Not much for internal logic but certainly a headlong thrill ride.
Intrepid teen detectives Jack and Scarlet battle Japanese crime bosses and German Nazis—make that “damned Nazis”—to find a long-lost sword purported to have magic powers.
Using as their cover a convention of scientists and world leaders gathering in Tokyo to sign a climate-change accord, the white, British teens join their eccentric employer, Ignatius Doyle, in seeking both the Kusanagi sword and Doyle’s missing scapegrace secret-agent brother, Edgar. In doing so, they become caught in the middle of an escalating conflict between Japanese Darwinists, whose Biomechanics technology is producing wonders like helicopter-sized dragonflies, and Metalists, who go for machinery—such as, for example, a gigantic, steam-driven dragon that levels parts of the city. In addition, the search is complicated by trench coat–clad Nazis who are also after the fabled sword. Never one to give his characters a moment’s rest, Pitt punctuates the action-heavy plot with sudden assaults, narrow escapes, hails of gunfire, corpses, no fewer than four cryptic parchment maps left atop hidden (sometimes booby-trapped) altars, and repeated rescues by a mysterious female ninja. The author also trots in Albert Einstein, Adolf Hitler, and other historical figures for cameos. In this episode, at least, Jack has more to do than Scarlet, who can deck an attacker at need but is chiefly along to scream, swoon, provide romantic tension, and be rescued from kidnappers.
Not much for internal logic but certainly a headlong thrill ride. (Steampunk. 11-14)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-925240-18-4
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Text
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2016
Balliett delivers a loosely constructed tale about a modern lad who discovers an exciting connection between himself and Charles Darwin. In a box dropped off by his sociopathic father, Zoomy finds a battered old notebook whose unidentified author was—like Zoomy—compulsive about making lists of tasks and methodically checking off each item in succession. The word “Galapagos” and other clues in the book prompt visits to the local library, where Zoomy makes a high-energy new friend in summer visitor Lorrol. Together the two immerse themselves in a study of Darwin’s life and plan a series of broadsheets (reproduced within) containing extracts from the scientist’s writings. Around these and other info-dumps the author wraps an engaging picture of Zoomy’s life with loving, sensitive grandparents. But a rococo chain of events that begins with the notebook’s theft and climaxes in a contrived fire seems inserted just to move the plot along while providing a demonstration of small-town values in action. Unlike the author’s previous outings, here her enthusiasm for historical research seems to outweigh her interest in creating a well-founded story. (Mystery. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-439-85209-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
Slipping Dave Barry–style ruminations between each chapter, the pseudonymous Dr. Soup, world-famous “Advisor to the Ill-Advised,” strands the motley time-traveling cast assembled in A Whole Nother Story (2010)—including brilliant scientist Ethan Cheeseman, his three children (repeatedly described as “smart, polite, attractive, and relatively odor-free”), a psychic dog, a sock puppet and a crew of cursed but friendly pirates—in 1668 New England. Many misadventures and an Atlantic crossing later, after narrow escapes from witch hunters, a pirate of the unfriendly sort and other hazards, they proceed to Denmark to lay the aforementioned curse to rest (and run afoul of the local Duke’s evil step-twin in the process), after which the Cheesemans climb aboard a fresh time machine obligingly provided by the previous episode’s vengeful but woefully hapless villain Mr. 5 for the next stage in their quest to rescue their murdered mother. Fans of baroque misadventures, bumbling villains, heroic rescues, cliffhangers and especially sarcastic repartee—not to mention intrusive narrators—will be charmed anew. (Fantasy of the absurd. 11-13)
Pub Date: Dec. 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59990-436-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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