#BlogTour ‘Number 10’ by C.J Daugherty

About the book….

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. 

Many thanks to Bei at Midas PR for the blogtour invite and gifted review copy of ‘Number 10’, which is currently available in English, French, German, Spanish, Serbian and Hebrew.

It will be available in English on November 10th, where this page will be updated with a purchase link!

This is the first novel I have read by C.J Daugherty and it’s a really good one, I’d absolutely want to read more by her. It tackles the way that teenagers are not listened to or presumed not to have anything worth saying and often have to take on adult roles before they are emotionally equipped to deal with this.

Gray has the focus of the world upon her as the daughter of the Prime Minister-a job she had begged her mother not to take until after she has finished her education-and struggles to balance a public and private life.

Opening with a club scene where she has pulled the oldest trick in the teen handbook-saying she is at her best friend’s house whilst she says she is with Gray-and is desperate to be seen as just one of the gang. Except she can’t, and when she sees her friend Chloe being eyed up by unsavoury men, she rushes to get the two of them out of there and is caught by paparazzi outside the club. It would seem like no big deal, but a)the pics of the P.M’s daughter puking into a pot plant are reminiscent of Prince Harry’s public faux pas, and b)it screams of a set up as the owner of the club is the father of a school friend.

Added to this, her humiliation is witnessed by her nemesis/love interest Jake McIntyre -son of the leader of the opposition party-so when her mother, Julia, tells her she cannot be as reckless as this anymore, it is just fuel to the flames of her anger. It is only when serious threats against her begin appearing , that the idea of being used to get to her mother actually begins to sink in.

Her new security detail is suffocating, so she explores the lower levels of Number 10, finding secret tunnels and accidentally overhearing a plot to replace her mother with a more Russian friendly premier…but who can she trust enough to tell? And who will believe her?

Shot through with menace tension and plot twists, this is an engaging story which will appeal to older teens in my humble opinion.

About the author….

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.

Links-https://christidaugherty.com/

https://moonflowerbooks.co.uk/books/

Twitter @moonflowerbooks @CJ_Daugherty @MidasPR