"The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown."
Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 5

Sam keeps getting messages that seem to be coming from his dead father.

He thinks someone is playing a sick joke on him, and he wants to track them down.

But he soon uncovers a deadly secret that sets him on course for violent revenge.

Tim Collins has created a gripping new tale for reluctant and struggling readers, offering a tense but relatable retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Something Rotten is just one of the eight novels in our Dark Reads II series that have been specifically written to appeal to teenagers with a very low reading age of 6-7.

Featuring memorable two-tone, graphic novel style illustrations by Mark Penman, the reader is encouraged by both the striking pictures and the stimulating story. With a word count of no more than 600, these bite-sized books are perfect for those that are daunted at the thought of reading.