The Dark Side of Midnight

This novel is written so determinedly to entertain that it almost seems churlish to find much of it contrived and unconvincing in return. A sub-James Bond story for kids of the type that Anthony Horowitz does so much better, it features special agent Assia Dawson and her 14-year-old daughter Jazmin. Assia's latest assignment is to investigate some sinister cloning experiments going on in the Czech Republic, involving the body of aman from the distant past. Her daughter meanwhile goes to stay with her spoilt cousin in Hong Kong - cue for much bitter humour about pampered rich girls. Mid-Atlantic dialogue aims to be reader-friendly, with phrases like 'kiss ass' and 'bum-flossing underwear', whatever that might be, yet the overall effect is too strained and silly ever to be credible. Page 135 sees a reference to 'Heidenberg's Uncertainty Principle', one of the more obvious mistakes in this generally misbegotten narrative from a writer whose previous novels suggest that she can do so much better.