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Smiling Jack
A classic whodunnit with a startling and unexpected twist, Ken Catran's dark and brooding murder mystery is a real page-turner that will have you looking over your shoulder like Robert, desperately trying to second guess Smiling Jack..A murder mystery for teens set in small town New Zealand. there's something wrong with this picture. Robert lives in a small, prosperous rural town where his father is a respected and trusted pillar of the local community and financial advisor to the eccentric but essentially harmless community of Atenists who live nearby. When Robert's father and uncle are killed in road accident his comfortable world rapidly begins to unravel. With so much to deal with, he barely thinks about the evil grin on the playing card Jack found at the site of the accident. Until the second death, and the third, when once again Jack's leering malicious grin is found nearby. As Robert realises he never knew his father, those people his father betrayed turn against him, and he is forced to look deep into the shadows that are closing in if he is to get out alive.A classic whodunnit with a startling and unexpected twist, Ken Catran's dark and brooding murder mystery is a real page-turner that will have you looking over your shoulder like Robert, desperately trying to second guess Smiling Jack.
170 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
4 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Ken Catran
55 books14 followersKen Catran is a children's novelist and television screenwriter from New Zealand. He is the author of many teen novels, including Taken at the Flood, Voyage with Jason, Doomfire on Venus, Space Wolf, Talking to Blue and its sequel Blue Murder. He is perhaps best known for his Deepwater trilogy series
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 14, 2017
This is an intriguing young adult murder mystery that would be a terrific read for teenagers interested in crime/thriller tales, and can still be thoroughly enjoyed by adult readers too. Although it is of course a bit more 'basic' in terms of the storytelling than the adult crime novels I'm used to reading (being targeted at school-age readers), I was still caught up in Robert's predicament and small-town world. Catran has crafted a compelling page-turner, and creates a good narrative drive.
The story centres on Robert, a down-to-earth 18-year-old who suffers huge tragedy, which is then compounded by how he's treated by the townsfolk. Robert is likable and an easy character to follow and 'root for' in the story, especially given some of what he has to put up with.
Catran evokes a nice sense of place, bringing the rural area to life. Tucker is the type of small town where the locals all know each other, and each other's business - which isn't always a good thing.
I also enjoyed how Catran sprinkled some mythological, historical, and literary references throughout SMILING JACK, from Kipling's poetry to Beowulf. This added extra layers to the basic story.
Without giving too much away, there are plenty of twists along the way too. Overall SMILING JACK is an interesting read from a talented storyteller (who has written more than 50 books for children and young adults, won numerous awards, and had an Emmy nomination for his TV work).
Recommended for teenage readers looking to add some mystery and thrills to their reading.
The story centres on Robert, a down-to-earth 18-year-old who suffers huge tragedy, which is then compounded by how he's treated by the townsfolk. Robert is likable and an easy character to follow and 'root for' in the story, especially given some of what he has to put up with.
Catran evokes a nice sense of place, bringing the rural area to life. Tucker is the type of small town where the locals all know each other, and each other's business - which isn't always a good thing.
I also enjoyed how Catran sprinkled some mythological, historical, and literary references throughout SMILING JACK, from Kipling's poetry to Beowulf. This added extra layers to the basic story.
Without giving too much away, there are plenty of twists along the way too. Overall SMILING JACK is an interesting read from a talented storyteller (who has written more than 50 books for children and young adults, won numerous awards, and had an Emmy nomination for his TV work).
Recommended for teenage readers looking to add some mystery and thrills to their reading.
March 2, 2025
Juvenile writing, bland storytelling and the grammatical style was just annoying.
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August 5, 2010 I was a huge fan of Ken Catran's Talking to Blue trilogy which are big murder mystery books. So when I found out about Smiling Jack I got really excited and tried everything to get my hands on it. In a way I'm glad I did get to read it so fast and that I enjoyed it. But I think after Talking to Blue I had far too high expectations of Smiling Jack and it just wasn't as good.
Smiling Jack is a good read of its own right though. There's no doubt about that. If you're a fan of mysteries then you will enjoy Smiling Jack. By the end I had figured out who the murderer was but I hadn't figured out the motives or some other tiny little details so it was actually a nice surprise in the end.
I really liked Robert as a character. He was just really down to earth and a great character. I hated how the townspeople treated him though, I really thought they were far too harsh on poor Robert. Apart from Robert none of the other characters really stood out to me although Sarge Peggy was pretty cool.
There was a twist at the end that was a little crazy but it wasn't too bad.
To be honest I felt like this book was written more for a younger young adult age group. The writing wasn't too advanced and it was quite simple. It doesn't take very long to read through at all.
Overall, Smiling Jack is a good book by one of my favourite New Zealand authors and I really hope that Ken Catran writes more murder mystery books in the future. If you ever get the chance to read Smiling Jack then I suggest you do because it is pretty awesome.
Smiling Jack is a good read of its own right though. There's no doubt about that. If you're a fan of mysteries then you will enjoy Smiling Jack. By the end I had figured out who the murderer was but I hadn't figured out the motives or some other tiny little details so it was actually a nice surprise in the end.
I really liked Robert as a character. He was just really down to earth and a great character. I hated how the townspeople treated him though, I really thought they were far too harsh on poor Robert. Apart from Robert none of the other characters really stood out to me although Sarge Peggy was pretty cool.
There was a twist at the end that was a little crazy but it wasn't too bad.
To be honest I felt like this book was written more for a younger young adult age group. The writing wasn't too advanced and it was quite simple. It doesn't take very long to read through at all.
Overall, Smiling Jack is a good book by one of my favourite New Zealand authors and I really hope that Ken Catran writes more murder mystery books in the future. If you ever get the chance to read Smiling Jack then I suggest you do because it is pretty awesome.
August 28, 2023
Trigger warnings: Murder
6/10, well where do I begin with this one and this is the first and only book I've read from Ken Catran since my library does not have any other books that he wrote but he underwhelmed me with this crime novel. It starts off with the main character Robert living in Tucker, New Zealand when four people were killed and he tries to find out why and this is where the book gets quite unrealistic for two main reasons. First off Robert discovers some forest fortress where there is some sort of cult that believes in the Egyptian gods for whatever reason and I didn't find that believable and secondly there was a side plot that wasn't really needed where he dives into a lake with a trapdoor and a corridor to find some coins but apparently they were all fake so it was all for nothing I guess. I think the murderer was someone I least expected who might've used an alias and the only traces they left behind were jack cards with smiles on them which could represent something but I really am perplexed as to what they mean. The characters were just there to keep the story moving and I didn't care if some of them died since they had no characteristics whatsoever. I'm not surprised that my library has this novel because they like keeping old books, this one being 13 years old and better novels have been made since then. If you like crime novels skip this one and try the Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes instead of this.
6/10, well where do I begin with this one and this is the first and only book I've read from Ken Catran since my library does not have any other books that he wrote but he underwhelmed me with this crime novel. It starts off with the main character Robert living in Tucker, New Zealand when four people were killed and he tries to find out why and this is where the book gets quite unrealistic for two main reasons. First off Robert discovers some forest fortress where there is some sort of cult that believes in the Egyptian gods for whatever reason and I didn't find that believable and secondly there was a side plot that wasn't really needed where he dives into a lake with a trapdoor and a corridor to find some coins but apparently they were all fake so it was all for nothing I guess. I think the murderer was someone I least expected who might've used an alias and the only traces they left behind were jack cards with smiles on them which could represent something but I really am perplexed as to what they mean. The characters were just there to keep the story moving and I didn't care if some of them died since they had no characteristics whatsoever. I'm not surprised that my library has this novel because they like keeping old books, this one being 13 years old and better novels have been made since then. If you like crime novels skip this one and try the Inheritance Games series by Jennifer Lynn Barnes instead of this.
July 22, 2013
Smiling Jack by Ken Catran is a very gripping but chilling story. It is about an 18 year old boy named Robert who lives in a small rural town and is very happy there, until his uncle and father are killed in a car accident and then his whole world is shattered. When Robert arrives at the crash scene, he finds something very strange - a jack playing card with an evil smile drawn all the way across its mouth! This sets the scene for the creepy mystery that is about to unfold throughout the story.
This book is very well written and is full of cliff hangers with a massive twist at the end. I give this book a five out of five star rating for the whole thing being very well written and having a very original storyline with many twists and cliff hangers that make the reader never want to put it down.
This book is very well written and is full of cliff hangers with a massive twist at the end. I give this book a five out of five star rating for the whole thing being very well written and having a very original storyline with many twists and cliff hangers that make the reader never want to put it down.
January 5, 2016
Intrigue is created from the opening line "Smiling Jack came into my life about ten-thirty, one November night" and continues from chapter to chapter as the mystery deepens, then unravels.
The description of this novel being a page-turner is accurate.
Where would a modern story be without reference to a classic? 'Smiling Jack' is no different, with allusions to 'Beowulf', but don't worry as the connections are explained!
The description of this novel being a page-turner is accurate.
Where would a modern story be without reference to a classic? 'Smiling Jack' is no different, with allusions to 'Beowulf', but don't worry as the connections are explained!
March 12, 2012
Unsettling small-town New Zealand murder mystery. Dark, super descriptive (if you’re into that), male POV, not quite YA (MG/YA?).
Builds suspense for 262 pages, then throws in a super fast twisty wrap up (9 pages). Although the conclusion was a little too fast for me, I love that the loose ends were all sorted. This is a creepy murder mystery for young readers who are up for it.
Builds suspense for 262 pages, then throws in a super fast twisty wrap up (9 pages). Although the conclusion was a little too fast for me, I love that the loose ends were all sorted. This is a creepy murder mystery for young readers who are up for it.
Read
March 27, 2012A convoluted tale involving murder, Egyptian cults and missing gold set in a small NZ town. Not sure that I totally bought the resolution but an OK read with plucky, if not especially bright, protagonist.
April 1, 2014
I enjoyed the story in general but didn't believe the twist or the 'whodunnit'. I don't want clues to be explicit but do think it should be possible for a careful read to allow a switched on reader to figure it out.
January 25, 2016
A classic whodunnit with a startling and unexpected twists. A dark and brooding murder mystery is a real page-turner that will have you looking over your shoulder like Robert, desperately trying to second guess Smiling Jack. Hard to put down. Fast paced and high tension.
April 14, 2011
So far So Good - I recommend to those who like a mystery and murder! For those who get nightmares - I won't recommend reading at night! :D
August 23, 2011
i didnt read the whole book. it was just sooooo boring!!! i just couldn't read it! i don't even know who did it.
September 10, 2012
An ok book that wasn't altogether that scary but the cover itself gives me chills. I liked the idea of the story but the whole thing didn't really string together for me.
March 5, 2013
Non-stop pace and tension. This Kiwi thriller will have you guessing right to the last page. A terrific story line, perhaps too many dead bodies... but nevertheless a great read.
January 7, 2024
Was a good read with twists I didn’t expect
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews