Let’s hear it for awesome characters!  Ozzy and Sigi have faith in Rin even when nobody else does…well, most of the time.  They’ve learned that even though his ways are a bit quirky, his magnetic personality and his high-octane passion for life are addicting.  He’s a little kooky but a whole lot of fun, and he always sees the bright side of everything.  Sigi is Ozzy’s best friend and cohort in their adventures.  Making a good team, they always have each other’s back.  Then there’s Clark.  He’s the glittery character in the story.  Sometimes he blurts things out as if he doesn’t have a brain, but he’s usually pretty accurate in pointing out the obvious.  Lastly, no action story would be complete without a diabolic bad guy. 

In the end, the story might just leave the reader with a sharp impression of optimism.  There are several moments of trepidation and nail-biting, but the author has written it at a middle grade level so there isn’t anything highly traumatic or that gives cause for nightmares.  Magic is a primary theme of this story, but there’s not a lot of wand waving or changing bad guys into lizards. 

The author, Obert Skye, has written about twenty-seven books.  He writes with fantastic detail which kept me coming back for more.  With unexpected twists and turns, the speed and rhythm of the plot make it easy to connect with the characters.  It’s also great to see how Obert Skye presented the police in a professional and forward-thinking manner that essentially gives a shout out to law enforcement.  Even though this is book three of the series, it stood alone well.  There’s enough of a back story to make sense and to be entertaining to read.  Although, if you haven’t read book one and two, it would be worth your time to read them.

Review of an Advance Reading Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Shadow Mountain

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  None 

Violence/Gore:  A teen forces a man to repeatedly smash an item on his own hand, no description of damage to the man’s hand; mention that two teens had previously been in a lot of danger over the last few months, some details; mention that a man had previously hired a bad guy to abduct two teens; mention that a man had previously unsuccessfully hired a hit man to kill another man; a teen boy fell into the basement of a burned out building hitting his head and passing out; a man hurt a police officer causing him to pass out; a fire was accidentally started by four individuals who ran away; three people were hit with darts that knocked them out, they were then tied up and kept prisoner; a teen boy was forced to give several vials of blood, no description of the process, he was found almost passed out; a teen girl darts a man and hits another with the dart gun, both men pass out. 

Sex/Nudity:  There is a very slight romance between a teen girl and a teen boy, mostly implied.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death of parent, experimentation on a child, abandonment of child, divorce, mental health issues, mental health hospital, a fire started (accidentally).

Alcohol / Drug Use:

None