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Critical Thinking Blog. Must-watch online documentaries. Stone Cold By Robert Swindells. Plot Summary. Link becomes homeless after a fight with his mother's boyfriend Vince. Thinking he is no longer safe in Bradford, he goes to London. He soon finds a room, but a fortnight's rent costs him two-thirds of his money.
He looks for a job but no one will take him on as he has no experience and has only five GCSEs. Soon the landlord kicks him out and he is officially homeless. Now Link cannot get a job since he has no address and he cannot get an address since he has no job. Link is very afraid alone on the streets, but after a while he meets Ginger who is also homeless. Ginger teaches Link how to survive on the street and how to beg. Meanwhile Shelter real name unknown is planning a mass murder of all the homeless people in London.
Shelter served in the Army for twenty-nine years. He was discharged on medical grounds, but he claims to be as fit as a butcher's dog. Bewildered by his discharge, and without occupation, he takes his frustrations out on the homeless who make the streets look "manky".
Shelter plans very meticulously. At his lowest point, Link begins to think of himself as a 'different creature,' living beside, not in harmony with the world around him. In meeting Gail, Link learns to appreciate what it is to feel that he belongs to society again. He talks poignantly about how for the first time in months he 'wasn't some sort of freak. The chapter ends on a positive note, Link has made a friend, someone who seems genuinely interested in him as a person.
However, we as readers are forced to reflect on our own materialistic existence. In the 21 st century how many of us can honestly say that all we need to be happy is the company of others? Shelter vows to continue his 'business' to 'rid my [his] country of riff - raff that's dragging it down.
Feeling that Gail values him, Link becomes obsessed with finding a job so that he can provide a home for her. Toya's father is scouring the streets looking for her. Link wishes that someone cared for him enough to come to find him. We learn that a middle-aged man has knocked at Shelter's door the previous evening. Suspicious of his appearance and warned by his instinct, Shelter views his visitor from behind a curtain, choosing not to open the door.
In a further insight into his warped mind, we learn how Shelter's life depends on being in control down to the finest detail. He is obsessive, only using a sixty-watt bulb so as to never 'show a strong light after dusk. Nick, the Big Issue vendor, approaches Link to tell him that he saw Toya with the same man that he saw Ginger talking to.
Nick's suspicions are aroused as both Ginger and Toya are now missing. Realising that the man was Captain Hook, Nick sent Toya's father - who is searching for his missing daughter - to the house. Concerned about what he has just heard, Link suggests that Nick should go to the police.
Nick is less optimistic, expecting the police to conclude that Toya and Ginger are two dossers who have simply moved on. Increasingly troubled by Ginger's sudden disappearance, Link persuades Gail to accompany him to the police station. Just as Nick had forecast, the duty sergeant is irritated, claiming that the matter has already been investigated, and that 'nothing has been found to justify further action.
Shelter launches into a venomous attack in which he declares that he has had the 'last laugh' as the enemy has 'been repulsed. Confident that he can continue to outwit the police, Shelter toys with the idea of whether or not he should open the door to the two officers waiting outside. Maintaining a calm exterior, he congratulates himself on being able to remain 'as cool as a cucumber. Convincing the officers that he is 'shy and modest,' with a genuine concern for the homeless people is easily accomplished.
Satisfied that Shelter is telling the truth, the officers offer advice telling him to be careful about whom he invites into his home. Shelter's reply 'I'll be careful,' is deeply ironic. Of course Shelter will be careful, careful not to get caught. Shelter is playing games; he deliberately addresses the constable as inspector, so as to make him feel more important. After shutting the door Shelter breaks into uncontrollable laughter at having fooled the police.
Link and Gail plan to approach Captain Hook to find out where Nick lives, but aware that he wouldn't tell them, Gail decides to go on her own. Whilst Link is waiting for Gail to return, he reflects on how she has changed his life for the better. Despite this, Link feels a strange uneasiness that he cannot explain. He is suspicious of Gail's confidence, and suspects that she might not really be homeless.
He tells us 'she [Gail] wasn't screwed up enough. After finding out where Nick lives, Link and Gail set off to watch the house where they think Toya and Ginger were last seen.
They spend a considerable amount of time watching the house over a few days, but their surveillance amounts to nothing. Convinced that 'horrible things had been done in the house,' Link is struck by the ordinary appearance of the man who lives there. Gail has 'a couple of things to see to' so Link keeps watch alone. In a chance conversation about a missing cat, the man invites Link into his house for something to eat.
Tempting him with the offer of a coat that might keep Link warm and dry, he feels that it is rude to refuse such a generous offer. On entering the living room, Link comments on how everything was in its place, the house is immaculate.
The lingering suspicions that Link had as he surveyed the house, have now dissolved. Alone in the room, Link begins to 'feel more complacent by the second. Link had been mugged for his watch by another homeless man earlier on in the novel. As the man walks into the room, Link starts to panic, and he feels a tightening sensation in his chest.
Shelter warns Link of the fate of the other 'recruits,' and he removes the floorboards for Link to see the bodies of the other victims. Realising the urgency with which he must escape, Link tries to smash the front window, but the glass only cracks.
Link, 'sobbing with terror,' manages to claw himself free, but Shelter pins him to the floor. Overhanging the hole in the floorboards, Link is forced to look at the bodies of the murdered victims below, and he recognises Ginger, even though he has had his head shaved.
Link is losing consciousness as Shelter is trying to strangle him. Shelter does get off Link but it is only to reach for a length of flex to kill Link more quickly. One day, Link and Gail meet a man who is looking for his missing daughter, whom Link recognises. He and Gail learn that the girl had gone into a house with an older man known as Shelter, whom Link also learns, that Ginger went with.
Link and Gail go to Shelter's home, where Link is lured inside and sees Ginger and the other missing homeless people's bodies. Shelter who had killed Ginger and the other missing homeless people in an attempt to "clean up" the streets of London tries to kill Link, but is prevented from doing so when Gail arrives with the police, who arrest Shelter.
Afterwards Link sees a cameraman calling Gail Louise and realises that she is an undercover reporter doing a report on homelessness and gets angry with her for not telling him. A remorseful Louise gives Links some money before leaving with the cameraman. Link then believes that Shelter is better off than him as in prison, he gets a bed, shower, food and a roof over his head whilst Link is still homeless and so decides to move elsewhere.
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