11-year-old Alfie Pluck starts life with extreme bad luck - Dahlishly grotesque aunts who treat him as their Household Drudge. He comes across a doctor who has created a 'good luck' gene. The gene is currently lodged in the brain of a very lucky chicken whose luck runs out when Alfie runs away with it, and eventually eats it. Then the race is on to get hold of Alfie, or perhaps his brain..

The book is fast-paced, probably best for boys of around 8-11. There are plenty of villains, highly caricatured, most of whom come to a nasty end. Not for the highly sensitive or squeamish, and not in the class of Dahl as far as humour goes - nonetheless, a readable book that could be popular with today's children. ( )