2.13.2016

The Secrets of the Castle ~ Review

The Secrets of the Castle 
Thunder and Lightening Book 1
By Aaron M. Zook, Jr.

This is a book should appeal to middle grade boys.  The Zanadu brothers are at present calling Germany home.  When their family trip takes an unexpected and dangerous turn Gabe and Alex embark on an adventure that they weren't expecting.

For some reason their trip to Neuschwanstein has brought them to the attention of some rather unsavory characters.  Gabe and Alex along with their dogs Thunder and Lightening are in danger but solving this mystery could cost them their lives.  But there is a mystery surrounding this castle and it's just asking to be solved,

Gabe and Alex suffer from a healthy dose of sibling rivalry and competitiveness. And this tendency leads them into trouble at times.  But they soon discover that if they hope to survive the latest trouble they find themselves they will have to work together.

Like many kids Gabe and Alex occasionally ignore or forget what their parents tell them, which leads them to unwanted consequences.   But through it all the boys learn some valuable lessons as they attempt to unravel the mystery they find themselves in.

The boys dogs Thunder and Lightening are both a year old and expertly trained to follow commands, which is rather amazing.  But the dogs were never taught to avoid food given them by strangers (a woeful gap in their training as the reader will discover).

I was provided a copy of this book by the author through TBCN/BookFun in exchange for my honest review.

About the Book:

Intrigue and danger surround two young boys and their dogs as they seek to unravel a castle mystery.

A near disastrous car wreck in Germany launches twelve-year-old Gabriel Zanadu, Alexander, his fourteen year-old brother, and their two dogs, Thunder and Lightning, into a sinister adventure near the famous German castle, Neuschwanstein. Unexplained eavesdropping, death threats, and heart-pumping danger drag Gabe, Alex, and the dogs into the clutches of a little-known foreign terrorist network. After they are kidnapped by the terrorists, and even though they are scraped, bruised, and battered, Gabe and Alex use what they’ve learned from their military dad and home-schooling mom to clash with the criminals.

Fear, pain, and failure drive the boys to tears as they struggle to free themselves from their kidnappers’ grasp. The usual brotherly fights must take a backseat as the boys and dogs scramble to break free and to escape from their enemies in the dark, cramped spaces of an underground battlefield. Hiding, out-of-breath chases, and deadly force all come into play. How do Gabe, Alex, Thunder, and Lightning survive and escape?

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~ Blooming with Books