Most of Westall's novels are set in the past, often in England during World War II, or in the present, but rarely in the future. However, they all rely either on strong suspense or absorbing action. Yaxley's Cat, although it borrows a character name from Futuretrack 5, presents an anxious tale of a contemporary family who are threatened by the inhabitants of a small village and a ghostly cat. The Devil on the Road is an ambiguous mystery of a young motorcyclist who transcends time to save a girl accused of witchcraft in the seventeenth-century. Urn Burial's science-fiction plot places a young boy into the middle of extraterrestrial battles. All of these have been commended by book reviewers for their fine presentation and excellent storytelling.