The Knife Of Never Letting Go

The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first installment in the Chaos Walking Trilogy written by Patrick Ness and published on May 5, 2008. It has won numerous awards, including the Booktrust Teenage Prize, the Guardian Award, and the 2008 James Tiptree, Jr. Award.

Plot summary

Todd Hewitt is the only boy left in Prentisstown, a small settlement on New World where all boys become men at the age of 13. He begins the novel oblivious to Prentisstown’s history, having been told that all women have been killed by a ‘germ’ released by the native species on his planet known as the Spackle. As a side effect of this germ, the remaining men in Prentisstown can hear each other's thoughts, described as an ever-present cascade of ‘Noise’.

Todd, however, is soon forced to learn the truth.