Review: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Adventure books, Book Reviews
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane is written with the permission of the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd and tells of the early life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character, Sherlock Holmes. This novel is the first of a series telling of Sherlock’s teenage years and how he came to develop the keen mind and detective skills which are demonstrated in the original stories. This book is a fast-paced adventure aimed at teenagers and needs no background knowledge of Sherlock Holmes to be enjoyed. Andrew Lane has tackled the challenging task of creating a series which is consistent enough to the original to appeal to fans, while remaining accessible to those who haven’t read the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I can’t speak yet for the other books in his series, but this one certainly meets that goal.
In Death Cloud, young Sherlock is told that he can’t go home from boarding school for the summer holidays but must go stay with an aunt and uncle. While there, he befriends the independent Matty Arnatt, who recently saw a strange black cloud that was somehow connected with a death. Sherlock is informed that he is to have a tutor, Amyus Crowe, a cheerful man determined to teach Sherlock how to think. When they find a second dead body, Sherlock’s curiosity is peaked and he is determined to unravel the mystery behind the two deaths and the strange, black cloud.
Together with Matty, Crowe and Crowe’s daughter Virginia, Sherlock begins to uncover the facts and come to face with the man behind the deaths, whose plot could spell disaster for Britain. The story is written much more in the style of an adventure or thriller than a standard murder mystery. The tension is kept throughout not so much to find out who was behind the deaths but how, why and, more importantly, how to stop him. The mystery, combined with a sense of danger, keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. There were a couple of not quite believable escapes, but that’s all part of a fun adventure.
Altogether, the book is an action-packed tale that gives a bit of insight into a beloved fictional character. The supporting characters are interesting and believable. The mystery is very cleverly constructed and the adventure is maintained throughout. I would recommend this book, regardless of whether you know anything about Sherlock Holmes. I’ll certainly be looking out for the other books in this series to see how young Sherlock continues with his second mystery.
Tags: adventure, Andrew Lane, books, review, Sherlock Holmes
Review: The Recruit by Robert Muchamore
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Adventure books, Book Reviews
The Recruit by Robert Muchamore is the first book in the
CHERUB series, which is written about an organisation of children who act as
spies and secret agents. This story tells about how James, after his mother’s
death, is approached by CHERUB and offered the chance to join them. Given that
his other choice is to live in a children’s home with kids who’ve already got
him arrested, he agrees. Much of the book regards how he came to be in CHERUB
and the training he had to go through, while about the last third of the book
covers his first mission.
The concept behind this story resembles that behind the Alex
Rider series (I’m not sure which came first) but this book feels much older.
Despite the main character being 11, the book touches on some tough issues and
covers some topics that parents might not be keen on seeing young children read
about. For example, in the first chapter, James attacks a girl in his class and
she ends up needing stiches in her face. On another occasion, he goes to the
birthday party of an older friend and the others at the party think it’s fun to
get him drunk. The copy of the book that I read had a warning on the front that
it wasn’t for younger readers and I would agree. James isn’t exactly an ideal
role model for young kids: he constantly gets into fights, he steals and he
gets drunk.
Another thing that makes me feel that the book is for a much
older readership than the Alex Rider books is the nature of the bad guys. The
bad guys in The Recruit feel solid and complex as characters. When James
interacts with them, you get a feel for real people doing things they think are
right and necessary. James makes a comment at one point that it seems like
everyone is, to some extent, the bad guy in the scenario, which makes him doubt
whether what he did was right. This complexity and the morally grey nature of
the conflict makes the book feel more real, despite the unbelievable nature of
the central concept.
This book was quite an easy read and kept me turning the
pages to find out what happened next. Muchamore kept the tension throughout the
story. The only real drawback to the story is the fact that James is not a particularly
likeable character. Still, Muachamore did a great job of making his actions
understandable and sympathetic. The story was told from his perspective in such
a way that I could accept his motives for his actions, even when I didn’t like
his actions.
Overall, this was an interesting book and I’d consider
reading the others in the series, but James as a central character is a bit
off-putting. I also wouldn’t recommend it as a book for young readers. For
teenagers wanting to read about kids having adventures, it could be a good
choice.
Tags: adventure, books, CHERUB, novels, review, young adult
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Adventure books, Book Reviews, Sci-fi books
In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is one of twelve children sent to fight for their lives in a cruel arena for the entertainment of the Capitol. She survived in a way that made the government look bad. In Catching Fire, her actions have stirred up unrest in the districts that serve the Capitol. President Snow himself tells her that he will hold her responsible but she doesn’t know how she can quench the rising flame of revolt. In this conclusion to the fantastic trilogy, the unrest has become outright war. Katniss is forced to take on the role of the Mockingjay, a symbol of rebellion and a figurehead in the army. She doesn’t want to play this part but finds that she must because someone has to stand against the Capitol.
But the Capitol are fighting back with as much cruelty as they’ve ever shown, perhaps more. They have a weapon designed not just to kill her, but to destroy the soul of the rebellion: Peeta. The boy who declared his love for her before they were pitted against each other in the arena.
This book is a tense adventure that carried on the amazingly quality of story-telling that the first two books began. The story gets even darker as we are plunged deep into a war, with all the horror that entails. The narrative style is gripping and there were some plot twists that I did not see coming.
This book is an amazingly conclusion to a brilliant trilogy. I would highly recommend this series, but you should definitely start with the first book.
Tags: adventure, books, review, sci-fi, science fiction, Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
Review: Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Adventure books, Book Reviews
Crocodile Tears is the eighth book in the Alex Rider series. This is a series aimed at younger readers but enjoyable to adults. It’s about a fourteen year old boy who is manipulated into working as a secret agent.
In this book, Alex is involved in a car accident that may be more than an accident. He’s barely recovered from that when he’s approached by a reporter who apparently knows all about Alex’s work with MI6. Either Alex’s life will be all over the newspapers or… he has to go back to MI6 and ask for help.
The book is a light-hearted adventure. You’re not meant to really believe any of it is possible. The bad guys are always slightly over-the-top, Alex’s spy gadgets are always fantastic and he always ends up in situations that would get an ordinary person killed. Once you accept the basic premise that he can survive this madness, then you can settle down to enjoy the story. Still, despite the unbelievability of the rest of the series, I struggled with the major coincidence that this story is based on which connects the start of the story with the work MI6 set Alex. I won’t say too much and spoil the surprise, but that took a step too far away from plausibility for my tastes.
Still, the story had the same elements which have made the rest of the series so fun. It’s an easy read (I got through the book in about three evenings). It’s got an exciting plotline which keeps you turning the pages. And it’s fun. As a bit of light relief, it’s a great story.
It’s probably not the best book to start with. There are a few references to the earlier books in the series, but it doesn’t rely on knowledge of those others. You would be able to start reading this book without having read any of the others, but there are things mentioned here which might be spoilers for the earlier ones in the series. Given that the strength of these books in the ability to keep you going to find out what happens next, it’s probably advisable to read the series in order. It won’t take very long.
I would definitely recommend Crocodile Tears if you have a sense of adventure and want something easy and fun to read.
Tags: adventure, Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz, Crocodile Tears, novels, review, spy
