I am a huge fan of this author’s Murder by the Month series, but I was hesitant to pick this up for a few years. I was unsure how she would fare as a YA writer. There are few authors can write for both adults and youth and do it well so. So while the story drew my interest, I did hold off on picking it up for a long time. Then the author offered this book up as a freebie on Amazon a month or so ago. She did this because it was one of the ones she said she was most proud of. When that happened, I did take advantage of her generosity and one-clicking it.

This book did start off a bit slow and rough. There were a lot of things that were not explained in full detail. I didn’t realize that the book the Aine and Spenser were in was Tom Sawyer and they were ‘background’ characters. I thought it was an original story that happened to take place in the same place and time as Twain’s novel. Though that is also something that I can chalk that up to not reading between the lines well enough.

Once the traveling between the different books started, it was a quicker read. The pacing was well done but not too rushed. The dialogue between all four main characters was believable. Aine’s one track mind about everything did get annoying fast. But it was also believable being that she was fifteen years old. Her two main and consistent goals were to keep her brother safe and find their mother. So at least they were noble goals. She was also good at admitting her mistakes, even if the drama did seem a bit much at times. But again she was a teenager.

There were many nods to other pieces of literature apart from the ones the children visited. Lourey did a good job of keeping true to the original stories while putting her own touch on it. Biblos was a terrifying creature for children and grown-ups. There were also glimpses into his humanity, albeit very few and short. I think that, if the other books do get written and published, more of his story will develop as well as Gilgamesh. The seeds were planted for the idea that nothing and no one, hero or villain, is completely one-sided. There were events in this volume that were eye-opening experience for the children, and will likely continue, as they found out not everything, or everyone, is as it seems.

I am unsure if the author will finish this series but I hope she does. I feel there is a lot of promise here and it is a book that everyone can enjoy, especially those who have been life time readers.