THE STORY OF CIRRUS FLUX

Set against the backdrop of 18th-century London and the Age of Enlightenment, Skelton’s suspenseful fantasy adventure is filled with themes of greed, abuse, trust and betrayal played out within a cast of nefarious villains and daring heroes. Twelve-year-old orphan Cirrus Flux unknowingly possesses a divine power—access to “the breath of God.” Mystery and intrigue are generated through a series of alternating flashbacks set 12 years apart delineating a father’s fatal quest to reach the gates of heaven in order to find his wife, who died in childbirth, and a boy’s search for his heritage. Utilizing contemporary scientific experiments in illusion, hot-air balloons and hypnosis, the well-developed characters (who include a wicked mesmerist and the enterprising director of a “Hall of Wonders” museum) feverishly connive to steal the only remnant of Cirrus’s inherited treasure, a small spherical trinket that, when opened, reveals the supposed access to the celestial hereafter. The author deftly builds his story from past to present, providing unexpected twists right up to the chaotic yet satisfying conclusion. (Historical fantasy. 10-14)