Blood Ties (Hinton novel)

Blood Ties

Cover of the first edition
Author	Nigel Hinton
Illustrator	George Sharp (Virgil Pomfret), Cover photograph courtesy of Image Bank
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Publisher	Penguin Books
Publication date	26 October 2000
Media type	Paperback
ISBN	0582430607

Blood Ties is a novel by British author Nigel Hinton. It was first published in 2000 and follows the story of two families on holiday whose parents go dangerously insane. According to the author he wrote it for people learning English.^[1]

Format

Blood Ties was published as part of the Penguin Readers range at Level 3 (pre-intermediate). The book has simplified text with illustrations designed to provide a step by step approach to reading for pleasure.

Plot

The story begins in September 1944 when the army dumped tins of chemicals into a lake on Kirren Island. The chemicals were meant to shorten the war but made soldiers crazy and thirty died.

In the present year one of the old tins leaked and farmer Ian Mackie drank from the lake going insane two hours later. Mr Mackie shot his sheep and when his wife tried to stop him he shot her along with his two children and his dog.

A week later sixteen-year-old Tom Sharp along with his ten-year-old brother Bob and their parents, who were devout Christians, went on holiday to Kirren Island. The Rochester family who had a large yacht came to the island and met the Sharps. They had a daughter called Vicky who was Tom's age and a son, Sam who was Bob's age. Tom's parents did not want to be friends with the Rochesters but they did not want to be rude when they were invited to eat dinner with them. After dinner the children stayed on the island outside the tents whilst the parents slept on the yachts. After kissing Tom and Vicky heard their younger brothers scream and they found them in the tent. They told them that they heard a noise like a wild animal and blood poured in through the roof. Outside Tom found a sheep's head that looked like it was cut with a knife and he threw it into the grass not wanting to scare Vicky. They slept the night in the other tent.

In the morning Tom showed the adults the sheep's head and the blood then they decided to see Mr Mackie whose house was the only one on the island. When they reached the lake the adults felt thirsty and drank from it then they went on to the farmhouse. The house had gunshot walls, dried blood and a horrible smell in the air. The adults decided to head back the yachts and send a message to the police.

On the way the adults started to feel ill and when they got to the sea they found the yachts burning. Vicky's father accused her of starting the fire and hit her. This made Tom and Vicky realise that something was wrong with the their parents. After watching the yachts sink Gavin Rochester started wielding an axe and they insisted they ate. They found the food the Rochesters had already brought from their yacht and Gavin smashed Sam's hearing aid. Refusing to wait for the eggs to cook they mixed them with the orange juice and poured it on the bread. The children were ordered to eat by Tom's mother who was wielding a knife. After that Gavin who was annoyed at Vincent Sharp's references to religion killed him then killed Margaret Sharp before she could stab him. The children ran into a cave feeling their way through the dark. Vicky fell over and lost Sam then their father found him and killed him. The other children hid in one of the side tunnels then they headed for the exit. Bob started running when they saw the light and Gavin and Danielle followed them. As Tom was climbing the ladder Gavin grabbed onto him but Tom got the axe and cut Gavin's shoulder and fingers sending him crashing onto his wife.

When they got to the farmhouse they went upstairs to use the radio then Mr Mackie entered wielding a knife. Mackie stabbed Vicky in the shoulder and Tom in his side. Tom found Mackie's gun under the desk and shot him. They managed to contact a man in a boat who sent a message to the police. The police arrived five hours later and took them to their boat.

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