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The Golden Scarab

(Quest #1)

S.W. Lothian (Goodreads Author)

3.77 · Rating details · 62 ratings · 30 reviews

Adventure dwells in all of us. It sits quietly like a shadow, waiting to launch us into something spectacular. We all dream of incredible places. We all dream of incredible heroes. We all dream of incredible lives. Sometimes, those dreams become real.

JJ Sterling has that same yearning for adventure. To break free from the norm ... to be the best he can be ... to save the ...more

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Paperback, 326 pages

Published April 4th 2012 by CreateSpace (first published January 12th 2012)

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· 62 ratings · 30 reviews

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Nov 30, 2012 Midu Hadi rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2013, 313, amazon-and-other-warriors, apocalyptic-post-apocalyptic, deities, fantasy, first-in-the-series, historical, humor, kids

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Feb 03, 2012 Jenn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Quest One: The Golden Scarab...where does one start? It's like Enid Blyton, E Nesbit and Indiana Jones all rolled into a 200 page story! I only wish I had children so I could read this to them chapter by chapter at bedtime. Three children, one of which is a virtual stranger from a far away land, gain an interest in history once this magical tale of time travel takes them to Egypt during the era of Pharaoh's reign. Only the pure of heart can make it through the booby traps that are set throughout ...more

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Jun 01, 2013 Wendy rated it it was amazing

I loved this! It's a proper adventure with all the essential elements: intrepid young heroes, a thrilling quest and a life-threatening chase set against the exotic backdrop of ancient Egypt, all culminating in the triumph of good over evil as the ultimate goal is achieved. What more could you wish for? This exciting story should satisy any young reader with a thirst for escapist fantasy but, as a "slightly older" reader(!), I particularly enjoyed the historical content, the vivid description and ...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Renee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-books

Here's what my daughter and I have to say:

DAUGHTER SAYS:

What I liked and disliked about it:

I liked the story because it was cool. It was really cool when the statues were coming to life. The Uberdiles were scary but it was funny that my Mom didn't know how to pronounce that word. I liked how they were being chased and then they were ok and then they were chased again, over and over. That made the story exciting.

I liked how it talks about Egyptian Gods and I learned a lot about them. I also ...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Jemima Pett rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, middle-grade, time-travel

JJ is absolutely ordinary. His friend Linc is pretty normal, especially with his love of food and adventure, probably in that order! So how come a statue in a museum starts talking to them?

This is a time travel adventure, where JJ and his friend are invited to go on a Quest and are magically transported back to ancient Egypt by the god Horus. There they meet Rani, also transported back in time, but from Aswan. I was never quite clear what era Rani was from, but it didn't seem to matter. They JJ is absolutely ordinary. His friend Linc is pretty normal, especially with his love of food and adventure, probably in that order! So how come a statue in a museum starts talking to them?

This is a time travel adventure, where JJ and his friend are invited to go on a Quest and are magically transported back to ancient Egypt by the god Horus. There they meet Rani, also transported back in time, but from Aswan. I was never quite clear what era Rani was from, but it didn't seem to matter. They meet other secondary characters, not too many though, and carry out various parts of their quest in Memphis, Bubastis and Heliopolis, pursued all the while by the evil god Seth's evil henchmen, the Uberdiles, sort of half-crocodile giants who generally take the form of statues, but sometimes mini sandstorms (sand devils).

There are a lot of statues in this book, most of whom have magical powers, usually either to attack our heroes or protect them. There are a lot of secret tunnels, a huge number of spiders, and a delightfully described maze with plenty of clues for the threesome to solve, accompanied at times by a magical cat named Mau. The boobytraps in the maze/caverns/underground temples structures are absolutely amazing, and take the reader through the second half of the book at breakneck pace!

I found the early part of the book a little disjointed, especially in its sentence structure, and I wasn't sure that the Prelude added anything to the story. I also found the use of slang in speech inconsistent - early on the ancient Egyptians don't understand some of JJ's and Linc's comments (e.g. cool) and later one of the ancients says 'ok'. But this is a first book, and I think the author warmed to his story-telling well. The characters are engaging and, well, noble, without being cloying - JJ makes a great boy-next-door type, Linc is a solid best friend and Rani is clever and isolated in her desert home. Now where have I heard of a threesome like that before? I suppose it is a standard recipe, but it didn't seem out of place (or stereotypical) when I was reading it.

I have the advantage of having been to Egypt and explored some of the tombs and temples, and the Pyramids, but I think the principles are well-enough known through Indiana Jones and school history lessons for most readers to take full advantage of the author's excellent descriptions of the scenes and structures. The Egyptian mythology/history is handled well. Early on I felt there was a little too much telling and not enough showing, but once the quest began in earnest, the descriptions fell into place and were vivid and imaginative.

It turns into a rollicking adventure and I am keen to find out what they get up to next! This is the first book in a series - the third book is launched next month - and it shows great promise. I think Mr Lothian has found his true calling at last! ...more

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Feb 14, 2012 Steven Stickler rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This debut from S.W. Lothian is a thoroughly delightful adventure story aimed at children in the 9-14 age range but also will be enjoyed by adults who, like me, occasionally find themselves frequenting the children’s book section in search of the latest from Rick Riordan. With a tightly woven plot that moves at a fast pace, seemingly ordinary kids as the central characters facing extraordinary obstacles, a battle between the forces of good and evil, and an appropriate dose of twists and turns, This debut from S.W. Lothian is a thoroughly delightful adventure story aimed at children in the 9-14 age range but also will be enjoyed by adults who, like me, occasionally find themselves frequenting the children’s book section in search of the latest from Rick Riordan. With a tightly woven plot that moves at a fast pace, seemingly ordinary kids as the central characters facing extraordinary obstacles, a battle between the forces of good and evil, and an appropriate dose of twists and turns, this novel has all the classic elements of a first-rate adventure. Add encounters with glowing mummies, statues that come to life, overexcited camels, a talking cat, mazes and tunnels, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and an amulet with secret powers, and the story becomes a compelling and enjoyable read.

The story begins when JJ, the central character and a somewhat ordinary 12-year-old boy, visits a museum and ends up in a room full of Egyptian artifacts where he is presented with an important quest: travel back in time to ancient Egypt in search of the Golden Scarab, which is the only thing that can prevent the evil god Seth from gaining power and disrupting the fabric of time. This, of course, is a classic adventure set-up (something bad will happen, only the main character can stop it), but what I enjoy about the way it is presented here is that JJ has a choice. We get to experience him thinking about the risks of undertaking this quest and so, when he ultimately decides in favor of taking on the challenge (as we of course knew he would), we gain an understanding of his character. From this somewhat contemplative beginning, the plot accelerates as JJ, joined by a friend from his own time, travels back in time in pursuit of the Golden Scarab and encounters a series of obstacles, frustrations and at least one potentially heart-breaking event.

Throughout, the writing style is clear, confident, and concise, with descriptive passages that successfully evoke strong mental images and a subtly wry sense of humor laced into the occasional scene. There are also important lessons about courage and friendship. All are important, but really a book like this will rise or fall based on the action scenes; it is, after all, an action-adventure story. On that count, Lothian succeeds wonderfully and I recommend this book for those who enjoy action-adventure novels.

I should mention by way of disclaimer, that I am also a writer and have interacted online with this writer on several occasions. I have found him to be a quite personable and articulate--in fact, that is why I decided to read this particular book--but I can assure you that my review was not affected by this relationship (nor, it must be said, has any money changed hands between us). ...more

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May 17, 2012 Erik This Kid Reviews Books rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It all started when JJ saw a green light coming from a mummy in the Egyptian exhibit at the museum his father works for. After seeing the strange light, JJ had a weird dream and then actually met Anubis (the Egyptian god of the dead). Anubis tells JJ that he is needed to help save the world and asks JJ to go on a mission to do just that. JJ tells his best friend Linc about meeting Anubis and the mission to save the world and Linc decides to go with JJ. The boys then get whisked away to Ancient It all started when JJ saw a green light coming from a mummy in the Egyptian exhibit at the museum his father works for. After seeing the strange light, JJ had a weird dream and then actually met Anubis (the Egyptian god of the dead). Anubis tells JJ that he is needed to help save the world and asks JJ to go on a mission to do just that. JJ tells his best friend Linc about meeting Anubis and the mission to save the world and Linc decides to go with JJ. The boys then get whisked away to Ancient Egypt by Anubis. In Egypt the boys meet Rani a girl from their time but from a different part of the world who was also sent to ancient Egypt to help save the world. JJ, Linc and Rani meet Horus (the Egyptian god of the king and sky) and Horus tells the children they have to find the Golden Scarab before Seth (the god of the desert and chaos) finds it. The Golden Scarab holds all of Seth’s powers and if he has it, the evil Seth will rule not just Egypt, but the entire world. Not only do the kids have to find the scarab, but they also have to get it to the goddess Ma’at (the goddess of truth and justice) to defeat Seth. To complete their mission, the kids must battle ruthless enemies, deal with traps and survive a long journey through ancient Egypt. Can three ordinary kids defeat the god of the desert or will the world suffer?

This story is really, really cool! When I first got the book I thought the description of it made it seem too close to the “Kane Chronicles” by Rick Riordan (one of my FAVORITE series) but I could not have been more wrong! This story is unique, action-packed and exciting. The characters are well-made and are very likeable. JJ is brave and selfless, Linc is funny and loyal and Rani is kind and smart. I thought the book started out a bit slow but after the first two chapters, I was totally hooked on the story. The action was great and it had a lot of humor in it (I actually laughed out loud at a couple of places). One problem I had with the book was it had a bunch of typos and editing errors. They were distracting when reading the book and made it a little less enjoyable. The book is clean with only some mild violence and references to gods of mythology. There’s a lot of information about ancient Egypt and mythology in the book which made it even more interesting.

...more

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Apr 25, 2012 Brenda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: aussie-authors, 2012-release, read-on-kindle, own-read

JJ who was 12 years old, had just started school holidays, and with his little sister Grace, and their Mum, they went to visit their Dad, who was in charge of the Museum in town. Wandering off, he found himself in the Ancient Egyptian section. Fascinated, suddenly he was in a room which held an Egyptian mummy, and two really big statues. The following day, he was back again, on his own this time, and his Dad just told him to take care…

When one of the statues started talking to him, he couldn’t ...more

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May 04, 2012 Alessandra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

JJ and his friend Linc, are appealed to by the Egyptian god Anubis to save the world. They travel to Ancient Egypt where they are teamed up with Rani and together all three are given instructions about their mission: stop the Egyptian god Seth from getting his evil powers and controlling all of Egypt, and subsequently, the rest of the world. Together, we race with the young heroes, hoping that they would succeed in their quests. Their enemy is powerful, and there are minions who do his bidding ...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Grampy rated it it was amazing

This book was reviewed by Lee Ashford for Reader's Favorite.

“Quest One: The Golden Scarab” by S.W. Lothian shares the story of JJ, Linc, and Rani, as they are called back through time by Egyptian gods Anubis and Horus to recover a golden Scarab containing the evil nature of the god Seth, and return it to the goddess Ma’at for protection so that Seth can never again become the evil being he once was, and longs to be again.

Provided by Horus with a handful of magical items to help them on their ...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Reading Divergence rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: middle-graders, early YA

4 Stars
An immediate plunge into danger and distress gets the book off to a fine start, capturing readers’ interests while we sit with heart in mouth, waiting for the outcome. Poetic imaging accompanies a rapidly-paced plot. The twelve-year-old protagonist, JJ Sterling, is an imaginative boy who spends quite a bit of time thinking about the world, and the Universe beyond; about those who lived centuries ago, and of leaving a legacy for the future. He’s rather advanced in this for his age, ...more

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May 05, 2012 Heather Boustead rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: action-adventure, ebook, fantasy, historical-fiction, young-adult

Quest One:
The Golden Scarab
By S.W. Lothian

Twelve year old JJ Sterling has been enlisted by Horus to retrieve the Golden Scarab for him so he may be able to defeat his evil brother Seth. Thrust back in time to Ancient Egypt JJ must travel through a dangerous tomb and dodge Seth’s minions at every turn. Will JJ be able to complete his mission and return back to modern day London in one piece?

This was a great “Early Young Adult” novel. The author did a wonderful job in brining Egyptian mythology to ...more

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May 11, 2014 Donadee's Corner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was very impressed with this book although this is written for the younger generation, I really enjoyed the whole concept of the story and fell in love with all the characters especially Mau. Of course the book as it is does need some editing with typos and some missing words to make complete sense of the sentences but other than that the story line is well thought out and follows through to the last page. The descriptions of the characters are very detailed and descriptive. I felt like I knew ...more

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Jul 13, 2012 D.M. Dutcher rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s, fantasy, indie

Okay premise and some decent research are dragged down by the writing.

J.J. visits a local museum one day and is chosen by the God Anubis to go back in time to the days of ancient Egypt. There's a mystical golden scarab that the evil god Seth wants, and he must not obtain it. J.J. isn't alone, however: his friend Linc, another summoned child named Rani, and the servant of Bast named Mau accompany him. The god Horus is their ally as well. Together the three children must flee an army of living ...more

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May 20, 2013 Sandra Stiles rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adventure, fantasy, middle-grades

The Golden Scarab is book one in the Quest Series. J.J. is 12 years old. My students will identify with him because they are also middle graders. J.J.'s father is the head curator at a museum. His family visits the museum one day and J.J. wanders into an Egyptian exhibit. The statue of Anubis begins to talk with J.J. He is the protector of the mummy at the museum. He challenges J.J. to find a friend and travel through time to find the Golden Scarab. This scarab will save Egypt from Seth, an evil ...more

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Feb 03, 2012 Claire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I don't read a lot of middle grader books, however this one was quite enjoyable. JJ Sterling seemed very advanced for his age, wondering about life and the universe. His dad works in a museum and he finds a secret gateway into the past. Along with his two friends, they have to race against time and challenges to locate the amulet. It has a very treasure hunt feel, like Indiana Jones or National Treasure, except of course with kids. Add in non-stop action, and magic and you get a fantastic mix!

...more

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Apr 12, 2012 Laurie Cameron rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It all begins when JJ visits the Egyptian exhibit at the museum where his father works. That’s where he meets Anubis, a statue tasked with the protection of the mummy on display. Anubis needs JJ’s help to set things right in ancient Egypt where the evil god Seth is upsetting the balance of power. But JJ mustn’t go alone, so he recruits his best friend, Linc, to come along. Linc and JJ meet up with another recruit, a girl by the name of Rani, and the three of them set off to recover a golden ...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Julie Grasso rated it really liked it · review of another edition

If you are a "Mummy or Indianna Jones" fan, you will love this book. We follow JJ, Linc and Rani, as they travel to the past on a quest set by Horus to find the Golden Scarab. It is the key to defeat the evil Seth in order to restore peace to Egypt again. The author uses lots of descriptions to set the scene in Egypt weaving Egyptian mythology throughout. I enjoyed JJ, Linc and Rani's characters very much and I loved that the kids did not know it all and were not invincible. They had to learn to ...more

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Dec 27, 2013 Patricia Walker rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I found this a lovely easy read with tremendous characters. My 2 grandchildren will love this story which is a fab way of encouraging the imagination to grow as the story continues and expands. While the story is more fantasy than anything else it does encourage the reader to go and investigate the history of the time and places written about...children will, I feel, find the book all the more enjoyable when they realise the places are real and the history behind them are just as exciting to an ...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Austin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, mythology

This was a good book full of adventure back in Egyptian times. The book flows along nicely and keeps you interested the whole way. There are many parts where the characters encounter problems and when they do, the scene is loaded with action.

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Jun 13, 2012 Jo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Great book for 8 - 14yr olds. Some great history facts entwined into the story and it doesn't weigh the story down. Its a good mystery adventure story that I kept reading. Easy read too.

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Jul 10, 2012 Leslie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Loved it! :)

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Aug 10, 2012 Jason rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great book. Plenty of action. Reminded me of Indiana Jones and Matthew Reilly, but with kids.

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Dec 14, 2012 F.T. Bradley rated it really liked it

A fun, Indiana Jones-type middle-grade adventure. I'll be checking out book 2!

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Oct 18, 2012 V.K. Finnish rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade

I give three stars to books I enjoyed while reading; two stars to books that are barely ok. This book deserves a 2.5 stars.

The Golden Scarab is an adventure story about a twelve-year-old boy named JJ who gets a chance to go back in time to ancient Egypt in order to restore peace to the spirit of a famous mummy in a modern museum. With the help of some friends, JJ travels around Egypt on his quest to help the good gods keep the powerful evil god Set from gaining power.

Let me get the bad stuff out I give three stars to books I enjoyed while reading; two stars to books that are barely ok. This book deserves a 2.5 stars.

The Golden Scarab is an adventure story about a twelve-year-old boy named JJ who gets a chance to go back in time to ancient Egypt in order to restore peace to the spirit of a famous mummy in a modern museum. With the help of some friends, JJ travels around Egypt on his quest to help the good gods keep the powerful evil god Set from gaining power.

Let me get the bad stuff out of the way first. There was way too much "telling" going on for a middle-gade book. (It felt like the author started off sitting at the end of a child's bed telling the story; there might have been lots of gestures and facial expressions to go with it. Only, the author forgot to add them in when committing the story to paper!) Next problem could be solved by the wielding red pen of a professional editor--abrupt tense changing and grammar issues (some tense change is good to show a change of setting, but I felt like there were changes where there shouldn't be, so that it detracted from the story). My biggest complaint is that the main characters were flat--I didn't feel like they were real, I didn't get interested in their plight. I had a hard time remembering that one character was from Aswan--she talked normal Australian like the other two, saying things like "what's he on about?"

There were good qualities, though. Most of the settings were vividly described-- I could picture them without any trouble. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the side-character Sadiki--he added humor and was consistently and almost cartoonishly "off his rocker" (in a good way!). There were some good uses of the simile (pretty important in MG writing); the drawn comparisons often made me think, "Wow, yeah, I can see that," or made me laugh.

All in all, readers who don't notice grammar problems and who just want a good old adventure without any character attachment might find this book fits the bill for them. ...more

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Mar 21, 2012 Lynxie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-star-review, kids, indie-review-copies

A kids adventure book set in ancient Egypt, who would have thought it would have worked?! It did!

Some of the dialogue seemed a bit juvenile at times, and at others quite adult, this made the main characters a little less real.

Sometimes I didn't get why we went off on descriptive tangents about random things, I believe this was to assist the reader to get a fuller picture of the scene unfolding, but for me, it just didn't work. A good example of this would have been the several paragraph ...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Cheryl Carpinello rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is an action adventure that will excite young readers. The three main characters (JJ, Linc, & Rani) travel back in time to ancient Egypt to rescue the world once they find the Golden Scarab. Lots of description about ancient Egypt, though in some places a bit long for my taste. The action is non-stop as one adventure follows another, and sometimes is a bit hair-raising. Kept me reading to the end. I'm an Egypt junkie, and I would recommend this to young readers who daydream about being ...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Penumbra rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: 0201-to-250-pages, mood-boring, young-adult, would-not-recommend, free-ebook, format-ebook, own, flaw-way-too-much-description, pov-narrative-style, did-not-finish

This book was given to me through Basically Books ARR Reader’s Corner by the author, thank you.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 08, 2014 Emily rated it it was ok

This book goes into the extremely small stack of books I just can't force myself to read. Going in, I knew it was a YA book. I made the mistake of assuming that it was along the lines of the Kane Chronicles. This book is geared more towards young children than YA.

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Apr 06, 2013 Heather rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013, kindle

4 stars for the story...writing needs improving

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Time Travel: The Quest Series by S.W. Lothian	3	47	Sep 24, 2014 10:43AM
Great Middle Grad...: THE GOLDEN SCARAB is free on Amazon 3-4th May2014 - COMPLETE	1	4	May 03, 2014 12:21AM
Great Middle Grad...: THE GOLDEN SCARAB - Kindle Countdown Deal - ends Dec 31st	1	6	Dec 27, 2013 01:38AM
Aussie Readers: S.W. Lothian - The Quest Series - Action. Adventure. Magic. Mystery.Time Travel	5	45	Dec 22, 2012 10:15PM
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About S.W. Lothian

S.W. Lothian

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S.W. Lothian is an Australian author who creates edge-of-your-seat adventures that are great reads for all ages. His books range from those that thrill young adult readers with intrigue, drama, and suspense, to those that launch teens into exciting settings and action-filled mysteries while reminding older readers of their ...more