A London teenager eagerly follows his father to a new life in Tanzania—and straight into disaster. When their light plane crashes in the Serengeti, only Chris is uninjured enough to go for help. Not only natural dangers stand between him and the nearest settlement; there's also a deadly pair of ivory poachers, who are surprised in action and vengefully chased by an American and a retired game warden who's there on a photographic safari; an aging lion, undertaking his last journey, also closely parallels Chris's course. All these players converge at the climax; meanwhile, the story's drama is heightened by some melodramatic prose (``His gorge still rose as his nostrils caught the heavy stench of animal breath, blood breath, blood stench, blanketing the air in this savage and terrible place'') and by a succession of vividly set scenes. The characters in this all-male adventure (well, there are some female lions) are painted in bold strokes—in the American's case, rather broadly: ``He asks me if I know how to shoot...I'm a New Yorker. In New York you're born knowing how to shoot....'' For fans of Paulsen and other no-frills adventure novelists. (Fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-15-262408-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author of White Water (1997) offers another tightly wound boat ride into hardship and danger. After days of heavy rain overwhelm the levies, three teenaged volunteers from a local animal center set out in a rowboat to check on a displaced elderly resident’s dog. Their errand of mercy turns into one of both human and animal rescue then takes a sudden dangerous turn when they surprise a pair of armed looters in the act of ransacking a hastily abandoned house. The tension Petersen sets up between shy, sharp-tongued Tracy and her classmate Kevin, a juvenile offender with a habit of saying or doing stupid things, then regretting them later, not only adds to the general suspense, but artfully turns into a bond as the two work together: escaping the looters, keeping their damaged boat afloat, rescuing Tracy’s captured older brother, then helping authorities nab the burglars. Filled with narrow squeaks, set against a vividly realized natural disaster and animated by some fizzy chemistry between the protagonists, this page-turner will keep readers on the edges of their seats from the get-go. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-84148-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
In this sequel to Artemis Fowl (2001), the intellectual brilliance and total lack of scruples of the eponymous hero have enabled him to use his father’s criminal empire to accumulate a vast fortune. Artemis utilizes this money to finance the search for his father, still missing two years after a disastrous and almost legitimate foray into Russia. Upon the receipt of an e-mailed picture, supposedly of his father, Artemis and his bodyguard, Butler, start the journey to Russia, only to be abducted by an old adversary Captain Holly Short, of the fairy police, LEPrecon. Holly and her commander erroneously suspect Artemis of masterminding a smuggling ring. The deal Artemis and Butler make with the LEPrecon officers (Artemis lends his brain to solve the smuggling puzzle; LEPrecon lends its advanced technology to the search for Fowl, Senior) leads to a series of major and minor disasters, which provide suspense and tension to this well-plotted story. Characterization is slight but amusing: Holly Short, first female captain in the LEPrecon is a feisty but warmhearted fairy, Foaly the centaur head of LEPrecon’s technology department is brilliant if irascible, and the dwarf, Mulch, is hilarious, full of himself and of dwarf gas—don’t ask. Filled with puns, word plays, and inventive new concepts about the fairy realm, this mix of fantasy and science fiction will delight fans and make converts of new readers. An exhilarating Celtic caper that stands very nicely indeed on its own merits. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7868-0855-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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