The ''Eddie & the Gang with No Name'' series is a trilogy of young-adult novels, written by

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

author

Colin Bateman Colin Bateman (known Mononymous person, mononymously as Bateman) is a novelist, screenwriter and former journalist from Bangor, County Down, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Biography Born on 13 June 1962, Bateman attended Bangor Grammar ...

. The trilogy surrounds a twelve-year-old Eddie and his affiliation with a local gang, the "Reservoir Pups". The trilogy was bought by the publisher

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

for release in America. However, given the drug-related content in the third installment of the series, Random House decided to publish only the first two novels.

Characters

* Eddie Malone – thirteen-year-old boy,

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

of the story. * Eddie's mum – mother of Eddie and heavily pregnant with Scuttles' child. * Bernard Scuttles – chief of hospital security and boyfriend of Eddie's mum. * Mo – female

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

best friend of Eddie. ; Since ''Bring Me the Head of Oliver Plunkett'' * Gary Gilmore – friend of Eddie who is fond of

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

and

explosions An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known ...

in general. * Pat –

runaway Runaway, Runaways or Run Away may refer to: Engineering * Runaway reaction, a chemical reaction releasing more heat than what can be removed and becoming uncontrollable * Thermal runaway, self-increase of the reaction rate of an exothermic proce ...

orphan, friend of Eddie. * Sean – also a runaway orphan and friend of Eddie.

''Reservoir Pups''

''Reservoir Pups'' (also known as ''Running with the Reservoir Pups'') is the first novel of the ''Eddie & the Gang with No Name'' trilogy by

, published on 13 November 2003 through

Hodder Children's Books Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher ...

. It is Bateman's first

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

novel.

Plot

In 1978 Eddie's father leaves his mother to run away with her boss, a doctor. His mother finds herself a new nursing job at the Royal Victoria Maternity Hospital, however it's located in a run-down section of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

; the pair move there regardless. A short time after they arrive, Scuttles, the chief of hospital security, accuses Eddie of scamming the locals and of being part of a neighbourhood gang, the "Reservoir Pups". Given that all the people in his life believe he is already part of the gang, Eddie decides to join. He is tasked with stealing the security codes from Scuttles' computer and while attempting to do so, hears of a plot to

kidnap In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

twelve babies from the hospital nursery, abandoning his mission. Returning to the gang, Eddie is ostracised for his failure to complete his task and he is told to "watch his back". Eddie then sets out to foil the kidnapping himself.

''Reservoir Pups'' characters

* Captain Black – paraplegic boy and leader of the gang. * Alison Beech – owner of the cosmetics company that is attempting to kidnap the babies.

''Bring Me the Head of Oliver Plunkett''

''Bring Me the Head of Oliver Plunkett'' is the second novel of the ''Eddie & the Gang with No Name'' trilogy by Northern Irish author,

, published on 13 May 2004 through

. The story was initially written in 1995–96 as a feature film script aimed at adults. It was sold in 1996 although, , no further information has been released. When Bateman was attempting to write the sequel to ''Reservoir Pups'', he found this script, "threw most of it out"; and re-aimed it at the young-adult audience.

Plot

Two runaway orphans, Pat and Sean, witness the theft of

Saint Oliver Plunkett Oliver Plunkett (or Oliver Plunket) ( ga, Oilibhéar Pluincéid), (1 November 1625 – 1 July 1681) was the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland who was the last victim of the Popish Plot. He was beatified in 1920 and c ...

s head from St. Peter's Church where it was on display for a forthcoming papal visit. Pat speaks to the

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

of the church and discovers that he will be greatly embarrassed by the disappearance; Pat decides to help as he is feeling guilty for not preventing the crime initially. The orphans enlist the help of Eddie and his best-friend Mo in their task. Eddie and Mo, meanwhile, have been involved in some tasks for the Reservoir Pups which coincidentally involve the son of Scarface Cutler; a blind boy named Ivan and son of the thief in possession of the head.

''Bring Me the Head of Oliver Plunkett'' characters

* The

– stands to be greatly embarrassed by the loss of the head. * Scarface Cutler – violent criminal and holder of Plunkett's head. * Ivan – blind son of Cutler.

''The Seagulls Have Landed''

''The Seagulls Have Landed'' is the third novel of the ''Eddie & the Gang with No Name'' trilogy by Northern Irish author,

, published on 19 May 2005 through

. Random House decided not to publish the book in America due to the drug-related content in this instalment of the series.

Plot

Eddies loses his newborn half-brother and enlists his gang with no name to help him find him. In doing so Eddie discovers that a gang named ''The Seagulls'', which is the nickname for a large number of immigrants fleeing a

natural disaster A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...

, are distributing a highly addictive drug called Crush. Eddie and his gang try to stop them whilst finding his lost brother in the process.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eddie and the Gang with No Name Novels from Northern Ireland * Hodder & Stoughton books