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Stone Cold
'It's like parachuting. Get the first jump over and it becomes routine, but you mustn't get complacent. Check your parachute every time.'
Homeless on the streets of London, 16 year old Link feels he has become an invisible outcast. When he meets streetwise Ginger, life becomes more bearable and he learns the tricks of survival. But when Ginger goes missing, Link feels a sickening sense of foreboding...
Homeless on the streets of London, 16 year old Link feels he has become an invisible outcast. When he meets streetwise Ginger, life becomes more bearable and he learns the tricks of survival. But when Ginger goes missing, Link feels a sickening sense of foreboding...
100 pages, Hardcover
First published March 30, 1993
208 people are currently reading
2079 people want to read
About the author
Robert Swindells
173 books102 followersRobert Swindells was born in Bradford in 1939, the eldest of five children. He left the local Secondary Modern School at fifteen to work as a copy holder on the local newspaper. At seventeen he enlisted in the RAF and served for three years, two in Germany. On being discharged he worked as a clerk, engineer and printer until 1969 when he entered college to train as a teacher having obtained five 'O' levels at night-school. His first book 'When Darkness Comes' was written as a college thesis and published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1972. In 1980 he gave up teaching to write full time. He likes travelling and visits many schools each year, talking and reading stories to children. He is the secutatry of his local Peace Movement group. Brother in the Land is his first book for Oxford University Press. He is married with two grown-up daughters and lives in Bradford.
Author description taken from Brother in the Land.
Author description taken from Brother in the Land.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 551 reviews
June 21, 2013
Good, but the ending was a bit of an anti-climax.
March 1, 2022
at first the book was painfully mediocre, then it got painfully worse
at some point the main character started complaining about not having a girlfriend?? dude you’re homeless, it’s the least of your worries
at some point the main character started complaining about not having a girlfriend?? dude you’re homeless, it’s the least of your worries
October 17, 2022
No, I have not really enjoyed reading Robert Swindells' 1993 and Carnegie Medal winning young adult novel Stone Cold all that much. It is textually majorly depressing and often really quite emotionally infuriating even if indeed Stone Cold is brilliantly penned, with Swindells deftly and ingeniously providing points of view from two very different and mostly majorly unreliable narrators (protagonist Link and antagonist Shelter), and for me, not at all pleasurable and comfortable reading by any stretch of the imagination. However, and the above having been said, I also do not think that the author in any manner expects and even wants us as readers to find Stone Cold a reading joy, that instead, Robert Swindells' presented text for Stone Cold is meant to make us squirm, is supposed to render us uncomfortable, angry and to also make us think, with yes, Shelter's musings about killing and why he wants to rid the streets of London of the homeless feeling by necessity horrifying and terrible (and in particular so since one kind of knows that there are in fact many people, including police officers, politicians etc. who pretty much have similar attitudes to Shelter even if they do not abduct and murder the homeless, even if they do not actually put what Shelter is depicted as doing in Stone Cold into practice, and not to mention that after the police finally manage to arrest Shelter and incarcerate him, Link realises that while in jail, psychotic killer and all-round lowlife Shelter will actually have a roof over his head and three meals a day, but the homeless will still be out in the cold, despised, forgotten and desperately fighting to survive).
And therefore, despite my perusal of Stone Cold actually not having been in any way pleasant and also majorly lacking in any kind of feelings of textual happiness, I am still going to be rating Stone Cold with a solid four stars, and to equally make the claim that yes, Robert Swindells has penned a painful, joyless, uncomfortable but also absolutely necessary and spectacular account of homelessness and how basically the homeless are more often than not totally and utterly the scapegoats and the whipping pots of society (and that sadly, frustratingly, the latter can also and in my opinion be seen with many of the more negative online reviews of Stone Cold I have read, where the individuals posting are often seemingly either not interested in the topic, are bored of and with the homeless or do not in fact believe that the homeless face the difficulties and trials Robert Swindells is depicting).
And therefore, despite my perusal of Stone Cold actually not having been in any way pleasant and also majorly lacking in any kind of feelings of textual happiness, I am still going to be rating Stone Cold with a solid four stars, and to equally make the claim that yes, Robert Swindells has penned a painful, joyless, uncomfortable but also absolutely necessary and spectacular account of homelessness and how basically the homeless are more often than not totally and utterly the scapegoats and the whipping pots of society (and that sadly, frustratingly, the latter can also and in my opinion be seen with many of the more negative online reviews of Stone Cold I have read, where the individuals posting are often seemingly either not interested in the topic, are bored of and with the homeless or do not in fact believe that the homeless face the difficulties and trials Robert Swindells is depicting).
July 16, 2013
Had to read this for school, it was okay but nothing special, a pretty boring storyline with an extremely annoying main character. I wouldnt re comend reading this out of choice.
September 29, 2016
Hated it from the start. Only read it because I had to.
November 23, 2017
Do you ever walk past a homeless person sitting on the side of the street and wonder to yourself how they feel or what is going through their mind? Well Stone Cold written by Robert Swindells is a novel about exactly that. Swindells is a multi-award winning English author. His other popular books include Room 13, Brother in the Land and Nightmare Stairs. Stone Cold is one of his most popular novels and has won the prestigious Carnegie Medal.
Stone Cold starts off when Link (not his real name but is what he is referred to) leaves his house after his mother marries an abusive man who treats him badly. Link decides to move to London, and when he fails to find work he becomes homeless. After getting his watch stolen on the first night Link meets a fellow homeless man named Ginger who teaches him how to survive on the streets. One day though Ginger and various other homeless people begin to disappear without reason, Link takes it upon himself to find out what has happened.
The novel was very well written and it made you feel like you were right there watching the events take place however some parts were boring. It felt that some parts of the story were stretched out for a bit too long and parts that could have taken one page to explain took up a whole chapter instead. This led to me sometimes wanting to stop reading the book as it started to get a bit repetitive but after you got past the long boring parts the story began to build up again and all of a sudden you couldn’t put the book down.
There were many themes that ran throughout the novel which meant that the actual plot wasn’t boring. The theme of loss is shown when Link leaves his house and loses basically everything and is forced onto the street. Adventure and courage are both shown when Link is on the street and has to stand up for himself and only survives on what he gets from begging. Even love is shown in the novel when Link meets a beautiful lady named Gail who he instantly falls in love with after seeing her.
Most of us can’t relate to the characters as we are not homeless but they did a very good job of portraying the way that homeless people are thought of in society and how they are treated. I think that one of the main reasons for this book being written was to show the hardships that people without homes and jobs have to face every day. It also helps to open your eyes to all the things in our lives that we take for granted
Overall I think that this novel is very good and I would recommend it to fans of realistic horror novels but I think most people would enjoy because of the various theme that it uses. It is definitely a novel aimed at the older reader as the ideas in the novel can be a bit heavy going and may scare younger readers. I would rate this novel a 3 out of 5.
Will Tetley
Stone Cold starts off when Link (not his real name but is what he is referred to) leaves his house after his mother marries an abusive man who treats him badly. Link decides to move to London, and when he fails to find work he becomes homeless. After getting his watch stolen on the first night Link meets a fellow homeless man named Ginger who teaches him how to survive on the streets. One day though Ginger and various other homeless people begin to disappear without reason, Link takes it upon himself to find out what has happened.
The novel was very well written and it made you feel like you were right there watching the events take place however some parts were boring. It felt that some parts of the story were stretched out for a bit too long and parts that could have taken one page to explain took up a whole chapter instead. This led to me sometimes wanting to stop reading the book as it started to get a bit repetitive but after you got past the long boring parts the story began to build up again and all of a sudden you couldn’t put the book down.
There were many themes that ran throughout the novel which meant that the actual plot wasn’t boring. The theme of loss is shown when Link leaves his house and loses basically everything and is forced onto the street. Adventure and courage are both shown when Link is on the street and has to stand up for himself and only survives on what he gets from begging. Even love is shown in the novel when Link meets a beautiful lady named Gail who he instantly falls in love with after seeing her.
Most of us can’t relate to the characters as we are not homeless but they did a very good job of portraying the way that homeless people are thought of in society and how they are treated. I think that one of the main reasons for this book being written was to show the hardships that people without homes and jobs have to face every day. It also helps to open your eyes to all the things in our lives that we take for granted
Overall I think that this novel is very good and I would recommend it to fans of realistic horror novels but I think most people would enjoy because of the various theme that it uses. It is definitely a novel aimed at the older reader as the ideas in the novel can be a bit heavy going and may scare younger readers. I would rate this novel a 3 out of 5.
Will Tetley
September 18, 2025
Awesome. Absolutely, positively worthy of that Carnegie. HOW this is rated as MY on arbookfind.co.uk, I can't tell you - this is definitely "Young Adult" (high school, certainly not middle grades) to me: the harsh realities of youth homelessness, including but not limited to sexual abuse by step-fathers, alcoholism, the sexual exploitation of vulnerable people, illicit drugs... it's not a comfortable read, which is, frankly, why it's so good. Swindells absolutely nailed it with affable Link lightly alluding to the horrors of life on the street, without minimizing or whitewashing the grim details. Absolutely nailed it. It's not even my genre, and yet I was rivetted to this one.
Such a good book, and an important one to read. I promise the characters, including the villian, are at least captivating if not downright likeable (poor Link... oh man, it's such a well-written book!). It's a tough read, though, buoyed solely by Link's, erm, buoyancy? What's the word I'm looking for here - certainly not 'optimism'. And neither 'determination' or 'resignation'. Anyway, it's sort of a small triumph of the human spirit that he hasn't given in to major destructive depression or given up entirely. He hasn't much hope (there isn't much hope for someone in his position, and it's clear that position is wholly undeserved, too), but he hasn't completely given in. So there's a sort of silver lining, but it's a bleak, bleak reality and it's one that really does exist in our world. I've always considered myself to be a generous and kind to those in need, but I think this book has reminded me that I can do better. A pound can go a long way in needy hands. I think I might try to spare one much more often.
A great book, if you can get past all the dreadful covers (of which mine is the worst! Internet Archive has it (not available unless you have disability-access), if you want to take a look: https://archive.org/details/stonecold...).
KIDS ARE DISAPPEARING. BUT NO ONE CARES.I have an alternative, alternative (there's obviously several for this ISBN!) cover: two kids sleeping rough in a purple and a teal sleeping bag next to some cardboard boxes, with a terrifying, deranged middle-aged male face leering large down the street, watching them sleep. Has the gold Carnegie seal on it. This cover illustration is by Peter Menim (ISBN 0140362517/9780140362510). Picked this up because I remembered Jo's (solved) thread (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... ), and because "Link" (I'm a massive LoZ fan). But I detest the cover. It is off-putting. This book has sat on my shelf for at least a year because of it (I'm only reading it now to satisfy some of the challenges in the Middle Grade Madness September event... again, HOW is this ranked middle grade?! Reading level, yeah, sure - it's accessible. But content?! Brutal. Totally brutal. I hope precious few middle graders could relate to this one...).
Homeless, frightened and alone, Link finds himself down-and-out in London after fleeing from his brutish stepfather. He only survives because he's befriended by streetwise Ginger. When Ginger suddenly disappears, Link is in despair.
Then he meets Gail, and even the cold doorways and hard pavements don't seem so bad. He even stops thinking about Ginger. But other kids are vanishing now. Intent on his grisly mission, the man who calls himself Shelter stalks his next victim. Will it be Link?
Such a good book, and an important one to read. I promise the characters, including the villian, are at least captivating if not downright likeable (poor Link... oh man, it's such a well-written book!). It's a tough read, though, buoyed solely by Link's, erm, buoyancy? What's the word I'm looking for here - certainly not 'optimism'. And neither 'determination' or 'resignation'. Anyway, it's sort of a small triumph of the human spirit that he hasn't given in to major destructive depression or given up entirely. He hasn't much hope (there isn't much hope for someone in his position, and it's clear that position is wholly undeserved, too), but he hasn't completely given in. So there's a sort of silver lining, but it's a bleak, bleak reality and it's one that really does exist in our world. I've always considered myself to be a generous and kind to those in need, but I think this book has reminded me that I can do better. A pound can go a long way in needy hands. I think I might try to spare one much more often.
A great book, if you can get past all the dreadful covers (of which mine is the worst! Internet Archive has it (not available unless you have disability-access), if you want to take a look: https://archive.org/details/stonecold...).
July 7, 2012
My sister was talking about this book along with others she had done for her GCSE English and English Language course, among the books she had, this appeared to interest me most. Probably because it was one that I have not read before, even while I was going through my GCSEs.
The novella gripped me from the first page, I automatically began to feel sorry for the character Link as he ended up homeless through a bad situation at home like many other people in the United Kingdom today. Reading this book I felt that it was highlighting this very issue for readers. The book's chapters are divided to allow Link and another character (we never find out his name) it is clear who is writing because of the different font style but it is clear right away that you hate this man who has made it his mission to kill homeless people as he sees them as part of a plan created by the higher ups in order to undermine society, which may seem pretty crazy.
For those who love reading but get bored easily, this book is perfect for them as it is only ninety-nine pages and easily readable in one sitting.
The novella gripped me from the first page, I automatically began to feel sorry for the character Link as he ended up homeless through a bad situation at home like many other people in the United Kingdom today. Reading this book I felt that it was highlighting this very issue for readers. The book's chapters are divided to allow Link and another character (we never find out his name) it is clear who is writing because of the different font style but it is clear right away that you hate this man who has made it his mission to kill homeless people as he sees them as part of a plan created by the higher ups in order to undermine society, which may seem pretty crazy.
For those who love reading but get bored easily, this book is perfect for them as it is only ninety-nine pages and easily readable in one sitting.
March 15, 2017
This book was not what I was expecting. Link's narrative was achingly raw and brutally honest but it was Shelter's Daily Routine Orders that fascinated me. I loved the insanity pitch and his justification for murder. That sounds grim I know, but it's rare that I come across a motive for killing in fiction that hasn't been done before in one variation or another. I really felt like Swindells put me inside Shelter's head, right down to his reasoning regarding Sappho and patterns. 'Stone Cold' certainly didn't read like a book destined for the children's literature classification because the message it imparts is universal and anyone of any age can stand to learn a thing or two from its pages but I'm glad young generations have this story to learn from and emphasise with.
Read
November 4, 2018DNF'ed at 70%
March 16, 2020
We had to read this in school when I was thirteen and I remember really liking it because I thought it was f*cked-up. So I decided to give it a reread and... I still really like it... and I still think it's f*cked-up.
It's supposed to be aimed at kids in their early teens and, as you'll probably know, by that age kids tend to want to read books that explore 'darker' themes (well... I did anyway). And, I'm not gonna lie, Stone Cold is pretty bloody dark.
The book is primarily about this despondent teenager suffering from homelessness, however the author clearly thought that the book wasn't bleak enough and, as a result, decided to incorporate a psychotic serial killer into the story too. I'm not going to say any more about it but hopefully that's peaked your interest.
The book isn't long; it's less than 150 pages... so even if you didn't like it, it won't have wasted too much of your time. I'd recommend giving it a read for the lols.
It's supposed to be aimed at kids in their early teens and, as you'll probably know, by that age kids tend to want to read books that explore 'darker' themes (well... I did anyway). And, I'm not gonna lie, Stone Cold is pretty bloody dark.
The book is primarily about this despondent teenager suffering from homelessness, however the author clearly thought that the book wasn't bleak enough and, as a result, decided to incorporate a psychotic serial killer into the story too. I'm not going to say any more about it but hopefully that's peaked your interest.
The book isn't long; it's less than 150 pages... so even if you didn't like it, it won't have wasted too much of your time. I'd recommend giving it a read for the lols.
July 5, 2019
4.2 **
this book was actually so good. it’s not worth 5 stars but still was a good read. i got a bit confused with the perspectives at some point after the middle of the book but i soon realised what was happening. honestly the end could have been done better, it’s kind of like the book was just explained in 3 pages and i was a little like “what the fuck” but it’s ok. i recommend this book to people who like mystery and murder (that’s not a spoiler). this book was really easy to read but i’m on a holiday so it was a little hard to read, but i got there in the end. this novel is kinda hard to understand since it’s based in england and has some slang that doesn’t make sense and has some day - to - day things mentioned that happen in england, so that’s just a heads up. this book is worth reading :)
this book was actually so good. it’s not worth 5 stars but still was a good read. i got a bit confused with the perspectives at some point after the middle of the book but i soon realised what was happening. honestly the end could have been done better, it’s kind of like the book was just explained in 3 pages and i was a little like “what the fuck” but it’s ok. i recommend this book to people who like mystery and murder (that’s not a spoiler). this book was really easy to read but i’m on a holiday so it was a little hard to read, but i got there in the end. this novel is kinda hard to understand since it’s based in england and has some slang that doesn’t make sense and has some day - to - day things mentioned that happen in england, so that’s just a heads up. this book is worth reading :)
July 4, 2021
I devoured this book in one sitting. It’s a very easy read, written in stereotypical British dialect, but that made it even more interesting. I’d read part of this book before in school and was excited to read it again and I’m glad I did. Perhaps it’s a bit cliche towards the end, but it wraps up the short story nicely. I’m glad it didn’t have a “happy ending” as this would have ruined the message it’s trying to send. It’s an important read and I’d recommend to understand homelessness and the isolation in it even more.
May 15, 2024
This was ok. I found it in the back of a cupboard with the other books I was supposed to read for school but didn't because I stopped attending 💀
I wasn't expecting much from this in the first place so im not too disappointed. The concept's interesting and could've made for an amazing book if it was executed differently.
I really didn't like the writing, it felt weirdly juvenile even tho the things described were quite dark in nature. If the book was any longer I definitely would've gotten bored and changed my rating.
I wasn't expecting much from this in the first place so im not too disappointed. The concept's interesting and could've made for an amazing book if it was executed differently.
I really didn't like the writing, it felt weirdly juvenile even tho the things described were quite dark in nature. If the book was any longer I definitely would've gotten bored and changed my rating.
October 23, 2020
Total disappointment. Link, the narrator, is a flat character. Could not get a connection to him and he didn't have any character development at all. The murder storyline was incredibly boring. A few other unrealistic events took place. If it wasn't for my English lit study, it would have landed on the DNF pile.
April 12, 2013
The only reason I found that this book exist is because I had to read it for English class.
The story is about a young boy, Link, who leaves his home, because of his step-father and starts living on the streets in London. There he meets Ginger an older man who teaches him tricks for a better survival on the streets. After that we meet a new character, Shelter, who is a discharged Sergeant - Major who after he is chucked out he makes his life's purpose in "cleaning the streets" from the homeless people. He does that by luring the in his house and then putting on them military outfits and keeping them in a cold place so that the don't smell. A few days after Ginger's disappearing Link meets Gail(supposedly homeless)and falls for her. With her help Link discovered that Shelter is responsible for Ginger's dead plus 7 other homeless people.
I liked the book, and the main characters were well described. It was an interesting story but nothing too special so that leaves it at 4/5. The other point is because I didn't like the ending at all, so yeah that's it...
The story is about a young boy, Link, who leaves his home, because of his step-father and starts living on the streets in London. There he meets Ginger an older man who teaches him tricks for a better survival on the streets. After that we meet a new character, Shelter, who is a discharged Sergeant - Major who after he is chucked out he makes his life's purpose in "cleaning the streets" from the homeless people. He does that by luring the in his house and then putting on them military outfits and keeping them in a cold place so that the don't smell. A few days after Ginger's disappearing Link meets Gail(supposedly homeless)and falls for her. With her help Link discovered that Shelter is responsible for Ginger's dead plus 7 other homeless people.
I liked the book, and the main characters were well described. It was an interesting story but nothing too special so that leaves it at 4/5. The other point is because I didn't like the ending at all, so yeah that's it...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 18, 2016
I read some of this with school. Normally when you read books with school you never finish them and they always tend to be quite boring. Well according to my stereotype i did never finish it but it wasnt actually that boring, although in some parts iI'm not gonna lie were boring. Me and my friend were just dreading the idea of having to get this book out and read yet another chapter. In the end though we agreed that it was in actual fact wasn't as bad as we initially thought.
I'd say that interestingly the main character was about a homeless person not having a good relationship with family and deciding to become homeless. It was interesting because you wouldn't think that many interesting points can come across in this but in actual fact there were.
I can't remember this much but i swear there was a murder thing going on but i will have to find out as my memory is so bad and I am not even joking on this matter.
Anyway i think you should read it and find out if there is murder in it because i swear there was and we never actually finished this so i wouldn't remeber anyway...
I'd say that interestingly the main character was about a homeless person not having a good relationship with family and deciding to become homeless. It was interesting because you wouldn't think that many interesting points can come across in this but in actual fact there were.
I can't remember this much but i swear there was a murder thing going on but i will have to find out as my memory is so bad and I am not even joking on this matter.
Anyway i think you should read it and find out if there is murder in it because i swear there was and we never actually finished this so i wouldn't remeber anyway...
November 13, 2012
I read this book with my english class at school and it seemed like a very good book at first. Then we started to learn more about Shelter and his evil mind, i felt that i was more interested in what happened with him then Link and the others. i also felt that the ending was very rushed, i wish it had gone in to more detail about Shelter being arrested and Gail life, and maybe a more darker story line.
February 15, 2019
Read for school in 2017. Forgot to add it. Hated it.
December 6, 2025
shout out ms ledman i miss you
January 2, 2025
Why did we have to read this in school and not The Outsiders or Looking for Alaska. :') It was alright though.
August 12, 2020
Nice story, I didn’t think the language was very nice but I hope my pupils will like it.
March 8, 2024
gelesen für den englischunterricht
February 8, 2025
For a story so short and concise this managed to be profound and insightful at times, as well as real and emotional with a solid plot that kept me entertained throughout, even if the conclusion felt slightly rushed it was incredibly well done and was emotive and thought provoking.
May 23, 2013
The Invisible Ones
There is a kind of invisibility that definitely goes without any advantages in life, and this is the invisibility of the homeless. Robert Swindell’s novella Stone Cold may well be a suitable antidote to that kind of invisibility as it makes the reader aware of the plights and humiliations homeless people often find themselves faced with.
Stone Cold tells the story of a boy who calls himself Link and whose life started to fall to pieces when his father walked out on the family when Link was 12. This experience made Link fall back at school, and when Link’s mother gets stuck with Vince, who finally moves in with her, things go from bad to worse. Eventually Link finds himself without a proper education and without a proper job at that; he moves to London, where he soon becomes one of the homeless drifters who eke out an existence on whatever pittance is given to them. In order to spice his tale up a bit and make it attractive to a younger audience, Swindell also comes up with a psycho called Shelter, who is on his own crusade against what he considers the riff-raff that is going to run his country into ruin.
The story can virtually be read in one single session, it being rather short and extremely suspenseful. Swindell succeeds in giving a quite realistic-seeming account of the dangers and hardships of sleeping rough and leading a life of deprivation in one of the richest cities in the world. Especially the scene when Link and his friend Ginger muse on the useless falderal people buy every day sets you thinking quite a bit. Another passage reminded me of a scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s movie The Conversation: “I started thinking how once, years ago, there was this baby, and his mum and dad loved him like mums and dads do, and they gave him a name and dreamed about what he’d be when he grew up and what his life would be like and all that, and how they never dreamed he’d be called Doggy Bag and live on scraps and be so unimportant that he’d vanish and no one would care.”
It is passages like this one that show how thought-provoking and important Link’s tale actually is so that, paradoxically, there is actually no real need for the Shelter strand at all. Although, that said, it brings some tragic irony into the story, since Link refers to himself as invisible to everybody around him, whereas it is actually Shelter who is invisible to Link when he hovers around him and Ginger meditating on how to strike best at them. In a way, Stone Cold, for all its basic merits, is actually an example of what may happen to a dish if there is too much spice in it. To make myself even clearer, I’d like to point out the most awkward plot element of the whole story, but recommend those who want to enjoy the novella to the full to skip it for the time being:
Luckily, Swindell does not come up with a classic happy ending, e.g. it suddenly turning out that Link had been exchanged for another child in infancy and that he is the long-lost son of a wealthy couple of warm-hearted stockbrokers – that constellation alone would also be hard to take –, and being reinstituted into his social position, and therefore the author manages to uphold his claim to serious novel-writing rather decently, all things considered.
There is a kind of invisibility that definitely goes without any advantages in life, and this is the invisibility of the homeless. Robert Swindell’s novella Stone Cold may well be a suitable antidote to that kind of invisibility as it makes the reader aware of the plights and humiliations homeless people often find themselves faced with.
Stone Cold tells the story of a boy who calls himself Link and whose life started to fall to pieces when his father walked out on the family when Link was 12. This experience made Link fall back at school, and when Link’s mother gets stuck with Vince, who finally moves in with her, things go from bad to worse. Eventually Link finds himself without a proper education and without a proper job at that; he moves to London, where he soon becomes one of the homeless drifters who eke out an existence on whatever pittance is given to them. In order to spice his tale up a bit and make it attractive to a younger audience, Swindell also comes up with a psycho called Shelter, who is on his own crusade against what he considers the riff-raff that is going to run his country into ruin.
The story can virtually be read in one single session, it being rather short and extremely suspenseful. Swindell succeeds in giving a quite realistic-seeming account of the dangers and hardships of sleeping rough and leading a life of deprivation in one of the richest cities in the world. Especially the scene when Link and his friend Ginger muse on the useless falderal people buy every day sets you thinking quite a bit. Another passage reminded me of a scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s movie The Conversation: “I started thinking how once, years ago, there was this baby, and his mum and dad loved him like mums and dads do, and they gave him a name and dreamed about what he’d be when he grew up and what his life would be like and all that, and how they never dreamed he’d be called Doggy Bag and live on scraps and be so unimportant that he’d vanish and no one would care.”
It is passages like this one that show how thought-provoking and important Link’s tale actually is so that, paradoxically, there is actually no real need for the Shelter strand at all. Although, that said, it brings some tragic irony into the story, since Link refers to himself as invisible to everybody around him, whereas it is actually Shelter who is invisible to Link when he hovers around him and Ginger meditating on how to strike best at them. In a way, Stone Cold, for all its basic merits, is actually an example of what may happen to a dish if there is too much spice in it. To make myself even clearer, I’d like to point out the most awkward plot element of the whole story, but recommend those who want to enjoy the novella to the full to skip it for the time being:
Luckily, Swindell does not come up with a classic happy ending, e.g. it suddenly turning out that Link had been exchanged for another child in infancy and that he is the long-lost son of a wealthy couple of warm-hearted stockbrokers – that constellation alone would also be hard to take –, and being reinstituted into his social position, and therefore the author manages to uphold his claim to serious novel-writing rather decently, all things considered.
October 11, 2024
Amazing very tense and engaging. Loved every bit of it. Would highly recommend.
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July 15, 2017
Swindells' book is relatively rote in its portrayal of life on the streets as a homeless youth, with coverage of the majority of expected themes: society, family, poverty, death, friendship, causes and dangers of homelessness. Most conspicuously missing are narcotics or alcohol (only alluded to a couple of times, if I remember correctly) - which is odd considering other more explicit material - prostitution and theft, for example - are addressed. At 132 pages long, such deeper explorations wouldn't have gone amiss.
Throughout, bland and occasionally awkward language (is "poncy-looking dude" really appropriate for a sixteen-year-old teen from 1993, Bradford?) distract and disinter the more mature reader, but there are a couple of stand out moments:
First, Link's rejection of the (likely left-leaning) investigative journalist who is, in fact, out there to help him and raise awarenessof youth homelessness. This rejection is comparable with Link's earlier - and rightful - eschewing of 'solcredulists', otherwise known as people who swallow everything given to them by The Sun newspaper and, as a result, ignore homeless kids. In a cruel twist of irony, Link ends up conflating the two differing publications and, instead of seeking solace and raising awareness, continue his miserable life on the streets. It's a neat representation of the self-destructive downward spiral symbolising homelessness. Alternatively, Link's rejection of Gail/Louise can be seen as the character feeling such a degree of betrayal that he brazenly pushes aside help in a rash act of naive and youth-driven emotion over brains. Either way you want to read it, it's a powerful moment.
Also notable is Link's small and suitably quiet reflection upon the disappearance of another 'dosser': "...and how [his parents] never dreamed he'd be called Doggy Bag and live on scraps and be so unimportant that he'd vanish and no one would care." It's a pathetic moment, but a revealing one which, amid the rest of the book's adolescent bravado (and teen-pitched, exaggerated language) stands out.
In sum, the book isn't unsuitable for teenagers and there is an element of depth to it, although I believe it would make for difficult rereading regardless of age.
Throughout, bland and occasionally awkward language (is "poncy-looking dude" really appropriate for a sixteen-year-old teen from 1993, Bradford?) distract and disinter the more mature reader, but there are a couple of stand out moments:
First, Link's rejection of the (likely left-leaning) investigative journalist who is, in fact, out there to help him and raise awarenessof youth homelessness. This rejection is comparable with Link's earlier - and rightful - eschewing of 'solcredulists', otherwise known as people who swallow everything given to them by The Sun newspaper and, as a result, ignore homeless kids. In a cruel twist of irony, Link ends up conflating the two differing publications and, instead of seeking solace and raising awareness, continue his miserable life on the streets. It's a neat representation of the self-destructive downward spiral symbolising homelessness. Alternatively, Link's rejection of Gail/Louise can be seen as the character feeling such a degree of betrayal that he brazenly pushes aside help in a rash act of naive and youth-driven emotion over brains. Either way you want to read it, it's a powerful moment.
Also notable is Link's small and suitably quiet reflection upon the disappearance of another 'dosser': "...and how [his parents] never dreamed he'd be called Doggy Bag and live on scraps and be so unimportant that he'd vanish and no one would care." It's a pathetic moment, but a revealing one which, amid the rest of the book's adolescent bravado (and teen-pitched, exaggerated language) stands out.
In sum, the book isn't unsuitable for teenagers and there is an element of depth to it, although I believe it would make for difficult rereading regardless of age.
July 27, 2024
No.
I̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶g̶u̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶.̶
I did not like this book. The only reason it's not a 1 star is because Shelter got caught in the end and Link met Gail— scratch that, Gail wasn't really Gail. And Link met Ginger but then Ginger died so... Yeah. 2 stars.
The Characters:
Link: Just... He deserved better.
Shelter: A horrible man. He needs help.
Gail: She was nice... At the start.
Ginger: Probably the best character in the whole book.
What I liked:
• Shelter got caught.
What I didn't like:
• It was just so depressing
• The Gail plot twist
• The ending
• Link's backstory
Ect. Ect.
Two stars ✨✨
Would not recommend it to anyone.
I̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶g̶u̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶.̶
I did not like this book. The only reason it's not a 1 star is because Shelter got caught in the end and Link met Gail— scratch that, Gail wasn't really Gail. And Link met Ginger but then Ginger died so... Yeah. 2 stars.
The Characters:
Link: Just... He deserved better.
Shelter: A horrible man. He needs help.
Gail: She was nice... At the start.
Ginger: Probably the best character in the whole book.
What I liked:
• Shelter got caught.
What I didn't like:
• It was just so depressing
• The Gail plot twist
• The ending
• Link's backstory
Ect. Ect.
Two stars ✨✨
Would not recommend it to anyone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2018
I was thinking of saying every single teenager should read this book. After consideration I think every single person should read this book. This book follows the fate of homeless teen Link. The book describes homelessness through Link’s eyes and explains the plight of these homeless youngsters in graphic factual detail. Facts that everyone should consider. This book will definitely make me think twice next time I walk past a homeless person.
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