book cover

Wave Riders

by Lauren St John

Interest age: 11 to 14
Reading age: 9+

Published by Macmillan, 2021

  • Adventure
  • Coming-of-age
  • Thriller

About this book

Twins Jess and Jude were orphaned as babies but life with their guardian, Gabriel, is close to idyllic. Sailing around the world, calling at exotic locations for supplies every now and then, they feel blessed and very lucky – until the morning they awake to find the yacht adrift and Gabe missing.

At first, the twins assume there has been an awful accident. But when they discover their supplies are drugged, they question whether Gabe has been abducted or killed.

When it becomes clear that they are entirely alone, the twins search the boat for clues as to what might have happened. Instead of clarity, however, they find confusion and a baffling mystery, with their personal history right at the heart of it.

This complex mystery thriller reveals its secrets very gradually with a full explanation only coming in the last few pages. Anyone who likes a story to challenge them and who enjoys trying to piece together elusive clues to solve a puzzle will love Jess and Jude’s adventure.

Packed with half-truths, deception, red herrings, villainous baddies and a sense of ever-present threat, this is a mystery to really keep readers guessing.

About the author

Lauren St John was born in Gatooma, Rhodesia, now Kadoma, Zimbabwe. Aged 11, she and her family moved to Rainbow's End farm and game reserve, the subject of her acclaimed memoir, and she grew up surrounded by animals, including eight horses, two warthogs and a pet giraffe. After nearly a decade as golf correspondent to The Sunday Times, followed by a sojourn in the US, riding the tour buses of alt. country stars like Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and the Dixie Chicks, she wrote the bestselling White Giraffe series. Dead Man's Cove, the first in her new mystery series about 11-year-old detective, Laura Marlin, won the 2011 Blue Peter Favourite Story and Book of the Year Awards.

More books like this

Share this page Twitter Facebook LinkedIn