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Traces #1
Nameštaljka
Svet se promenio. U neodređenoj budućnosti, Engleska je savršeno uređena zemlja u kojoj je ljudska sudbina postala mnogo izvesnija. Napredna tehnologija olakšava svakodnevno funkcionisanje, ali i donošenje važnih odluka. Vlasti posle pete godine uzimaju decu od roditelja, odgajaju ih, biraju im zanimanja u skladu sа sposobnostima, biraju im partnere s kojima će dobiti najuspešnije potomstvo. Ljubav, želje, kao i sve ostalo što nema racionalno opravdanje ili upotrebnu vrednost, smatra se zastarelim, suvišnim i nebitnim. Na ljudima je samo da budu poslušni i revnosno ispunjavaju svoje dužnosti. Čak se i buntovništvo može upotrebiti za opšte dobro: oni koji vole da postavljaju pitanja i koji ne misle da su stvari onakve kakvima se čine na prvi pogled mogu postati, na primer, odlični detektivi.
Luk je u šesnaestoj godini postao zvanično najmlađa osoba kojoj je uspelo da se kvalifikuje za forenzičkog istražitelja. Nije stigao to ni da proslavi kad ga je njegov mobilni asistent, robot Malk, obavestio da im je dodeljen prvi slučaj. Učenik Lukove škole ubijen je pod nerazjašnjenim okolnostima. Čini se da je ubica ne samo vešt strelac već i da odlično poznaje kriminalističku proceduru i školske tajne, da se razume u računare i biologiju, pa ne ostavlja tragove za sobom, osim nekoliko koji vode – pravo ka Luku... To što je u svom prvom službenom slučaju osumnjičen upravo on sam, nije najveća briga u Lukovom životu: Komitet za uparivanje doneo je odluku da će on i njegova devojka Džejd biti upareni s nekim drugim ljudima i živeti na različitim krajevima zemlje. Neke stvari se ipak ne mogu dozvoliti... „Nameštaljku" – prvu knjigu u sedmodelnom serijalu „Tragovi" – organizacije USBBY (Američki ogranak IBBY) i Children’s Book Council proglasile su najboljom internacionalnom knjigom za mlade za 2006. godinu.
Luk je u šesnaestoj godini postao zvanično najmlađa osoba kojoj je uspelo da se kvalifikuje za forenzičkog istražitelja. Nije stigao to ni da proslavi kad ga je njegov mobilni asistent, robot Malk, obavestio da im je dodeljen prvi slučaj. Učenik Lukove škole ubijen je pod nerazjašnjenim okolnostima. Čini se da je ubica ne samo vešt strelac već i da odlično poznaje kriminalističku proceduru i školske tajne, da se razume u računare i biologiju, pa ne ostavlja tragove za sobom, osim nekoliko koji vode – pravo ka Luku... To što je u svom prvom službenom slučaju osumnjičen upravo on sam, nije najveća briga u Lukovom životu: Komitet za uparivanje doneo je odluku da će on i njegova devojka Džejd biti upareni s nekim drugim ljudima i živeti na različitim krajevima zemlje. Neke stvari se ipak ne mogu dozvoliti... „Nameštaljku" – prvu knjigu u sedmodelnom serijalu „Tragovi" – organizacije USBBY (Američki ogranak IBBY) i Children’s Book Council proglasile su najboljom internacionalnom knjigom za mlade za 2006. godinu.
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
32 people are currently reading
719 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Rose
59 books64 followersBelieve it or not, until Easter 1996, I was a Lecturer in Chemistry at The Open University. I carried out research in analytical chemistry, particularly in the area of health, and I taught mainly organic chemistry. The teaching part of the job predominantly involved writing, with some radio, TV and video work. It also left very little time for fiction writing which I tackled mostly after midnight. Perhaps that is why some of my strongest scenes are set on dark nights! Anyway, I am now a full-time writer.
Many people think it odd and fascinating that a scientist should also be a novelist but I don’t find it strange. After all, scientists have to be creative and show perseverance to carry out research. They also write a lot; in particular, they produce textbooks and articles on their research. Anyone who is imaginative, can stick to a task, and knows how to construct a sentence has the credentials for writing a novel. On top of that, my chemical research was aimed at understanding a little better some aspects of human life. A novel also seeks to illuminate some aspects of human life. The aims are similar even if the tools are different.
I reckon novel writing is not so removed from chemistry as you might think. In one life, I mix chemicals, stew them for a while and observe the reaction. In the other, I mix characters, stir in a bit of conflict and, again, observe the outcome.
I began writing stories while I was carrying out research at York for my DPhil degree in chemistry. Writing became a means of escape from everyday life. While I was at York, my then girlfriend (now wife) read my efforts and commented that I ought to try and get something published. I had never thought of writing as anything other than a hobby. Besides, as I thought then, a budding chemist couldn’t possibly be any good at it! Anyway, I joined a writers’ club to find out how to submit a manuscript to a publisher and, to cut a long story short, found a publisher in William Collins for my first novel, Rift.
I am now over half a century old, married to Barbara and have one son (Colin) who is an architect. I read all of my stories aloud to Barbara and Colin and they help me with their comments.
Many people think it odd and fascinating that a scientist should also be a novelist but I don’t find it strange. After all, scientists have to be creative and show perseverance to carry out research. They also write a lot; in particular, they produce textbooks and articles on their research. Anyone who is imaginative, can stick to a task, and knows how to construct a sentence has the credentials for writing a novel. On top of that, my chemical research was aimed at understanding a little better some aspects of human life. A novel also seeks to illuminate some aspects of human life. The aims are similar even if the tools are different.
I reckon novel writing is not so removed from chemistry as you might think. In one life, I mix chemicals, stew them for a while and observe the reaction. In the other, I mix characters, stir in a bit of conflict and, again, observe the outcome.
I began writing stories while I was carrying out research at York for my DPhil degree in chemistry. Writing became a means of escape from everyday life. While I was at York, my then girlfriend (now wife) read my efforts and commented that I ought to try and get something published. I had never thought of writing as anything other than a hobby. Besides, as I thought then, a budding chemist couldn’t possibly be any good at it! Anyway, I joined a writers’ club to find out how to submit a manuscript to a publisher and, to cut a long story short, found a publisher in William Collins for my first novel, Rift.
I am now over half a century old, married to Barbara and have one son (Colin) who is an architect. I read all of my stories aloud to Barbara and Colin and they help me with their comments.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
June 23, 2021
On my third time reading this it was still just as good as the first and second.
A solid murder mystery with enough complexity and twists to keep you on your toes. The doomed romance storyline between the protagonist, Luke, and one of the side characters, Jade, was a nice added bonus that I can't wait to see continue as the series goes on.
A solid murder mystery with enough complexity and twists to keep you on your toes. The doomed romance storyline between the protagonist, Luke, and one of the side characters, Jade, was a nice added bonus that I can't wait to see continue as the series goes on.
May 26, 2025
Eine nette, kurzweilige Jugendgeschichte, die überraschend brutal war. Mit hat das Buch für einen Krimi ganz gut gefallen, nur kam nicht wirklich Spannung beim lesen auf. Ich hätte mir mehr Nervenkitzel gewünscht, aber für Kinder mit noch wenig Leseerfahrung ist die Buchreihe sicher sehr gut geeignet.
4/10⭐
4/10⭐
May 26, 2010
Set in a quasi-dystopic future--in which children are removed from their parents at the age of five to begin their schooling and come under the aegis of the shadowy 'Authorities'; where marriages (called "Pairings") are arranged on the basis of genetics and aptitude groupings (a scientist to a scientist, an artist to an artist, etc.); where race is turned upside down and white people are considered freaks and abominations because everyone is brown--Framed!, the first book in a series, is a thought-provoking look at a potential future of the human race. Set in England and focusing on the life of Luke Harding, a savant in the field of forensics and, at 16, the youngest certified Forensic Investigator, his trusty robotic aide MALC, a Mobile Aid to Law and Crime, and Luke's girlfriend Jade, a talented musician and forbidden love, the book introduces us to Luke's world and his first crime, a murder. Newly qualified as an investigator, the murder seems routine until Luke discovers that all the clues point to him as the perpetrator. When more bodies show up, each one pointing to Luke, he's forced to use all his skills and those of MALC, to solve the crime and clear his name.
Framed! manages to mix together teen angst and a murder mystery, all within a greater setting of a not-quite-ideal future. While the mystery isn't very complex and is more police-procedural than a typical “sleuthing” mystery, the book still deals with the human emotions and urges which motivate all crimes. Malcolm Rose also introduces the underlying tension of such a society, in which a person's life is ruled by a severe set of rules; Luke, though a part of that system, has a rebellious side which provokes him to question those rules and the system which governs them. The most frustrating, yet intelligent part of the book is the fact that we, the reader, don't know exactly when all this action is taking place. No specific year is given and no explanation is laid out for why things are the way they are: why London is now a semi-abandoned town full of bandits and the south of England is considered almost uninhabitable; why the north of England is the center of all learning and enlightenment. All the answers to those questions are left up to the reader to decide, which adds an almost “Choose Your Own Adventure” flavor to the story. I'll state the obvious here: I'm neither the sex nor the age group this book is aimed at, yet I enjoyed it all the same, and I don't feel ashamed about that.
Framed! manages to mix together teen angst and a murder mystery, all within a greater setting of a not-quite-ideal future. While the mystery isn't very complex and is more police-procedural than a typical “sleuthing” mystery, the book still deals with the human emotions and urges which motivate all crimes. Malcolm Rose also introduces the underlying tension of such a society, in which a person's life is ruled by a severe set of rules; Luke, though a part of that system, has a rebellious side which provokes him to question those rules and the system which governs them. The most frustrating, yet intelligent part of the book is the fact that we, the reader, don't know exactly when all this action is taking place. No specific year is given and no explanation is laid out for why things are the way they are: why London is now a semi-abandoned town full of bandits and the south of England is considered almost uninhabitable; why the north of England is the center of all learning and enlightenment. All the answers to those questions are left up to the reader to decide, which adds an almost “Choose Your Own Adventure” flavor to the story. I'll state the obvious here: I'm neither the sex nor the age group this book is aimed at, yet I enjoyed it all the same, and I don't feel ashamed about that.
April 10, 2017
I was supposed to read a book over the summer going into 7th grade, so this book looked promising to me and when I read it, I absolutely loved it!!!
January 13, 2023
In this murder mystery, Luke Harding just got his license as a Forensic Investigator. However, just a day after he got the license, a murder struck. Someone shot Crispin Addley, Luke’s academic rival, with an arrow. Soon after, Ms. Kee, the head principal of the school, gets injected with poison. After a little longer, Vince Wainwright, the person who Luke’s best friend was paired to be married with, was killed with a glass cutter. The worst part is, all the evidence is pointing to Luke. After thinking about it, Vince Wainwright was going to get paired (pairing is a system where students have the people they marry chosen for them) with his lover, Jade. Ms. Kee gave Luke a lot of punishments back in the day, and Crispin was Luke’s academic rival. One important thing Luke noticed was that all of the weapons were related. The glass cutter that killed Vince had DIAMONDS on it, the poison that killed Ms. Kee was venom from a DIAMONDback rattlesnake, and the head of the arrow that killed Crispin was DIAMOND shaped. The thing is, Luke’s nickname among the teachers is Diamond because he’s a diamond student. So it was clear, someone was trying to frame Luke. He started tracking people that he knew hated him and narrowed it down to two people. Ed Hoffman, Luke’s rival in sports, and Rick Glenfield, a teacher who got downgraded to janitor due to Luke hacking Jade’s grades on Rick’s watch. Luke knew a few things. There was a weird powder at Vince’s death scene (gripping powder for basketball), Ed was heading to detention around the time of Ms. Kee’s death, and both Rick and Ed were both skilled archers. Luke was able to infer who the culprit was, but he didn’t have enough physical evidence. So, he came up with a plan to force a confession. He asked Jade to help him with this invention that she made called Spotlight Sound. It makes a spotlight of sound that you can only hear when you enter the “spotlight.” Then, during Ms. Kee’s funeral (which Jade made the music for), she used Spotlight Sound to play a pre-recording of Malc’s voice that said “You’re under arrest for murder.” Since only the culprit heard that, he confessed in front of everyone at the funeral that it was him, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. The culprit pulled out a knife to stab Luke, but Jade played an ear-splitting sound and directed it to only the culprit through Spotlight Sound. This caused him to get distracted until guards came, and Ed Hoffman was arrested for three murders.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2022
Must Read!!!!
July 3, 2024
This was beloved series I read as a kid and I am thrilled to be revisiting it.
August 4, 2016
Love this book!It's so addictive.I just hope I get the rest of the novels in the series. The Setting;The setting is great.Futuristic London ?That's just...creative! In addition to that,the people are being ruled by''The Authorities''and they have this system where children are separated from their parents at the age of five and taken to residental schools.They stay at schools until they are sixteen and ready to explore the world.They also have a pairing committee who choose their life time partners at sixteen years and finally pair them at the age of 20. In the first book,Luke is the youngest person to qualify to be an FI.He rarely has time to celebrate when he is called for his first case ever.As the story progresses,Luke finds out he's being framed for the murder .Two other people get killed and now it's up to him to find out who framed him up...before it's too late! The way he solved the murder(with his mobile aid to law and crime andgirlfriend Jade Vernon) was super cool.This is a must read for Y.A fiction lovers!
October 17, 2017
As my first read for my book group at work, I have to say this one was a fun one, if a little difficult to figure out what exactly it wanted to be. The murder-mystery part was there, sure, and it had a nice little sci-fi twist with Malc the robot sidekickj, as well as our teen-prodigy YA protagonist. (I might also want to recommend this book to middle-grade readers, though the violence level is just high enough that perhaps not.) But then there were some strange little nuggets of world-building, implying a sort of dystopian setting (after all, where else would the government be so invested in making sure artists reproduced more artists, architects reproduced more architects, etc.?), and because of how short the book is, these more unsettling elements are all but left to take a backseat to the murder mystery. I suppose maybe the sequels will expand on this somewhat - hopefully so if I'm to continue the rest of this series.
January 8, 2017
This book is totally amazing, full of suspense and an amazing murder story in which,16-year old
FI Luke Harding has just graduated but before even celebrating he's got to solve a case. Accompanied by his mobile aid, Malc he has to solve a life threatening case in which he himself is a prime suspect as per The Authorities. It's a must-read book guys!
FI Luke Harding has just graduated but before even celebrating he's got to solve a case. Accompanied by his mobile aid, Malc he has to solve a life threatening case in which he himself is a prime suspect as per The Authorities. It's a must-read book guys!
October 23, 2015
I'm obviously not the target audience for this book any more. I originally read this series when I was younger and I enjoyed it a lot. However this time round I thought that the whole book was very one dimensional.
January 15, 2020
I have read this book so many times even before previously published and fell in love with the whole world and very different take on forensic science. It is a well built world and cleverly crafted tale with an interesting character dynamic. I can’t wait to finally read more of the series.
October 11, 2017
This has been the only book I’ve had to force myself through because I’ve legitimately wanted to quit reading it and start a complete new book. The only thing that kept me going was knowing my vocabulary would increase by reading. The proclaimed plot wasn’t even followed, and the characters were so bland it made me uncomfortable just to try to relate to their likes, which were near to nothing. I’d say the only interesting thing about Luke was that he commonly ate pomegranates.
Characters: The characters of this book either have personalities that make them seem brain dead ghosts that go with whatever is given to them to do. The characters that do have personalities try to be stereotypes but screw up in doing that. A prime example of this is Jade’s punk rocker girl attitude and appearance, we wouldn't think of her to be straight up caring the moment she’s mentioned in the book. There were even points when she could show a good personality, like when she introduced her spotlight sound, she sounded more like a technician that who she really should be, she didn’t even seem excited, like “Yeah! Doesn’t it sound great? I just love this song!”, instead we got a boring, vegetable version of a stereotype.
Plot: The plot of this book follows Luke Harding, a very young investigator, on three murder cases. However, the clues don’t seem to make the story pop in anyway, there is no ‘aha!’ moment. It doesn’t leave you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know the suspect at all. I didn’t even have a guess on who it could be in the end, and the ending itself wasn’t a shock, in fact, the conflict that happens here didn’t even make me tense up or feel concerned for Luke, they didn’t exaggerate or make it a big deal.
Conflict: The conflict, according to the summary on the back of the book, is supposed to be all the evidence pointing to Luke, as if he had committed his own case. However, instead, we only get him questioning other people, and evidence rarely pointing to him. Luke himself only mentions proving his innocence a few times, as if just reminding us will make it stick. There is no internal conflict about the murders with him, all he cares about is the case and very rarely is doing anything else. I guess the author ‘tried’ to make a secondary conflict with the pairing community and jade, but even that doesn’t resolve in the end, and it made me feel very unsatisfied about it even being mentioned.
What I Learned: The only thing I could really learn from this look was my increase in vocabulary, and what a bad book can really be. I’ve never encountered a book I couldn’t get into in any way, shape, or form until this. This had so much potential to be an actual good book, but the characters and descriptions were so bland that it isn’t. I feel like this book should be on the wall of shame of suspenseful murder mysteries.
Characters: The characters of this book either have personalities that make them seem brain dead ghosts that go with whatever is given to them to do. The characters that do have personalities try to be stereotypes but screw up in doing that. A prime example of this is Jade’s punk rocker girl attitude and appearance, we wouldn't think of her to be straight up caring the moment she’s mentioned in the book. There were even points when she could show a good personality, like when she introduced her spotlight sound, she sounded more like a technician that who she really should be, she didn’t even seem excited, like “Yeah! Doesn’t it sound great? I just love this song!”, instead we got a boring, vegetable version of a stereotype.
Plot: The plot of this book follows Luke Harding, a very young investigator, on three murder cases. However, the clues don’t seem to make the story pop in anyway, there is no ‘aha!’ moment. It doesn’t leave you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know the suspect at all. I didn’t even have a guess on who it could be in the end, and the ending itself wasn’t a shock, in fact, the conflict that happens here didn’t even make me tense up or feel concerned for Luke, they didn’t exaggerate or make it a big deal.
Conflict: The conflict, according to the summary on the back of the book, is supposed to be all the evidence pointing to Luke, as if he had committed his own case. However, instead, we only get him questioning other people, and evidence rarely pointing to him. Luke himself only mentions proving his innocence a few times, as if just reminding us will make it stick. There is no internal conflict about the murders with him, all he cares about is the case and very rarely is doing anything else. I guess the author ‘tried’ to make a secondary conflict with the pairing community and jade, but even that doesn’t resolve in the end, and it made me feel very unsatisfied about it even being mentioned.
What I Learned: The only thing I could really learn from this look was my increase in vocabulary, and what a bad book can really be. I’ve never encountered a book I couldn’t get into in any way, shape, or form until this. This had so much potential to be an actual good book, but the characters and descriptions were so bland that it isn’t. I feel like this book should be on the wall of shame of suspenseful murder mysteries.
October 13, 2017
Traces luke harding forensic investigator it's a mystery novel and crime it takes you through a crime twist well in Luke harding forensic investigator. well there a girl that got shot right in the kidney with a arrow and luke was the investigator his fingerprints were all over the arrow and the bow so they threw the investigator in jail then they found out that the robot Luke created his names malc. He was the murder and they went and destroyed the robot before it killed more people.
Characters: The characters are make believe like luke the investigator he is a little shy and happy and confident malc the robot is evil and mysterious. Luke thinks he can solve every mystery but he doesn’t know what he’s doing but he thinks he is the best of all time Malc I would of thought he would be more nice but he is not.
Conflict: The story for me I thought it would of been a little better but the main conflict was about a girl and a killer and the killer shot the girl with the arrow in the kidney. Then the girl lived for a couple hours and then the investigator was investigating and the robot scanned the girl for fingerprints and found the investigator prints. Then he threw the investigator in jail but later they found out the robot was acting weird and they straped the robot to a chair and asked it questions and it came and said it killed the girl and they destroyed it and created a new one.
Plot: The summary was good the author was Malcolm rose he uses a lot of emotion in the book and he moved the plot a lot like back and forth and had team work. In it he had a lot of creative events and feeling in it and he placed the event s everywhere most of it was in a school.
What i have learned:I recommend it because I liked it and I learned that all the books are going to be a twist and it wasn't bad twist I recommend all the series the author uses a lot of crime and twisted parts analyzing people were they got shot and I like the book and it's a nice book to read and I am going to read the whole series it's good and I like them. Also the character in the story is based on a crime that wasn't his fault and it should of been the robot that went the jail and after he destroys it and makes a new one.
Characters: The characters are make believe like luke the investigator he is a little shy and happy and confident malc the robot is evil and mysterious. Luke thinks he can solve every mystery but he doesn’t know what he’s doing but he thinks he is the best of all time Malc I would of thought he would be more nice but he is not.
Conflict: The story for me I thought it would of been a little better but the main conflict was about a girl and a killer and the killer shot the girl with the arrow in the kidney. Then the girl lived for a couple hours and then the investigator was investigating and the robot scanned the girl for fingerprints and found the investigator prints. Then he threw the investigator in jail but later they found out the robot was acting weird and they straped the robot to a chair and asked it questions and it came and said it killed the girl and they destroyed it and created a new one.
Plot: The summary was good the author was Malcolm rose he uses a lot of emotion in the book and he moved the plot a lot like back and forth and had team work. In it he had a lot of creative events and feeling in it and he placed the event s everywhere most of it was in a school.
What i have learned:I recommend it because I liked it and I learned that all the books are going to be a twist and it wasn't bad twist I recommend all the series the author uses a lot of crime and twisted parts analyzing people were they got shot and I like the book and it's a nice book to read and I am going to read the whole series it's good and I like them. Also the character in the story is based on a crime that wasn't his fault and it should of been the robot that went the jail and after he destroys it and makes a new one.
June 15, 2020
So far this was actually my least favourite book by Malcolm Rose. I have actually read quite a lot of books by him and usually really enjoy them but there was something about this one that just didn't do it for me. I can't quite put my finger on why - but it just didn't live up his usual standards.
The premise was okay, I didn't actually realise that it had a dystopian futuristic element to it - must have missed that - and I actually quite liked it and would have liked more. But I found the MALC thing a bit weird - it also seemed to me that the MALC did all the work rather than Luke as he just told it what to do - he seemed to only solve it though luck rather than actual proper deduction.
I think I will probably try one more and see if want to keep going. I hope the dystopian world gets explained more.
3 stars - mediocre and under par for Malcolm Rose
The premise was okay, I didn't actually realise that it had a dystopian futuristic element to it - must have missed that - and I actually quite liked it and would have liked more. But I found the MALC thing a bit weird - it also seemed to me that the MALC did all the work rather than Luke as he just told it what to do - he seemed to only solve it though luck rather than actual proper deduction.
I think I will probably try one more and see if want to keep going. I hope the dystopian world gets explained more.
3 stars - mediocre and under par for Malcolm Rose
June 3, 2022
I was nostalgic about it but I didn't expect to love it this much.
It was so engaging and fast paced that I had to finish it right away. Maybe not the greatest villainous mystery ever, but it was immensely fun to see the clues coming together and Luke and Malc's dynamic. I found these books again after years of looking for them and I am overjoyed. I can't wait to read the rest of the series, the last time I read them I only got to book 5 as that was all they had in the library.
Excellent,truly. The fun of a mystery without the gruesome and gross stuff of 'adult' thrillers.
It was so engaging and fast paced that I had to finish it right away. Maybe not the greatest villainous mystery ever, but it was immensely fun to see the clues coming together and Luke and Malc's dynamic. I found these books again after years of looking for them and I am overjoyed. I can't wait to read the rest of the series, the last time I read them I only got to book 5 as that was all they had in the library.
Excellent,truly. The fun of a mystery without the gruesome and gross stuff of 'adult' thrillers.
January 30, 2025
An intriguing read! I enjoyed the mystery (even though I was wrong about the murderer!), and all the little details of worldbuilding hooked me into wanting to know more about this quasi-dystopian world! Definitely need to find the next in the series, I’m looking forward to seeing how Luke’s future unfolds!
February 11, 2018
I read this book nearly 10 years ago. All I remember is that he investigates crimes and he has this little robot that hovers over his shoulder and helps him. I remember really liking the premise and found the story delightful. It's definitely a middle school title.
October 25, 2017
amazing read
October 16, 2022
*2.5
Not the best writing, world or mystery, but a fast read
Not the best writing, world or mystery, but a fast read
February 22, 2024
2.75! i am so glad i found this book again
August 25, 2025
This was my favourite series as a pre-teen. I’m now 28 and it is still my all time favourite. I re-read the series every year or two!
October 28, 2024
I read Lost Bullet so long ago and forgot how fast-paced and perhaps juvenile the series is. Awesome read though.
October 4, 2025
I'm making it a priority to tackle the oldest books on my TBR pile and just like
The Blood of Olympus
,
Blood Brother
, the sixth book in this series, has been collecting dust on my shelves for over 10 years.
I first encountered this series as a preteen, devouring the first five books. As someone who loved mystery stories and dreamed of being a detective, these books were perfect for me. While I've veered into an entirely different career path, my love for these types of stories remain.
Framed introduces us to a dystopian world, where we meet Luke Harding, a newly graduated forensic investigator. Alongside his robot sidekick, MALC, Luke is given his first murder case to investigate; one that might just point to him as the prime suspect.
The most intriguing aspect of Framed is its dystopian setting. While the book doesn't dive deeply into the worldbuilding, we’re given glimpses into this future society. The stark contrast between the North and South of London, the futuristic technologies, and the fact that species like cats are endangered adds an interesting layer to the story.
Luke has a strong personality and he and MALC bounce off each other so well. As a classic "whodunnit" mystery, almost every character Luke interacts with comes under suspicion. The way clues are revealed and tied together is engaging, and the mystery itself kept me hooked for most of the book. While the mystery's reveal was innovative, the conclusion was rushed and abrupt and the way the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place felt unsatisfying
Framed offers a solid mystery in a futuristic setting, with an intriguing premise. However, the abrupt conclusion, along with the underdeveloped plot and worldbuilding felt somewhat disappointing.
I first encountered this series as a preteen, devouring the first five books. As someone who loved mystery stories and dreamed of being a detective, these books were perfect for me. While I've veered into an entirely different career path, my love for these types of stories remain.
Framed introduces us to a dystopian world, where we meet Luke Harding, a newly graduated forensic investigator. Alongside his robot sidekick, MALC, Luke is given his first murder case to investigate; one that might just point to him as the prime suspect.
The most intriguing aspect of Framed is its dystopian setting. While the book doesn't dive deeply into the worldbuilding, we’re given glimpses into this future society. The stark contrast between the North and South of London, the futuristic technologies, and the fact that species like cats are endangered adds an interesting layer to the story.
Luke has a strong personality and he and MALC bounce off each other so well. As a classic "whodunnit" mystery, almost every character Luke interacts with comes under suspicion. The way clues are revealed and tied together is engaging, and the mystery itself kept me hooked for most of the book. While the mystery's reveal was innovative, the conclusion was rushed and abrupt and the way the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place felt unsatisfying
Framed offers a solid mystery in a futuristic setting, with an intriguing premise. However, the abrupt conclusion, along with the underdeveloped plot and worldbuilding felt somewhat disappointing.
November 21, 2012
Luke is a flat character because in the book, all he does is just interrogate people and find the killer. Nothing happens to him in his life because he just investigates but how he catches the killer is very thrilling and cool.
Jade is a flat character too because she is rarely in the story. She likes Luke and Luke likes her too. They both don’t want to lose each other. Jade helps Luke to catch the killer of Vince, Ms Kee and Crispy which is Ed Hoffman.
Ed Hoffman is a cruel person who used to practice archery which makes him a suspect of Crispy’s murder because he was shot by an arrow. He got the snake venom from Arlene Dickinson who is used to take care of snakes. She committed suicide. The snake venom was injected to Ms Kee and that was the cause of her death. Ed also is a weightlifter and at the end of the book he is being arrested for murder of Vince, Ms Kee and Crispy and attempted murder of Luke. He killed the people because he wanted to see Luke suffer for making Ed look like a fool.
Malc is referred to as a Luke’s right hand robot and Luke trusts him although he is just a robot. He is equipped with lasers and scanners for crime scenes and finding evidence. He is also loyal to Luke and he saved Luke’s life by blocking the knife that was thrown by Ed to kill Luke. The author is creative to use a robot as a forensic investigator.
Jade is a flat character too because she is rarely in the story. She likes Luke and Luke likes her too. They both don’t want to lose each other. Jade helps Luke to catch the killer of Vince, Ms Kee and Crispy which is Ed Hoffman.
Ed Hoffman is a cruel person who used to practice archery which makes him a suspect of Crispy’s murder because he was shot by an arrow. He got the snake venom from Arlene Dickinson who is used to take care of snakes. She committed suicide. The snake venom was injected to Ms Kee and that was the cause of her death. Ed also is a weightlifter and at the end of the book he is being arrested for murder of Vince, Ms Kee and Crispy and attempted murder of Luke. He killed the people because he wanted to see Luke suffer for making Ed look like a fool.
Malc is referred to as a Luke’s right hand robot and Luke trusts him although he is just a robot. He is equipped with lasers and scanners for crime scenes and finding evidence. He is also loyal to Luke and he saved Luke’s life by blocking the knife that was thrown by Ed to kill Luke. The author is creative to use a robot as a forensic investigator.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2012
The concept is excellant- a far future England with a Totalitarian government (known as the "Authorities") and a slightly rebellious newly minted (youngest ever to pass his tests at 16) forensic investigator Luke Harding.
In this future world a forensic investigator handles most aspects of law- he and his bot MALC (an acronym for the floating robot/CSI lab/defense/legal body) deal with all aspects and it is the bot who deems that enough evidence has been found to charge and deems what evidence is admissable.
Like many totalitarian concepts, all is not rosey- children don't grow up with their parents but at schools and the "Pairing committee" chooses your future spouse based on your skills- scientists with scientists, artists with artists. You Pair at 20 and each couple has two kids. All of this is pretty hard for our science guy and his musician girlfriend who still date even while they know that they will be paired with others.
The mystery is good, the world is better. Future books deal with more of the world, the first one shows us the school and his life before it (before he was 5) and the pressures of being the best.
In this future world a forensic investigator handles most aspects of law- he and his bot MALC (an acronym for the floating robot/CSI lab/defense/legal body) deal with all aspects and it is the bot who deems that enough evidence has been found to charge and deems what evidence is admissable.
Like many totalitarian concepts, all is not rosey- children don't grow up with their parents but at schools and the "Pairing committee" chooses your future spouse based on your skills- scientists with scientists, artists with artists. You Pair at 20 and each couple has two kids. All of this is pretty hard for our science guy and his musician girlfriend who still date even while they know that they will be paired with others.
The mystery is good, the world is better. Future books deal with more of the world, the first one shows us the school and his life before it (before he was 5) and the pressures of being the best.
February 19, 2016
This was much better than I had been expecting. I had had this one on my To-Read list for a long time, since my brother read it ages ago, but it was always one that I kept on putting off because it didn't look too interesting.
I was wrong! I actually did really enjoy this book. The quality of the writing wasn't spectacular, there wasn't enough characterisation or world building, but there was enough to make it good. There was little bits and pieces which told you that actually Luke lives in a very different society than we do, but I almost felt like it wasn't explored enough. Characters were pretty weak, there wasn't enough life to them. and the fact that Luke was a troublemaker... the jokes he made were seriously nerd jokes. but it was bearable.
It wasn't one of those books that calls to you, that you wish you were reading all hours of the day, but it did have a certain pull to it - whenever I started reading I found it very hard to put down.
Overall, pretty good book. I would recommend and I will probably read the next one (want to find out what happens!)
I was wrong! I actually did really enjoy this book. The quality of the writing wasn't spectacular, there wasn't enough characterisation or world building, but there was enough to make it good. There was little bits and pieces which told you that actually Luke lives in a very different society than we do, but I almost felt like it wasn't explored enough. Characters were pretty weak, there wasn't enough life to them. and the fact that Luke was a troublemaker... the jokes he made were seriously nerd jokes. but it was bearable.
It wasn't one of those books that calls to you, that you wish you were reading all hours of the day, but it did have a certain pull to it - whenever I started reading I found it very hard to put down.
Overall, pretty good book. I would recommend and I will probably read the next one (want to find out what happens!)
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May 15, 2015the book I chose is called Framed and it is by Malcom Rose . this book is about a boy who has the chance to become one of the youngest forensic investigator. after he finished his finals he got an alert from M.A.L.C. ( mobile aid to law and crime ) and malc sends him to a place on campus where he finds one of his fellow calssmate dead.he had Been shot with and arrow and there were two other muders that were similar to this one that happened later on. All of the clues suggested tbat he was the one that committed the crime, but as one if the youngest investigators he was going to prove himself innocent and prove that could roll with the big guys.I enjoyed reading this nook because things like this interest me and I never get bord reading these kinds of books. I would recommend this to almost anybody and especially to people who enjoy reading these kinds of books and are interested in these kinda of things. I chose this book for the purpose that I was saying.. I enjoy these kinds of books and I'm.interested in these kinds of things
October 20, 2011
I recommend this book for anyone who likes mystery. I wanted to know who the killer is so bad but I had to wait for the end. So far 3 people have been killed and all the evidence is leading up to Luke. Luke is a teenager that solves mysteries with his robot partener Malc. Malc stands for Mobile Assistent to Law and Crime. Luke has a crush on this girl, Jade, and she has a crush on gim but it is forbiden love because she is good at music and Luke is good at crimes plus the Pairing Committee would never allow them to be together. The Pairing Committee is a committee that pairs people together by their talents so their baby is super talented in that talent. So far the people that have been killed are Crispy, Ms.Kee, and Vince. They were killed by a arrow, rattlesnake venon, and a glass cutter.
Luke found out who the killer is and it is Ed Hoffman. He tried to kill Luke at Ms. Kees funeral!
Luke found out who the killer is and it is Ed Hoffman. He tried to kill Luke at Ms. Kees funeral!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2016
This is a great young adult book, incredibly easy to read with a likeable main characters and some funny exchanges between Luke and his computer.
I loved the future world Rose created with the Authorities controlling what you do as a profession and who you end up being paired with and would have liked to have heard more about that. It was fascinating to see the future of forensic investigation with Malc being an adorable but amazingly clever machine in helping to solve crimes.
I did find that when I was reading a lot in one go, I really enjoyed it and flew through. However if I put it down, I would find it hard to pick it up and get going again.
Had I read it when I was younger I think I would have loved it. As an adult, whilst it was pretty good, it's not a book that I'd pick up and read again.
I loved the future world Rose created with the Authorities controlling what you do as a profession and who you end up being paired with and would have liked to have heard more about that. It was fascinating to see the future of forensic investigation with Malc being an adorable but amazingly clever machine in helping to solve crimes.
I did find that when I was reading a lot in one go, I really enjoyed it and flew through. However if I put it down, I would find it hard to pick it up and get going again.
Had I read it when I was younger I think I would have loved it. As an adult, whilst it was pretty good, it's not a book that I'd pick up and read again.
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