Allen & Unwin Spectre Collectors book English Paperback 224 pages

A vastly underqualified schoolboy takes on everything the paranormal has to offer, with hilarious and messy results.

Denzel is just doing his homework one day when he senses he is not alone. In the corner is a weird black shape, waving its smoky black tentacles menacingly at him. Then two figures explode through his window; they are the Spectre Collectors, a secret organisation monitoring the barrier between the spirit world and ours, and preventing any hostile spirits making it across. Their leader is Doctor Quisling, a woman whose smile never quite reaches her eyes. She is intrigued by Denzel, as no one has ever been able to actually see ’geists before. She recruits him (i.e. makes it impossible for him to return home to his dads) and soon Denzel is caught up in the weird world of spectre collecting. But he senses all is not as it seems...

Barry Hutchison is an award-winning children's author and screenwriter, currently hiding up a mountain in the Highlands of Scotland. Since landing his first children's book publishing deal in 2008, Barry has toured extensively around UK schools, sharing his love of reading and stories about weeing in the kitchen sink with pupils of all ages. He has a passion for encouraging reluctant boys to pick up a book, and in 2013 was appointed as Scotland's third Patron of Reading, becoming the first man to hold the position.