Tunnels, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams

Tunnels, by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams is said to be an "International Bestseller". I won't argue. Perhaps it is. But I didn't find it nearly as compelling as other books I've read recently. (Then again, when I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I didn't see what all the fuss was about either -- it wasn't until book three that I really got into that series.)

Will Burrows and his archaeologist father dig in London. Specifically, they dig tunnels searching for historical finds. Will isn't popular at school, and his home life isn't the best. His mother seems to be in a drunken haze most of the time, and his younger sister has taken over the household jobs of shopping, cooking, laundry, and pretty much everything else, since their father, Dr. Burrows does none of it. After making some discoveries that Will isn't aware of, Dr. Burrows disappears, and not long thereafter, Will begins his search for his father after finding a tunnel leading out of his father's basement workspace. Will begins a journey that will show him his family in an entirely new light.

Probably the first thing you should know -- and something I hinted about above -- is that this is the first book in a planned series of books. Nothing is really solved at the end of the book, so you'll need to read the next book in the series to get any answers.

While never boring, Tunnels isn't always especially interesting either. It takes about one hundred pages of exposition before the book gets into the real meat of the story, and even then it tends to move slowly. With the exception of Will and his sister, I never felt as if the characters were well motivated. Chester, Will's one and only friend, chooses to help him find his father. Why? Other than the fact that they are friends, Chester really doesn't have any reason to do something that looks as dangerous as this search mission looks. A later character, Cal, accompanies Will, and again while I understand what the motivation is supposed to be, Cal understands the great danger in what he is doing, yet doesn't seem to worry about it. Other characters' motivations are even less well understood.

Further, the underground society in which Will finds himself doesn't seem well thought out. The rules seem somewhat arbitrary. Perhaps some of these things will be explored in future volumes, and some of my questions will be answered.

It's not a bad read, but there are many other books that I think are better.

Followed by Deeper (Tunnels Book II)

Rating: 6.5/10