- Max Boucherat

The Last Life of Lori Mills

By Max Boucherat
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A Waterstones Best Children’s Book of the Year

Gaming, adventure and an incredible friendship combine in this one-of-a-kind, heart-pounding, spine-tingling adventure that takes place in the space of a single night. Eerie, exciting, funny and deeply moving, THE LAST LIFE OF LORI MILLS is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.

Eleven-year-old Lori is home alone for the first time in her life, and she’s immediately done all the things she’s TOTALLY NOT allowed to do:

1. Turned the heating up to the max.
2. Built a GIANT blanket fort in the living room.
3. Switched on Voxminer, aka the greatest game in the history
of the universe.

But quickly, Lori realises something is wrong. She can hear strange whispers coming from the screen – and soon, they’re in the house with her. Could it be Voxminer’s most terrifying legend: Shade Girl?

Trapped in her home as the doors and windows start to vanish and her phone goes dead, Lori must use all her bravery, wits, gaming skills – and the love and deep bond she shares with her BFF, Shoelace – to survive until Mum gets home…

A unique and unforgettable read that’s perfect for fans of Jennifer Killick, Christopher Edge, Minecraft and Stranger Things.

Author: Max Boucherat
Format: Paperback
Ageband: 8 to 12
Release Date: 04 Jul 2024
Pages: 288
ISBN: 978-0-00-866648-4
Max Boucherat (he/they) was born and raised in Cardiff, gained an MA in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University and now lives with their wife in a mercifully ghost-free house in the middle of Caerphilly, South Wales.THE LAST LIFE OF LORI MILLS is Max’s love letter to both horror and videogames, and the book their ghost and game-obsessed younger self would have loved to read. Max was inspired by the huge part played in children’s lives by video games like Minecraft, and by the massive online subculture they have spawned, in which kids discuss the strange and spooky ghost characters they have found in the games.

”'Terrific ” - fun, funny, heartwarming, just the right shade of scary’ Derek Landy

”'A delightfully curious mix of unique, peculiar, creepy and heart melting. Truly unlike anything I’ve read before” - Hana Tooke

”'A 10-out-of-10 spine-tingling page turner… I couldn’t put this book down. It’s brilliant” - Mel Taylor-Bessent

”'Minecraft-meets-Lovecraft - genuinely creepy with a surprisingly heartwarming ending. But don't read it with the lights off…” - Alastair Chisholm

”'This book is brilliant. A fresh and exciting new voice … A properly pacy, heart-pounding sci-fi thriller, perfect for gamers. Read it with ALL the lights on!” - Rashmi Sirdeshpande

'It absolutely knocked my socks off … A fantastic, thrilling debut' Tamzin Merchant -

”'Whip-smart and spine-tingingly scary … An absolute treat of a debut” - Laura Noakes

'A hair-raising adventure' Observer -