The Robin Hood books are my comfort-food go-to. I haven’t yet written reviews for books 4-7; a lot of them would mostly go around the same thing; how it’s a lot of fun to see our heroes outsmart corrupt lawmakers, law enforcers and dishonourable bandits. The last one had a truly cruel juvie prison and an epic prison breakout. Those were real standouts. But this one is the best of the series yet, a non-stop rollercoaster of an election set in the world of contract thugs and low-blow blackmail. You will not only, like the other Robin Hood books, completely wish this book was true, but feel like you haven’t truly lived until you’ve been part of a mission like this.
Robert Muchamore’s Robin Hood books modernize the legendary honourable thief as a twelve-year-old (now 13) with Katniss-Everdeen skills of a bow and arrow and escape artistry. Ever since his dad was framed for a crime he didn’t commit by the mayor of Nottingham, Guy Gisbourne, he’s been living with a group of established rebels, first in a deserted shopping mall in Sherwood Forest, and then an abandoned five-star resort hotel. Well, we’ve come a long way since Robin had to run from home. His father is now out of prison on appeal, and he’s running against Gisbourne for the title of mayor, and his hired goons will stop at nothing to thwart him, consisting not just of the thugs I mentioned, but officers, judges, lawyers – so many are on Gisbourne’s payroll with no shame about it.
It’s the day of the election, and it becomes clear that his goons are going to the voting booths and telling the workers that they know where they and their kids live and they will go after them if they don’t let them stuff ballots full of fake votes. So the only way for things to perhaps get better and get Robin’s dad in is by doing some additional sabotage, to cheat even more. And if that kind of story concept doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what else I can say. I’m from Canada, and we just went through an election I don’t think I’m ever gonna forget (I’m happy about the outcome for the most part), and this book had a similar air of terror about all the ways elections can go terribly wrong.
Some of the Robin Hood books before this have sagged in some areas, but I can’t think of anything bad about this one. The others take place over a fair few days, but this one is mostly just an entire single day, a mission with the gravity of hope for peace and a sense of a finish line. There’s also a more serious atmosphere than before. Robin is being smeared because of an officer he had to shoot with an arrow to save his friends, and that officer ended up dying, something he does have on his conscience. There’s one time we hear an officer say, “I don’t care if Gisbourne wants him alive. If you see that kid, shoot him.” These books have always been a little dark, but this is one of many things in this eighth entry that take it up a notch.
What other things do I mean? These books are geared towards preteens, but this one has stabbings, betrayals (like in the title), torture, kidnappings, threats of very serious prison time…the whole battlefield is right there in front of you. It also has some very shocking conclusions. There’s a real sense of an oncoming war. I heard there’s supposed to be two more books after this. One’s already been released, and the other? Don’t know when it’ll be out, but I can’t wait.
My grade: 5 stars out of 5
William J. McGinn 
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