The Gates by John Connolly

I read the gates really quickly, but it was a couple of weeks ago, and unfortunately,although I really enjoyed it, I seem to have forgotten all the good things I wanted to say about it! So although I enjoyed it, and would recommend it, I don't know how memorable I can say it was. The Gates was  a really entertaining, light read. The gates of the title refer to the gates of hell, which are about to be opened on Crowley Road. Eleven year old Samuel Johnson is showing initiative by Trick or Treating a few days early,in an attempt to beat the crowds. When he stumbles on the people at 666, they are very rude to him, and send him away. Not taking this as an answer, Samuel stumbles upon his neighbours performing a strange ritual in the basement, and incredulously watches them conjure up a strange blue light, and demons take over their bodies. Unfortunately, they also see him, which causes problems for Samuel throughout the novel.

Simultaneously, two bored technicians in Switzerland are watching their computer monitors whilst playing battleships. They are supposed to be ensuring nothing untoward happens with the processes of The large Hadron Collider, but they become agitated when they notice some energy supposedly disappearing and then the computer record appearing to rewrite itself. Obviously the two events are connected and what follows is a fast paced trip through Samuel's attempts to get someone to believe what he saw, and that a demon disguised as his neighbour is trying to kill him.

This is a short book, but it seems to squeeze a lot in. There's some science, some stuff about the creation of the universe, lots of demons (including one who finds himself here by accident, and steals a car, falls in love with wine gums, and really doesn't understand the concept of speed limits) plus the rising from the dead of a long dead bishop! It was an interesting story, but by far the best bit about this book was that it made me laugh. Peppered with humorous comments on society, usually about how silly and boring adults lives are, made me smile. And the book includes footnotes, again which are usually funny, the one that stands out to me being one about the galaxy, claiming that scientists have discovered that a substance recently discovered at the centre of our galaxy smells of rasberries and rum!