On Sundays, we do beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker. How about we try Into The Dark, third in the middle grade Echo Falls series? Unlike the Chet and Bernie series, Echo Falls should probably be read in sequence – Down The Rabbit Hole, Behind The Curtain, Into The Dark. Today, instead of the beginning, here’s a little bit of Mr. Sidney, the old school bus driver, talking to Ingrid and her friend Ty about Bataan, which of course is all new to them.

“Very next morning they had us on the road to the prison camp. Not going to talk about the Death March – you can look it up. Not going to talk about the starvation, or the disease, the heat, or what happened to anybody who lagged behind, even to drink from a mud puddle.”

“What happened to them?” said Ty.

“What did I just say?” said Mr. Sidney.