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For twelve-year-old Scott Holcomb and his friends Al and Benji, the chance to go to a wilderness camp in the Rockies is a once in a lifetime opportunity. They had been turned down the previous two years and so their acceptance to this year’s camp is indeed a joyful occasion. If they only knew what awaited them, their joy would surely be tempered.
Max Elliot Anderson takes his reader through a thrilling, albeit frightening, ride that has the three young protagonists lose their way and stumble onto a sinister plot to cause untold damage to the country. The intrepid boys – at least two of them, for Benji is a worrywart who is constantly on the edge – find an ingenious way to thwart the villains and return the trio to safety. As in his previous books, Anderson keeps the descriptions to a minimum and the action moving. The characters are all believable and their actions and motivations entirely plausible.
The author himself was a reluctant reader as a child. To him, the style of most children’s books “was boring, the dialog sometimes sparse, or when it was used, it seemed too adult.” He set out to write books that overcame these deficiencies and the current book is fine proof of his success. The dialog crackles with wit and smart repartees and the emphasis is on action. The reader is apt to read the entire book at one setting as the mystery unfolds and the denouement is very satisfying. Even reluctant readers won’t be able to put this book down.
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Mountain Cabin Mystery