Finnegan Zwake Finn and his mystery-writer uncle head to Iceland in search of the Haunted City of Tquuli. Finn doesn't believe the legend of the ancient Vikings who live there--until a member of a rock-climbing expedition vanishes from inside a sleeping bag--one that was dangling 100 feet from the base of an icy cliff. Is it modern-day murder, or the revenge of phantom Viking warriors?
Michael Dahl is the author of over 200 books for children and young adults, including the acclaimed Finnegan Zwake mystery series and The Library of Doom. His works have earned Edgar and Anthony Award nominations and national design honors. As Editorial Director at Stone Arch Books, he champions engaging, award-winning stories that inspire young readers everywhere.
This is a novel for teens that I picked up because it sounded interesting. I'm glad I did. It's part mystery and part adventure story. I enjoyed the plot and the characters, especially Finnegan Zwake and his Uncle Stoppard. I think adults who enjoy cozy mysteries will enjoy this book.
Even as an adult, I love reading about Finn's adventures! Can't wait to get my hands on the next one. They're all page-turners to the last, with awesome characters and mind-boggling plots in each. My favorite character remains Uncle Stoppard, who I find quite relatable as a fellow writer - especially his rivalry with Mona :)
Several years ago I read another book in this series called "The Ruby Raven" and I loved it so I was excited to pick up this book in a used bookstore. And I was not disappointed! These books are exciting adventure mysteries for pre-teen and young teens. I would give it 5 stars but it just misses that rating because there are a few things that the author lets the reader connect to what's happening. As an adult reader, I can do that but I'm not sure that the target age the book is intended for could do the same.
The protagonist is Finnegan Zwake, who is probably 14 or 15. Several years before, Finn's parents, well-known archaeologists, disappeared on a mountain in Iceland and were never found. Their footprints just ended in a snowy field. Finn now lives with his mystery-writer uncle who travels around for ideas for his stories. This book takes place in Iceland when they go there on an expedition to search for the missing parents. The parents had been searching for the legendary hidden city of Tquuli (pronounced Too-Coolee) rumored to be the resting place of ancient Viking ships filled with treasure. The guides also take on another client and his group who joins the Zwake expedition- a guy named Reuben Roobick who searches the world for ice flavors for his company, cleverly named Roobick's Cubes. It's a very exciting adventure story! We've been to Iceland (although we didn't climb any sheer mountains of ice!) so the description of the terrain was correct. I desperately want to find the other books in this series!
I picked this up firstly because it was free and secondly because I like Viking stuff. Had I known this was a young children's book, I would have skipped it. I guess if you are a 8-12 year old boy, you might enjoy this but an adult, not so much. Besides the silly names (Jokkipunkis, Ruben Roobick, Sarah O'Hara, etc) and the screwy plot, all around just ridiculous.
Madcap adventures of a young boy who travels to Iceland with his uncle in search of his parents who disappeared without a trace on a mountain top EIGHT YEARS AGO. A silly premise but like I said for a young boy, it could be a minutes entertainment.
I picked this up at the Goodwill store because it had something about Vikings in it. Turns out it's part of a series and I've not read any of the others in the series. It was well written and good, but probably meant for tweens. I bet they'd enjoy the humor more.