When a teenage girl goes missing on a remote island, the police are unable to locate her. So a quirky local boy decides to help. Billy’s a little young to play detective, but he’s kind of a child prodigy – or he thinks he is. Either way, he does have a very good reason to want the police off his beach.His style of investigation is unlike anything you’ve seen before, but it’s strangely effective. … strangely effective. Until the trail of clues leads him unexpectedly close to home. Now Billy learns he’s been playing a dangerous game. Because the girl didn’t just disappear, she was taken. And the person who took her is now after him.
What started out as fun has become a desperate fight for survival.
But how do you catch a killer – when you’re just a kid?
The Things you Find in Rockpools is a USA and UK Amazon bestseller with over 100,000 copies sold and nearly 2000 international five-star reviews.
Here’s just a little of what readers are saying:
“Hugely enjoyable. This is a cut above your usual thriller, and will keep you guessing until the end.”
“Billy has just become my favorite ever character!”
“I would give it 6 stars if I could.”
Start reading today, and find out if Billy can uncover the truth – before it’s too late…
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Another fantastic book by Gregg Dunnett! So far, I’ve read everything he’s written and never been disappointed. This story is no exception. Eleven-year-old Billy Wheatley has an inquiring mind and when a young girl goes missing on the small island where he lives, he decides to help the investigation. But the hornet’s nest he stirs up is beyond anything he can comprehend. The twists are such that you can’t anticipate what’s going to happen next. I started reading this book on Monday evening and finished it today, Wednesday morning. I just couldn’t put it down!
I read this book while the Thai boys were lost in the cave and finished it before they were rescued. So there’s a lot of overlap of vocabulary, which I thought a nice coincidence. There was also a Jeopardy category on the “coast” that week, a sweet serendipity. I thought this was a YA book at first, but as I was reading, I figured not so much as the topic is adult. An easy, but suspenseful summer read.
I was not initially going to read this because the cover just did not appeal AT ALL, but then I was trying to find a book to read and decided to check reviews on this and see if they were better than the cover and they were. So decided what the heck, I had it, lets read it.
SO SO GLAD I DID. It is a unique read, interesting…life, adults, people, murder all seen through the life of a kid and a TYPICAL kid too…nerdy at best, quiet and unassuming and SMART, but not a smart ass. HATE BOOKS WITH JERKY KIDS. It was told in a really believe way, you actually FEEL you are reading through a kid….great insight…hmmmmm maybe the writer is still a kid 🙂
You will not be disappointed. The story is fresh and has twists and turns. It kept me turning the pages. TOOK A LONG TIME to figure it out and even then missed a big piece of it. LOVE A BOOK I CAN NOT FIGURE OUT BY CHAPTER 5 or so. THIS IS 1 OF THEM.
I so thoroughly enjoyed it. Could not stop reading it, page turner to say the least.
I bought this not realizing that Mr. Dunnett is also the author of one of my new recent favorites, The Wave at Hanging Rock. This story takes place in a small island off the coast of the east coast of the U.S. The first few chapters are narrated by 11 year old Billy, an unusual boy. He seems to prefer the company of adults than his peers; most of his interests aren’t even on the radar of other 11 year olds. He is fascinated with marine life among other things and has little ‘projects’ littered across the island. He lives with his dad in a cottage overlooking the sea. Dad is rather inscrutable, and definitely has secrets. Billy loves him, but also fears him at times.
A teenage tourist visiting the island goes missing without a trace, prompting months of help from mainland police, but to no avail. Billy decides that the police don’t know what they’re doing and that he will try to solve the mystery himself. What he finds sets in motion the rest of the plot. As with The Wave at Hanging Rock, this story goes in places I never expected. I loved the character of Billy; so precocious and logical, but at the same time, a child.
Nice book for older teens.
I enjoyed this book and written from the viewpoint of an 11 year old boy. Only one thing bothered me and that was the British idioms spoken by American characters. The author is British and in Britain there are many beach clubs with “Surf Lifesaving Club” included in the name, and the fact that a key location in the story is the Silverlea Surf Lifesaving Club led me to believe they were in the UK, or Australia, or Canada until later it was revealed that they were in the Eastern US. However, the story was enjoyable otherwise.
I thought the story line was very good. I would have rated this book a 5 star but too much profanity and embarrassing sex especially when in the face of an 11 year old! Sorry, wasn’t necessary to make the book a good read. If all the above had been eliminated I would have really enjoyed this. I was enjoying the boy’s narrative and also the way I got hooked into the wrong path. I should have seen that one coming. Like I said, no need for the profanity or the sex scene!
Couldn’t finish this book
Surprise ending.
One of the best hillside
This was a fun book to read. The main character is an 11 year old boy “detective” who is a Smart Nerd, but still 11. I am not going to say any more other than: easy to read and fun main character.
It is challenging to write from the POV of a child, especially when writing for adults. This wasn’t a bad effort but the writer didn’t quite pull it off. There were also a couple of glaring errors which made it clear the writer was a Brit setting his story in the United States who failed to do basic research. An example, nowhere that I know of in the US do the traffic lights go to yellow before turning green. It’s common in the UK and elsewhere evidently but the rationale for the practice escapes me. I admit to being a nitpicker.
It did bother me that two of the key female characters were nuts and the female detective had outbursts of ditz-itis so often throughout the book. Most of the characters were two dimensional.
Overall, the tone and style of the book seemed at a YA level. Had it been classified as such, my review would not be so harsh. Then again, I would not have read it. There are too many good grownup books I’d rather spend my time reading
Very interesting believable and likeable main character. Plot, not so.
much. Overall a diverting read.
This book was very well written and had a twist I didn’t anticipate. Read it!
Loved this book – well written – written from the perspective of a precocious 11 yr old was brilliant.
I loved this book and cant wait to read this author again.
I really liked this book. Best one I’ve read for awhile and I average about 3 books a week. Worth your time.
I enjoyed this book. Decent mystery told in the voice of an 11 year old boy. I’ll read more by this author.