**** SPOILER ALERT ****

This review contains spoilers for the previous book, Tomorrow, When The War Began. You should read that first.

The Dead Of The Night picks up right where the last book left off. Australia is still under invasion, but suddenly the war has become a lot more real for Ellie and co. Their numbers are down by two after Corrie was shot and Kevin took her to hospital. This takes its toll on our group, both physically and emotionally. Essentially, the group has become a guerilla outfit, which means they need all the numbers they can get. Not only that, but they have to deal with the fact Corrie may not make it out of hospital alive, and who knows what the soldiers are going to do to Kevin.

In fact, not knowing what’s going on is what’s taking the biggest toll on the group, so Homer, who from here on in takes on the leadership role, suggests they try and sneak into the hospital and visit Corrie. Although this doesn’t go exactly as planned, Ellie is able to get some valuable information about their families and such from one of the other patients. After this, our group heads back to Hell, and decides to see where the river on the other side leads. They discover an army camp – thankfully, on their side – but there’s something seriously fishy about the leader, Colonel Harvey, and the way the camp is run. No-one knows exactly what they’ve got themselves into, but they have to decide whether or not Colonel Harvey can be trusted, because if he can’t, Ellie and her friends are in serious trouble.

The major change in The Dead Of The Night is a bit of a shuffle around in the core group. Corrie and Kevin are entirely absent, but another joins the group. Chris was someone who was invited on the original camping trip to Hell, but was unable to come. After an attack on a convoy, they stumble across Chris and he eagerly joins up with them. Chris is a very mysterious character. He spends a lot of time writing poetry, and doesn’t tend to share a lot of what he’s written. Almost hippie-like in nature, he’s into drugs and doesn’t really like going out and attacking the enemy. He comes across as having a lot of secrets, but somehow author John Marsden makes him seem like a complete character.

The Dead Of The Night is a very crucial book to the series as this is where innocence goes out the window completely. Ellie, Lee and Homer all kill in cold blood, and this means the war is becoming a lot more real to them and to us. These kids have to grow up, fast. At one stage, Homer holds a meeting asking individual members what they think they could and couldn’t do. In the heat of the moment though, they realize that theorizing about it doesn’t make it any easier. This is especially hard on Robyn, being a Christian. She firmly believes in the Bible but now she finds herself questioning the true meaning of the word “murder”. Has she been put into a situation where the rules of her beliefs are gone?

The Dead Of The Night seems a little inconsistent when compares to other volumes in the series. The first two thirds contain a good mix of action and downtime, but the last third could really use some more action. There’s so much downtime here it’s barely memorable. However, the book succeeds on a lot of the same levels as the first. The narrative still has a lighthearted feel to it at times, the characters are still relatable, and the whole thing feels very real.

This is about growth. This is the volume that shows how the group is growing, ho fast, and the growing they’ve still got to do. It’s not the best book in the series, but is a very competent second volume.

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Recommended: Yes