Publication: 10th November 2020 – Moonflower Books
One of the UK’s most critically acclaimed teen authors returns with a new novel set in the world of her hugely popular Night School series.
Number 10 tells the spinetingling story of 16-year-old Gray Langtry, the daughter of the UK’s female prime minister, who is about to get in way over her head.
After a wild night with friends is splashed across the tabloids, Gray is grounded for two weeks at Number 10 Downing Street, no ifs no buts.
Left alone one night, with her mother at an important meeting, Gray discovers a secret network of government tunnels leading from 10 Downing Street to the Houses of Parliament and beyond. What starts as a bit of fun, suddenly gets serious, when Gray stumbles across a secret late night cabinet meeting and overhears what sounds like a Russian-led plot to kill her mother.
Wasting no time, she rushes back to inform her mother’s security detail, but with no proof of what she heard, no-one will believe a wayward teenager. Now, it’s up to Gray to break out of Number 10 and warn her mother before it’s too late.
With the help of her best friend Chloe and love interest Jake McIntyre – who just happens to be the son of the leader of the opposition – will she make it in time to save her mother? And what will she have to sacrifice in the process?
Number 10 is a Night School spin off series that sees CJ Daugherty back at her spine tingling best. Gripping, thrilling, and filled with intrigue, Number 10 explores the nexus of power in the UK from a teenager’s point of view.
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Delighted to welcome you on my stop for Number 10, the latest novel by CJ Daugherty.
Gray is sixteen years old. Like all sixteen years old she enjoys spending time with her friends, going to parties, and breaking curfew. But Gray is not a normal sixteen-year-old girl because she is the daughter of the Prime Minister of England and that means many rules to follow and being always on her best behavior because paparazzi are always there waiting for her wrong move.
Following a party gone wrong, Gray is grounded and she is assigned two bodyguards to keep eyes on her at all times. She is trapped inside No. 10 Downing Street until she finds out the tunnels that connect it to the Parliament and she decides to do a bit of exploration on her own. One night, she ends up in one of the offices listening to two men plotting to murder the Prime Minister. When no one seems to believe her, so she has no choice but to stop them herself, with the help of a couple of friends.
I have read the author’s previous crime novels and I love her captivating and fluid writing style and her gripping stories, but this is my first of her YA novels and I am happy to say that I really enjoyed it. Gray is a likable and authentic heroine. She wants to be a typical teenager, but she can’t, although her relationship with her mother is typical of every teenager (meaning a lot of screaming and “you don’t understand me”). When she realizes that all the adults in her life are keeping secrets from her, she decides to find out the truth on her own and that truth is more dangerous than she thought, but she is ready to do anything to protect her mother.
Number 10 is a brilliant and thrilling story with intriguing characters, unexpected twists, and an ending that leaves you eager to see what happen next.
A huge thank you to Bei and Midas PR for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a copy of the novel.
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C.J. Daugherty was 22 when she saw her first dead body. Although she’s now left the world of crime reporting she has never lost her fascination with what it is that drives some people to do awful things as well as the kind of people who will try to stop them. While working as a civil servant she visited No. 10 Downing Street and saw people disappearing into a small door with her own eyes – this became the inspiration for the novel Number 10.
A former crime reporter and accidental civil servant, C.J. Daugherty began writing the Night School series while working as a communications consultant for the Home Office. The young adult series was published by Little Brown and went on to sell over a million and a half copies worldwide. A web series inspired by the books clocked up well over a million views. In 2020, the books were optioned for television. She later wrote The Echo Killing series, published by St Martin’s Press, and co-wrote the fantasy series, The Secret Fire, with French author Carina Rosenfeld.
While working as a civil servant, she had meetings at Number 10 Downing Street, and saw people disappearing through a small door leading to a staircase heading below ground level. This visit became the inspiration for Number 10. FYI: She still doesn’t know if there are tunnels below Number 10. But she hopes there are.
Her books have been translated into 25 languages and been bestsellers in multiple countries. She lives with her husband, the BAFTA nominated filmmaker, Jack Jewers.
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