I've never read Cussler, but I really enjoyed the movie version of his book Sahara, and this NUMA Files tale was no less exciting. Nor does it star Dirk Pitt.

To begin, Dr. Francesca Cabral has discovered a process that can cheaply and efficiently desalinate water, and is on her way to the UN to present her findings and give the process to the world for free. But someone else has other things in mind, and her plane never makes it out of South America, crashing deep in the jungle.

Ten years later, Kurt Austin and his partner Joe Zavala are racing their powerboat when the come abruptly upon a pod of dead whales. Curious as to what could have killed them, as research seems to indicate they were boiled, they begin to investigate. This leads them to a Tortilla Factory in Baja California, Mexico, which fronts for an underwater operation. Before they can discover much about the underwater dealings, the facility explodes, nearly taking Austin and Zavala with it.

Meanwhile, in the jungle, NUMA reasearchers Paul and Gamay Trout have gotten wrapped up in twisted dealings between locals, and end up escaping only to stumble into the territory of the most freaed tribe---the Chulo. With no other options for escape, however, they decide to attempt to steal a Chulo canoe, only to end up discovered and escorted to the center of their village, where they come face to face with the White Goddess, Francesca Cabral.

Dr. Cabral and the Trouts make a daring escape from the Chulo, who are staging a coup to overthrow their leader. It seems hopeless, but with some luck and a helping hand from their NUMA friends, they're saved, and return to the states, where everything starts to come together, and therefore falls apart.

The deaths of the whales, the explosion, and Dr. Cabral's attempted kidnapping, are all related to the business dealings of a trans-national corporation who is slowly and silently taking over the world's water supply. Led by a giantess of a woman who is never seen, hidden in a fortress of a house on the shores of Lake Tahoe, it seems there can be no stopping Gogstad or their monopoly on Blue Gold.

This book will keep you turning pages and on the edge of your seat right down to the last sentence.

Reviewed by Jonathan A.

The book was great.

I liked this book. It was about three brothers who get lost after they are kicked out of their town for doing mischief. Bone the main character meets some crazy creatures along the way as he begins seaching for a way back to his brothers. He has amazing adventures along the way.

I would recommend everyone who likes to have their funny bone tickled to read this fabulous comic book.

If you have ever seen the old cartoon the schmoo, that is what the characters from Bone remind me of.

I didn't really read the whole book yet. But I had to post something for my class. This review is a major grade and I'm trying to keep from failing my English class. My parents will ground me for the school holidays if I don't get a good grade on this assignment. So I will have to finish reading this book and writing the review so I don't get a F for writing a bunch of nonsense just so I can have a review posted. I just need 39 more words or characters. I really need to be shopping for Christmas gifts. Hey this book would make a great Christmas gift for all of your friends.

Anansi Jr and the Mango Truck is the second installment in the Coomacka Island series. Based in part, on Afro-Caribbean folklore, Anansi was the great trickster and somewhat of cult hero to islanders. For hundreds of years, folk tales about the Macka Tree and the spirits dwelling within roots have been passed down through the generations. As with many cherished stories, the fictional fires erupted from a spark of truth.

The story begins with AJ tending his garden, filled with beautiful plants, including his award winning Monkey Tail Shrub. There was only one thing that he loved more than gardening and that was eating. However, he was a very greedy spider and had never experienced the joy of sharing. Nevertheless, on this day, he would learn a valuable lesson about the spirit of giving and friendship.

Once again, Hooper and Degand have delivered a fictional tale, filled with life lesson of immense importance. From the first colorful page, the reader is transported to the heart of the Caribbean. The emotion-filled drawings bring the words, as well as, the island itself to life. Introducing names with various origins, such as Swahili or Haitian, offers children an opportunity to expand their vocabulary, while embracing cultural diversity. Although Coomacka Island is an uncharted, fictional Island, the morals and values found here have universal appeal.

Featuring an entertaining forward and fun facts at the conclusion, Hooper and Degand have created a multi-layered, multi-cultural series that will be cherished by children, parents and teachers the world over.Happy Reading!     RJ xx3Rs-Real Reader Reviews©

The Story of Spider and Ant, is the first book in a series written by Don P. Hooper and Illustrated by Darnel Degand. Coomacka is an uncharted Caribbean Island, where each of the stories takes place. Although the Islands itself is a fictional place, much of the inspiration is based on Afro-Caribbean folklore.In this story, Spider manipulates Ant by being dishonest and pretending to be injured. Ant, believing his friend, enlists his family to help. After working all day for Spider, the ants were tired. However, the selfish Spider had no compassion for the ants nor did he appreciate all their hard work.

 

Reveling in his deception and trickery, the greedy spider celebrated. However, the truth was soon revealed. Realizing this is not how friends are supposed to interact; the ant sets out to teach the spider a lesson.

This beautifully written story has an important lesson hidden just below the surface. Books such as this, that teach silently, while entertaining loudly are rare finds indeed. In addition to the child’s bedside table, this series should be available at every preschool and daycare, elementary school and library. The rhythmic sounds of the island are beating within the colorful drawings. The expressive eyes of the characters convey genuine emotion. Hooper and Degand have delivered a fun, entertaining story that will keep children wide eyed and interested. And that’s exactly what a good children’s book should do!

Happy Reading!    RJ xx3Rs-Real Reader Reviews

Pacific Ocean, 1993. A Norwegian vessel heading out to sea comes upon a seemingly abandoned Japanese Cargo ship. Before searching for the crew, they send a party aboard to check for anyone remaining on board, thinking to lay claim to the cargo. Slightly further along, a British vessel floats, the launch-point for an underwater exploration.

Aboard the Japanese ship, the Norwegians find one man on the bridge, who looks as if he was boiled. In the engine room, doors have been propped open in order to sink the ship. In the cargo hold, all the automobiles are intact, one with its hood open. All seems ordinary. Until they begin to feel sick. The head of the group heads to the hold to check on a teammate who contacted him there, and find him dead next to the car with the open hood. Knowing he's soon for death too, he takes out his gun and shoots the vehicle, vaporizing the ship, the Norwegian vessel, and the British one too.

Beneath the surface, the crew in the underwater explorer hear the bang and feel some shockwaves but cannot raise their surface contact to find out what's gone wrong. Eventually their systems begin to fail, and it seems that death is imminent. At the last moment, help arrives in the face of Dirk Pitt, who with his partner Al Giordino, drove along the bottom of the ocean in their secreat DSMV to see what the disturbance was about.

After a harried escape from the ocean, the survivors of the explosion are left only with questions and disbelief.

The Government quickly forms a MAIT team, including members from many intelligence angencies, and the NUMA trio of Sandecker, Pitt and Giordino. The threat: Japanese underworld powers have devised a systematic plan to render most of the Western world helpless. How? Bomb cars. Why? They believe in the superiority of their race, and their economic tactics, and do not agree with the way melting pot countries are run. And yet the Japanese government and people at large have no knowledge of this scheme.

At nearly every turn it seems hopeless. The odds are pretty much insurmountable. And yet Dirk Pitt doesn't seem to believe in impossibility. Even though he and his partner are over their heads and out of their realm of expertise, the duo still manages to save the day at every turn, including managing to rescue two kidnapped senators and the mastermind behind the entire Japanese plot.

Another interesting and somewhat frightening look at what the world would be like if extremism ruled the day. Definitely recommended for anyone who loves action.

________

This is one of the books I wound up reading while at my boyfriend's because I had finished whatever I had brought with me. There's something to be said for random reading, I've learned. I wouldn't normally gravitate to Cussler on my own, but I really enjoyed the book. Dirk Pitt is definitely a likeable character, as anyone who saw the movie Sahara has likely learned.

While their parents are off on a 2 week cruise, Kendra and Seth are sent to stay with their grandparents, which they think will be boring beyond belief... but they couldn't be more wrong! Their grandparents live on the magical preserve, Fablehaven, a refuge for fairies, trolls, satyrs, and many of the things that go BUMP! in the night.

Overwhelmed and excited by all that the house and its vast yard have to offer, Kendra and Seth both exhibit very different approaches to interacting with Fablehaven's magical creatures. Kendra, cautious and kind, explores the playroom within the house and discovers a secret message in a hidden journal. Seth, on the other hand, bold and mischievous, turns all of Fablehaven upside down with his recklessness and bravado. Because of Seth's exploits, Kendra and Seth must work together to save their family and this magical place. Using their unique skills, imagination and all the courage they can muster, will they be able to save their grandparents, Fablehaven and themselves?

Beautifully conceived with unconventional plot and characters, Fablehaven is a delight that will capture the imagination of young and old alike.

In the Republic of Califa, where war lords rule and boys in kilts is the height of fashion, Flora Nemain Fyrdaaca ov Fyrdaaca, nearing her 14th birthday, is besieged by overwhelming problems. With her Catorcena celebration approaching, she must make many preparations including making tamales, writing a speech and finishing her dress while keeping her mentally unstable father in line and get to the bottom of what caused her mother, the Commanding General and Rock of Califa, to banish their butler. This is all complicated further by a dilapidated house with a mind of it's own, Crackpot Hall (imagine Hogwart's on LSD).

Though the story is at times overly meandering, the use of language in the story is very compelling. With new vocabulary and words from other languages seamlessly incorporated, the language of the story is the highlight of the book. At times medieval and simultaneously modern, I sincerely enjoyed triangulating the meaning of the words invented for the story and imaginative flair of the experience.

The major flaws to the story are primarily due to the incompleteness of explanations, which come too late to be properly incorporated into understanding the story. Though this appears to be the first of what I hope will be a long and interesting series, the ending seems to wrap up too quickly and though brings closure to the major plots, leaves an unsatisfactory aftertaste. Here's hoping this promising start will prove to be the worst of the series.

Lieutenant St. Vincent Halfhyde is a late-19th-century British naval officer with a sharp tongue, a quick mind, and a very low tolerance for fools (regardless of rank). He occasionally exasperates superior offficers who like him, and routinely enrages those who don't. He's the sort of person who's indispensible in time of war, but a square peg in the round holes of the peacetime navy. Even in peacetime, however, there are threats to Britain's security that are best met by an officer of Halfhyde's unique credentials. McCutchan wrote 15-odd books about Halfhyde, of which this is the third (and the first that I've read).

Philip McCutchan was a competent, though not gifted, storyteller. The plot of "Halfhyde and the Guns of Arrest" (involving Halfhyde's pursuit of a British traitor who has stolen top-secret naval documents and intends to turn them over to Germany) is involving without being thrilling, and most of the supporting characters are straight from central casting: the eager young midshipman, the prissy executive officer, the sneering German captain, and so on. The middle section of the book takes place in Africa, but the setting seems curiously underdeveloped. The story's principal strengths are Halfhyde himself, first-rate scenes of action at sea, and a climax that generates considerable suspense before wrapping the plot up in an unexpected and extremely satisfying (if not altogether plausible) way.

Naval history enthusiasts are likely to be fascinated (as I was) by McCutchan's evocation of the late Victorian navy. The 1775-1815 and 1939-1945 eras are well represented in naval fiction, as are the present day and the near future. The Halfhyde stories are virtually the only naval adventures set in the decades around 1900, when coal-fired, steam-driven steel battleships ruled the waves, torpedo boats were new, and the diesel-electric submarine was still on the drawing board. McCutchan superbly captures the technology and the social fabric of the late Victorian era, from the dirty business of "coaling ship" to the art of taking a steam-driven launch through heavy surf to the formality of even casual conversations between officers.

The chronologically exotic setting is, for me, unusual enough and well-handled enough to be worth an extra star in the rating . . . but I've always been fascinated by the steam-and-coal era of naval history. If your taste in naval adventure runs more to Jack Aubrey, Horatio Hornblower, and the rest of the wood-and-canvas gang, you may want to adjust accordingly.

First, allow me to catch my breath, dry my eyes, and gather my thoughts….. Written by Mike Unrue, under the pen name MA Street and self-published via iUniverse, this is an exceptional read! Hands is one of the very rare titles that not only has all the right ingredients but also has brought something new to the reading public.

In David’s mind, his ability to heal others is as much a curse as it is a blessing. Never knowing who he is able to heal, is frustrating and heart breaking for David. There are times he feels the music and at other times, there is only clatter. Unable to save his own Mother he is left questioning himself, as well as, this gift. Growing up without his father David is a scared and imperfect character that is easy for readers to relate too.

Because his emotions are experienced in vivid colors and musical in nature, art just came naturally. With his artwork selling for millions of dollars, his career as a brilliant artist was cemented. If only he could keep his ’other talent’ a secret he could avoid public scrutiny and ridicule.

When David meets Sara a trauma surgeon, they fall in love. At one point, she explains that her hands are magical, giving love and dancing. It is with her that he is able to begin the journey to acceptance. What follows is truly a beautiful exchange of emotion, passion and understanding.

M.A. Street has penned an incredibly engaging story that reaches out of the book into your heart. Long after having finished the final words, I found myself thinking about the characters. This is a story that stays with you. Written with the unusual mix of professionalism, realism, and spiritualism, that will surely be revisited many times by book lovers everywhere. It amazes me that this book only reached the market because of the sheer determination of the author.

If you crave a good story, that will grab you and not let go, from the first page - this is it! Do not miss this one! I know that I have added MA Street to my personal list of favorites and will be anxiously awaiting his next book!

Happy Reading!RJ xx3Rs-Real Reader Reviews

Those that live on the bank of the Mississippi River have a word for the weird things that happen there (like being turned to stone, growing a horn, or going missing) - and that's rivery. When something rivery happens, adults gets quiet and children are shuffled out of the room. But when something rivery happens to Duke, Claire's slightly younger cousin, Claire is needed to track him down and try to bring him home.

Of course, this is all complicated by river trolls, rock trolls, a missing turtle, her aunt and uncle being turned to stone and worst of all, Duke liked hanging out with the trolls which was having a very bad effect on him! Because of his ruffian nature, a strange old lady transformed Duke's regular nose into a rhino horn which grew every time he bullied. Because he liked bulling so much, he was rapidly turning into a rhinoceros! All he has to do is something unselfish and POOF! he'd be back to his old normally devilish self, but Duke had no interest in doing anything like that!

Certainly a cautionary tale for rowdy showboats like Duke, Horns & Wrinkles is also a fun adventure for young girls like Claire who love their families, just want to do their best, and like un-girlish things like turtles, frogs and trolls.