SHELTER :- Murderer. Aged 47. Ex Army dismissed on medical grounds after 29 years service. Lived at 9 Morington place.
SAPPHO :- Cat, bought to make Shelter look like a caring wally kind of man.
GINGER :- Homeless person from Birmingham, who’d spent 6/7 months on the street. Smoked. Killed by Shelter.
GAIL :- Real name Louise Bain journalist, pretending to be A homeless person from Glasgow. Kept pretending to phone her sister. Was curious about what she called the scene.
SECONDARY CHARACTERS:-
VINCE :- Mothers boyfriend, aged 50 grey haired with a beer belly. Drinks, tries to act young and talks dirty. Tried to make Link call him Dad.
CAROLE :- Sister, four years older than Link, who was kind to Link, but left home after Vince touched her.
CAPTAIN HOOK :- Real name Probyn aged 35ish. Bought six narrow boats to do up and hire out. To expensive to do up. He let them out to homeless people for £3 per night. Sixty to a boat. Can make £1,800 if all six boats are full. Boats were stinking from unwashed bodies.
DOGGYBAG :- Wouldn’t beg, used to put peoples left overs in a bag for himself to eat. Killed by shelter.
NICK :- Sells the Big Issue for 50p he gets to keep 30p. He’s a squatter.
TOYA :- Real name TANYA aged 17. Father came looking for her with a photograph. Killed by Shelter.
GAVIN :- Camera man.
TIM & RICKY :- Two friends of Ginger and Toya. LINKS MOTHER :- Turned from being a caring mum into an uncaring mum. Afraid of losing her boyfriend Vince.
LINKS FATHER :- Ran away with his secretary when Link was 14 in 1991.
SHELTER’s THOUGHTS AND PHRASES. (Very army and regimental like)
VICTIMS were called recruits. He called them his CAMDEN HORIZONTALS . VICTIMS were arranged the Army way, tallest on the left. Hair was cut short back and sides. BOOTS were bought from Bethnal Green and polished to a shine. Called Link = LINK THE STINK CHANGE I’D CHANGE YOU MY LAD IF I HAD YOU IN KHAKI FOR SIX WEEKS. Planned everything tells us about how serial killers use a pattern and how he would not. He chose boys and girls, he took them from different locations. Black and white people. Told us how he would not be caught like other murders have through lack of planning when disposing of the body. No acid baths or bits of bodies turning up for him. He would put his bodies under the floorboards, there would be no fear of decaying bodily smells coming up through the floor, as under his floor was a continual cold air, making it like a mini fridge.
HOMELESS PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS & LIFE.
Bruises from lying on stone floors. Depression, stomach cramps from hunger. Fleas, lice, cold, toothache. Hallucinations from hunger. Fright from being kicked around by lager louts or accosted by perverts. Being peed on by dogs or humans whilst sleeping, one mans bed is another mans lavatory. Washing in public lavatories. Cannot get a job looking like a tramp. Cannot get DSS as there is no address to send it to. Lying there counting the chimes on a church bell, not believing it is still that early and then realising they have another 6 hours to go before morning. Writing on cardboard placards saying, Non alcoholic, homeless, please help. People seldom give to winos. Link thought about the true story of 10 Rillington Place and the man who killed women. 10 Rillington place reminded him of 9 Morington Place.
SOLCREDULIST A person who believes everything they read in papers like the Sun. They think these people dress up like tramps, tap people for money all day get about £50 then go home to there warm comfy house and spend the money on drink and drugs.
VICTIMS
1st. Scottish man, found in a doorway near Camden station. SHELTER pretended to run a hostel on Plender Street called the Town House Project, telling him it was full tonight but he could sleep on his couch, took him home killed him.
2nd Female, coming out of Regent Palace Hotel, Soho. She had used the loo. He waited till she was up the road tapped her on the shoulder and pretended to be a security guard. She was upset and pleaded her innocence, he then sort of hinted for her to come back to his place for nooky, and all would be forgiven. She went, he killed her.
3rd Male from by the Grand Union Canal. I think it was Doggy Bag. Shelter Pretended to run a hostel on Plender Street man said there’s no hostel there, shelter said it’s new. Come home with me first to feed my cat and I’ll take you there. Got home homeless person bent down to stroke cat, Shelter killed him with a tin of Kit-e-Kat.
Shelter was pleased with three victims and kept thinking about how three crops up, like three blind mice, three wishes.
Next 3 victims Black guy, Six foot Scouser who stole Links watch and Ginger.
Then Toya
Toyas father had come looking for her and even went to Shelters house, got no reply, he told the police the police investigated, but found Shelter to be a kind caring old softy.
When it got to seven Shelter thought of seven, like seven deadly sins and The Magnificent Seven.
Ginger was caught and killed by shelter who pretended that he had knocked Link over in his car. Shelter had made his couch look as if there was someone lying on it, covered in a blanket. Shelter even put blood on the blanket from a pigs liver. When Ginger ran to the couch, Shelter killed him.
Shelter had planned to do the same trick on Link saying Ginger had been hurt.
This book was written chapter by chapter each chapter telling the other side of the story.
Advantages: Truthful (it gives you a very strong incite to lives on the street) Disadvantages: i ant think of any lol
Stone cold, another excellent book by Robert Swindells. It is a moving but truthful novel. It was a really exciting, gripping book to read. It gave me an in site of what homeless people really go though.
The novel used techniques that really help to put more suspense and feeling into the novel. One of the most used techniques in the novel is short sentences. Swindells makes the story have great suspense in short sentences.
"Oh no lad. Not going ... ...also used to persuade people about something.
I thought that stone cold was a very gripping and emotional novel it really helped me to see how hard it truly is for homeless people. The only problem I had with the book is that I think the ending was rushed. ...
kayzschick 26.11.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Stone Cold - Robert Swindells
...things….
Robert Swindells novel, Stone Cold, is written around a murder mystery set in London in the late 1980’s. When RS was writing Stone Cold, to get some background information for the book, he actually spent three nights living rough in the centre of London so that he was able to get just the smallest glimpse of the way that the homeless live. The book focus’ a lot on the social fringes of the homeless and the dropouts in ... ...a home.
The story of Stone Cold tells us a lot about the homeless in London, it tells us that there are more people sleeping rough in London than anywhere else in the country. It also tells us a lot about the life and the background of Link, to help us to understand fully about the protagonist’s reasons for being homeless.
Stone Cold is a story with a moral. It seeks to entertain, but at the same time to raise awareness of the homeless’ ...
Neff 23.05.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Stone Cold - Robert Swindells
Advantages: Giving a better understanding of homeless people and their situations Disadvantages: Dual-Narrative-often confusing, lack of direction.
The book, Stone Cold, written by Robert Swindells, evolves around a teenage boy nicknamed Link, who is having an extremely difficult time dealing with family life, due to his mothers relationship with her rude, arrogant boyfriend Vince. The book follows the 16 year old throughout his journey, showing both the advantages and disadvantages of freedom. It is clear from the start of the book that Link feels uncomfortable in his home. He does not appear ... ...seemed that Link had a good relationship with his sister, Karen. Her boyfriend, on the other hand, stood in the way of their relationship and they therefore grew apart.
The short introduction at the beginning of the book gives a good impression as to what his life is like. One quote from the first page which is extremely touching is as follows; ".....I'm invisible, see." Other language similar to this used in the rest of the story, showing a insecure, ...
xjayneyx 01.06.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Stone Cold - Robert Swindells
Advantages: a fantastic read, truly brilliant Disadvantages: absolutely none
Stone Cold is one of the best examples of childrens books in many years. It uses an alternating narrative which means that one chapter is from one side of the story (the hero) and the next chapter will be from the others point of view(the villains)
This makes the story more exciting and makes you read on and discover the others point of view.
Stone Cold is about a homeless boy called Ginger who leaves home after beatings from his stepfather and ... ...the life of a homeless boy in London.
Ginger is the hero, but the villian is called Shelter (ironic name) you'll see why later!
He wants to rid the streets of "scum" as he calls it.
He wants all prostitutes and homeless people dead, and he does this by luring them into his home for a bed for the night and a meal.
And you've guessed it, Ginger is to become one of his next victims. This really is an amazing childrens book and you should definitely ...
klapaucius 23.07.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Stone Cold - Robert Swindells
Advantages: Touching and life altering Disadvantages: Contains some stong language
I don’t know why this book is in the children’s section, as although, yes, it is written in a way that is suitable for children as far as language is considered, I feel that it is really more for mature children, definately those over 12. It contains some strong language, though not enough to in any way put you off. I have just started to study this book in English Language, and although we have only just started the project, I found the book so ... ...It tells the story of a man, who is ex-army, and calls himself Shelter and also of a boy, link, and his life on the streets. It is cleverly told through both of their eyes. The man hates homeless people - he thinks they make the streets look messy and that they give the country a bad reputation. So, he decides to try to get rid of them - by killing them. He pretends that he owns a Homeless persons Shelter, and coaxes the unsuspecting victims to his ...
snow_queen 09.02.2004
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Advantages: Very exciting, well develpoed characters, and the plot moves quickly. Disadvantages: The ending is rather an anticlimax.
When StoneCold was first released, it caused a bit of debate, because the harsh world it shows is very different to the normality of the enchanted, happy worlds usually displayed in children's literature.
The book tells the tale of two very different characters, and is a double narrative. The two stories are very different at the begining, but as the plot unfolds, the two meet in a thrilling ending.
The first character is Shelter, carries the thrill element of the book. Sheler was discharged from the army on 'medical grounds', after serving for 29 years. Shelter thinks that 'medical grounds' is just an excuse, and really the army is undergoing a conspiracy to undermine the country with homeless people. Shelter intends to do something about it.
Link, on the other hand, carries the social message. Link is 16, and is homeless. He ...
This is a tense, exciting thriller combined with a perceptive and harrowing portrait of life on the streets as a serial killer preys on the young and vulnerable homeless. 17-year-old Link is distrustful of people until he pairs up with Deb, homeless like him. But what Deb doesn't tell him is that she's an ambitious young journalist on a self-imposed assignment to track down the killer and that she's prepared to use herself as bait ...This title is winner of the Carnegie Medal.
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