Books for June

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

Review

In this, the third book of the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, Michael Scott shows once again the skill at plot-writing and character depth that made the other books in the series intriguing. In the Sorceress, we once again follow the adventures of Sophie and Josh Newman, who were snatched from their happy, human life as a result of the actions of Dr John Dee, Nicholas Flamel's shadowy nemesis. In this book, they discover danger and deceit at the heart of London, battle the power of the evil Dark Elders and the Wild Hunt, and find the mythical Gilgamesh the King living on the streets in London. They also discover deceit at the heart of the man who they are working with, Nicholas Flamel, who will use any method to achieve his goals and doesn't like it when people stand up to him. It will be interesting to see where this series goes, as the first three books were excellent!

Sure Fire by Jack Higgins

Review

A team of two spies breaks into a fuel manufacturing plant in Russia, and takes a sample of a new prototype mixture the Russian company is producing before blowing up the lab. Understandably, the head of the company isn't too pleased, and kind of wants that sample back. Also, the British intelligence service wants the sample for their own. It doesn't look too good for the spies, does it?

One of them has just found another complication. His divorced wife has died, and the children he didn't even know he had are now staying with him. When he is kidnapped by his enemies, his children are left alone with nothing but a cigarette lighter that may have some significance. Soon, trying to figure out where their father has gone, they are drawn into the shadowy world of spies and ruthless businessmen, where nothing is what is seems and nobody tells the whole truth. A great read!

The Floods by Colin Thompson

Review

The Floods are not your normal neighbors. For one thing, they are all wizards, apart from the family dog, who was originally one of the children, they live in a house filled with monsters and go to a special school some several continents away, which they go to and from every day, which would be big problem for anyone who wasn't a wizard! However, despite their strangeness, they are perfectly nice people and would be happy to lend you a hand in anything you needed help with. Their neighbors, however, would not. The Dents are neighbors from hell, and have resisted any attempts made by the rest of the neighborhood to make friends or even peace. They shout at each other and break other people's things, and soon the Floods feel their patience coming to an end. It is time to deal with the Dents once and for all.

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow by James Rollins

Review

When Jake's parents disappear while on an archeological dig in Mexico, he and his sister, Kate go to live with some family friends. Jake manages to stumble through life and not think about it too much. Slowly, he and his sister begin to recover from the shock. But then, two years later, a letter arrives from the company that sponsored his parent's dig. They have managed to recover the artifacts from the dig from the Mexican government, and are putting on a display to honor their parents. The two are invited. But as soon as they arrive, Jake knows something else is up. When they enter the exhibit alone before everyone else, Jake and Kate trigger a strange reaction that sends them tumbling back in time. In fact, to a place that doesn't seem to exist in time, where different cultures from all times and places have been brought together. This realm would be perfect, if not for the threat posed by the dangerous Kalverum Rex, the Skull King. Can Jake face the Skull King and stop his evil schemes against this nation?

The Eye of the Forest by P B Kerr

Review

When a famous museum loses most of its collection of rare Incan artifacts, along with the mummified body of a dead Aztec king, the police are stumped as to how it occurred, and also to how the dinosaur statue in front of the museum got turned around 180 degrees on its base. But John and Philippa know exactly how it happened. When the two young djinn were visiting the area, John accidentally let the ghost of an ancient Aztec king break free of his bindings, and now they must follow him deep into the Amazon jungle, where a group of foolhardy explorers are preparing to perform a ritual that will most likely destroy the world. Can John and his sister stop them and the ancient, mad ghost?

-- JackW - 21 Jun 2009