"Blacklands" by Belinda Bauer

An audio book.

Steven, a 12 y.o. boy, is digging on Exmoor, looking for the remains of his uncle Billy, who was murdered by a child molester, Arnold Avery, when he was Steven's age. He hope that finding bones will make his family happier. He finds a jawbone. It turns out to be a sheep's jaw. He lives with his grandmother and his single mother. Steven's used to having new "uncles" - his mother's between uncles at the moment. His friend Lewis boasts about touching girls. They're bullied by "the hoodies."

Steven researches into Avery, sending him letters that are coded to defeat censors. We get Avery's PoV. He's been inside for 18 years. He replies to Steven, asking for photos, thinking at first that the letters are from a woman. Steven's mother thinks it's a letter from a girl and asks him if he's taking precautions. Avery decides to escape. When he does, he steals a car and goes to where he hopes Steven will be digging, looking for bodies. Steven is there, with his friend Lewis. He thinks that Avery will kill him. He tells Lewis to go. Lewis and Avery are puzzled. Steven wants to save Lewis. Lewis runs off to Steven's house [will the hoodies save Steven?]. Steven asks Avery if he killed Billy. Avery says he did, and explains how. Steven's sick over Avery and runs away over the foggy moor. Avery catches him and tries to strangle him. He loses consciousness. He wakes and finds himself in bed. He learns that Lewes' father saved him. Nan was there, and had collapsed. She recovered.

I can understand Avery being a cold-blooded calculator. I'm surprised that Steven doesn't panic on the moor with Avery. We're told that he cries but he seems calm and collected all the time

Other reviews

• Laura Wilson (Creating a child protagonist is always a risky undertaking. ... Steven, however, is impeccably, even heartbreakingly, well imagined in his quest not only for understanding, but also to justify his existence – or, as he puts it, to show that he is "better" than everyone thinks)
• existentialennui (Both Steven and Avery are well drawn by Bauer, and if some of the other characters suffer by comparison – notably Steven's mum and nan – that's entirely forgivable when the two leads are so distinctive.)
• kirkusreviews (Bauer displays remarkable talent in pacing, plotting and, most important of all, getting beneath the skin of even her most repellent characters.)
• shereadsnovels (Steven is being bullied and doesn’t feel he can tell anyone about it. His only moments of happiness come when he’s working in the garden with Uncle Jude, one of the many boyfriends who pass in and out of his mother’s life. Although he sometimes seems older than twelve, I found him a very believable character)