The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer

Genre: Science Fiction
Publishing year: 2004
Publisher: Puffin
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis:
In the future, in a place called Satellite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill enters the world, unwanted by his parents. He's sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. Freight class.
At Clarissa Frayne, the boys are put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products. At the end of most days, they are covered with burns, bruises, and sores. Cosmo realizes that if he doesn't escape, he will die at this so-called orphanage.

When the moment finally comes, Cosmo seizes his chance and breaks out with the help of the Supernaturalists, a motley crew of kids who all have the same special ability as Cosmo-they can see supernatural Parasites, creatures that feed on the life force of humans. The Supernaturalists patrol the city at night, hunting the Parasites in hopes of saving what is left of humanity in Satellite City. Or so they think. The Supernaturalists soon dins themselves caught in a web far more complicated than they'd imagined, when they discover a horrifying secret that will force them to question everything they believe in.

Review:
My first thought is that this could have been better. I love the idea of this story more than the actual writing. I honestly expected more of Colfer.

The action is wonderful, especially the drag race scene. The story moves quickly and the reader isn't likely to get bored. Its the characters that drag it down. None of them are fully developed and while I realize Colfer is working on a sequel to this book which I hope will flesh out these characters more fully, this novel was really lacking in characterization.

Another issue I had was with the narration. Thankfully it was in third person but even so there was so much head jumping. We spent the majority of the book with Cosmo but we frequently visited Mona, Ditto, and Stefan. Other readers may not find this annoying but it's a pet peeve of mine.

The ending. Trying not to spoil it completely, I just felt that very little had been fully addressed. Is Ditto now the leader of the Supernaturalists? Does Cosmo still want to know his parents? Has Cosmo finished grieving for Ziplock? It could have been more conclusive and still left room for a sequel.

For further reading I'd suggest Half Moon Investigations and The Reluctant Assassin, both by Eoin Colfer.

Question: We see a lot of orphans in young adult fiction, do you think the lack of parental guidance plays a significant role in the development of these characters?