Blog Tour Review - Moonlight Robbery by David Barker

 Blog Tour Review - Moonlight Robbery by David Barker

The Pitadel is a towering city built inside a vast lunar crevasse. Life there is divided by tiers - those at the top live in comfort, while those in the lower levels struggle to survive.

Twelve-year-old Max once lived in the upper levels with his relatives, trying to stay out of trouble by following the strict rulebook he made for himself. But when his cruel uncle throws him out of an airlock, Max’s carefully ordered life falls into chaos. Rescued by a daring young scavenger, Max is taken in by the Jetsams, a group of street-smart kids who scrape together a living in the lowest tiers of the Pitadel. It’s a dangerous world of secrets and survival, and Max isn’t sure he belongs.

But when Max discovers that his family is going to steal the inheritance left behind by his explorer father, he realizes salvation may be hidden somewhere deep within the Pitadel. To uncover the truth, Max will need help from his new friends and a plan bold enough to outsmart criminals, corrupt adults, and the city itself. But first he must do the one thing he’s always sworn never to do...

…Break his own rules!

Regular readers will know that I am a big fan of David Barker and his writing, and was the host on his last two book launches. His Pax trilogy is a great series of imaginative middle grade sci-fi that I've long loved and championed.

But Moonlight Robbery is probably his best book yet! I really loved reading it. 

From the very opening line it is exciting and mysterious and perilous in equal measures, as Max wakes up on his twelth birthday missing a finger. His day really doesn't improve from there either. An orphan, Max has been raised by a vile and horrid uncle and aunt, and a malicious cousin, since the death of his parents. But his uncle isn't just vile, he's downright murderous!

The Pitadel is a great sci-fi world David has created, a city burrowing down into a lava tube on the moon, where 50.000 people live in close quarters. It's a well realised world too, with clearly defined hierarchical structures, a world of inequality and unfairness. And Max ends up at the very bottom of that hierarchy, as he is cast out of his former life and ends up with a bunch of pickpockets and scavengers that feel very Oliver Twist.

The plot fairly flies along, like a young vagabond with a rocket pack, as we quickly discover that Max's casting out is more than just familial homicide, but part of a deeper mystery, with an inheritance up for grabs, nefarious politics at work, and a great secret just waiting to be discovered.

Moonlight Robbery is exciting and thrilling, fast paced and very, very fun!

Moonlight Robbery by David Barker is out now, published by Tiny Tree Books.
I was gifted a free copy in return for an honest review and participation in this blog tour.

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