Philip Womack’s The Liberators has a great premise. When thirteen-year-old Ivo Moncrieff arrives in London for the Christmas school holidays, he gets an adventure he never bargained for. A man is brutally murdered on a train moments after giving Ivo a stone for safekeeping. In Ivo’s quest to solve the mystery, he is drawn into the sinister world of an ancient cult intent on undermining the order of society.
The Liberators explores the concept of freedom through the eyes of early teens – Ivo and his two friends, Miranda and Felix. The tension builds throughout the story to a satisfying ending, though I did find I lost the thread of the story in some passages. There were times when I found it difficult to distinguish reality from Ivo’s hallucinations or nightmares. I also found some of the point-of-view switches to be a bit confusing.
A good story though – younger teens would enjoy this one.
3 stars