Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

"Even the dead tell stories". Sig's father, Einar, has told Sig and his sister Anna this many times and until now Sig hasn't quite understood what his father meant.

It is 1910 and they are living in a cabin by a frozen lake, six miles outside of the Swedish mining town where Father works. Father had gone into town and but never returned to the cabin alive. Sig found his father's dead frozen body on the ice and was barely able to bring home the body without falling through the ice himself. Anna and their step-mother Nadya have gone to find help and left 16-year-old Sig alone in the cabin with Father's frozen body.

An unexpected knock at the door changes everything. The burly, menacing stranger, who calls himself Wolff, claims to know Sig's father from when they lived in Nome, Alaska 10 years before and has come for what Einar owes him. Wolff wants to the gold Father stole from him and won't leave until he gets it. The revolver on Wolff's hip tells Sig just how serious this stranger is. But Sig doesn't know anything about gold. He does, however, know where Father's Colt revolver is hidden.

Why I picked up the book: It had been on my radar due to it being a Printz Honor Book. When it was picked by the teachers group at CY, I finally took the opportunity to read it.

Why I finished it: The first sentence draws you in "Even the dead tell stories." It is fairly short novel and very well written.

I'd give it to: guys looking for a thriller/mystery/adventure or readers who know a lot about guns. Readers who don't mind narratives that switch back and forth through time (1899/1900 Nome, Alaska & 1910 Giron/Sweden). The action is somewhat slow to start but the mystery is worth it.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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