Review: The Da Vinci Code (abridged edition) by Dan Brown

History professor Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call while on business in France: the curator of the Louvre in Paris has been brutally murdered inside the museum. Alongside the body, police have found a series of baffling codes and need Langdon's help to decipher them.

When Langdon and a French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, begin to sort through the bizarre riddles, they find a trail that leads to the works of the famous artist and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci. As the clues unfold, Langdon and Neveu must decipher the code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle before a stunning historical truth is lost forever . . .

I know it can be a controversial thing to say in some literary circles, but I am not ashamed to admit I am a fan of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon books, especially Angles and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. I have loved stories about quests for lost historical and archaeological items ever since I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark at the cinema as a child, and if they have a dose of conspiracy thrown in then you've snagged my attention right away. 

Of course, I'm not blind to the fact that Brown is not a particularly great writer, but I do believe that at his best he is a damn fine storyteller. I was therefore intrigued and also a little confused when I read some time ago that there were plans to release an abridged version of The Da Vinci Code, specifically aimed at young adults: intrigued as to how an abridged version might compare with the original and confused as to why this was being done. Having now read a copy of the abridged version, I am sorry to say that I am still no less confused, although as it is a few years since I last read The Da Vinci Code I was still able to enjoy it without too much comparison with the original.

So, what have they edited out to make the book suitable for the young adult market? Basically, the expletives, some of the bloodier violence, the detailed description of the flashback scene where Sophie Neveu witnesses her grandfather in flagrante during a ritual, and some of Robert's lengthier explanations regarding ancient sex rites and similar. From this one might therefore deduce that swearing, violence and sex are taboo subjects for teen literature in the 21st Century, which makes me wonder if the editors of this abridged version have actually read any modern YA books themselves?!

Other than that, the characters and the story are still the same, which again raises the question as to why an abridged version is needed? OK, I completely understand the need to take out some of the sexual references and violence, but outside of this it's a little patronising to presume that an adult book needs simplifying for the teen market. My experience over the years has shown that boys who are confident readers will often make the leap from junior fiction or middle grade straight to adult fiction, with only the occasional foray into young adult books. I have lost count of the number of Year 8s that I have seen reading adult books by Andy McNab, Chris Ryan, Stephen King and yes, Dan Brown himself.

With this in mind, I also felt that I needed to judge whether this edition might be suitable for middle grade readers as I was reading it. Would it be suitable for them? The answer is yes, as I believe it has been 'sanitised' enough for confident readers of age 11+, but any adult who works with kids of this age knows that they much prefer books that feature characters of their own age, or a little older. It increases their enjoyment of a story if they can relate to the characters, or aspire to be like them. That is much harder with adult characters, and I am hard pushed to think of any other modern book for teen readers that has no teen characters at all.

Whether it is the original version, or this new abridged version, The Da Vinci Code is still a thoroughly entertaining and exciting mystery quest thriller and I can't help but recommend it. Librarians, teachers and parents may feel more comfortable putting this into the hands of teens readers, in the knowledge that it has had certain passages, etc. edited out. My copy is going to go into the school library, and I will be watching keenly as to its popularity with my young readers. My thanks go to the fab people at Penguin for sending me a copy to review.

Review: River of Ink: Genesis by Helen Dennis

When a mystery teenage boy emerges from the River Thames drenched, distressed and unable to remember anything about himself, he becomes the focus of worldwide media speculation. Unable to communicate, the River Boy is given paper and a pencil and begins to scribble. Soon a symbol emerges, but the boy has no idea why he has drawn it even thought it's the only clue to the mystery of his identity...

As the boy begins to build a new life under a new name, the hunt for his real identity begins.

A hunt which will lead him on a dangerous QUEST that he has only one year to complete ...

Three was the magic number for Bob Dorough, Blind Melon and De La Soul, and it's also the magic number for these new style Book Zone reviews, as part of my seemingly endless quest for brevity when reviewing. So, here are three reasons to read Genesis, the first book in Helen Dennis's new River of Ink series.

1. The quest

I love what I call quest stories, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I really loved Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and its sequel The Da Vinci Code. Books like this are my guilty pleasure, and since then I have been spoiled for choice in this area, with great series from the likes of Andy McDermott, Chris Kuzneski and Scott Mariani, but as I have often asked in the past - with so many books in this genre published for adults, where are these mystery-adventure-conspiracy-thrillers for younger readers? Thus, for this reader at least, Genesis by Helen Dennis is a very welcome addition to my bookshelf. 

2. The mystery

Helen Dennis is no stranger to writing mystery quest books. I am quite a fan of her middle grade Secret Breakers series, and Genesis is even better. Written, I believe, for a slightly older audience (although certainly suitable for readers from age 10+), the much loved tropes that can be found in adult examples of the genre are all present and correct: a protagonist who has lost his memory, another character drawn into the mystery almost by accident, strange symbols that suggest more than a hint of alchemy, a secret and ruthless organisation bent on gaining sole possession of whatever lies at the heart of the mystery. Put all these together and there was no way I wasn't going to love this book.

3. Mental health issues

Jed, the main character, having suffered severe memory loss is central to to the plot of Genesis. However, it is not this that I am referring to in this case. In order to aid his healing and hide him away from the press, Jed is 'welcomed' in to the family of Kassia Devaux. Kassia's family life is less than conventional - her father died a numbers of years earlier in an accident and her mother's behaviour is symptomatic of someone suffering from a number of mental health conditions. She suffers from severe anxiety, OCD and possibly BPD, and much of this is manifested in her attitude towards Kassia and her deaf brother Dante. She is over-protective, obsessive about cleanliness around the house and has pretty much mapped out Kassia's future for her. It's important that young readers experience characters with such illnesses in the stories they read, and not just in contemporary 'real life' stories where mental illness of a character is central to the story. It's another example of what we mean when we cry for more diversity in books for children and young adults (as is Dante's disability).

River of Ink: Genesis was published in the UK last week, and my thanks go to those fab people at Hodder for sending me a copy. The sequel, Zenith, is due out in June so fortunately we only have six months to wait to find out what happens next.  

Review: The Hunters by Chris Kuzneski (adult book)

The Hunters: Financed by a billionaire philanthropist, this elite team - an ex-soldier, an historian, a computer whiz, a weapons expert, and a thief - is tasked with finding the world's most legendary treasures.

The mission: Fearing a German victory in WWI, the Romanian government signed a deal with Russia to guarantee the safety of the country's treasures. In 1916, two trains full of gold and the most precious possessions of the Romanian state - paintings, jewellery, and ancient artefacts - were sent to the underground vaults of the Kremlin. But in the turmoil of war, the treasure was scattered - and lost. Almost a century later, the haul is valued at over 3.5 billion dollars. Despite hundreds of attempts to find it, its location has remained a mystery... Until now.

Can the Hunters find the treasure and succeed where all others have failed?

Please click on the link below and head on over to my adult book blog - The Book Zone (For Boys) Big Brother - to read my review of The Hunters by Chris Kuzneski. Although I have reviewed it over on my adult book blog, I think that there are many 15+ boys who would love it. However, it does contain violence and swearing, and thus does not really fit comfortably with the other books I review here.

http://bookzonebigbrother.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/review-hunters-by-chris-kuzneski.html

Review: Secret Breakers - The Power of Three by H.L. Dennis

Imagine the chance to solve the Voynich Manuscript - a puzzle that has truly defeated adults for centuries.

It's an ancient manuscript no one has ever been able to decipher. And there are Rules that say it is forbidden to even try to solve it.

A secret hidden for centuries.

But Brodie Bray likes a challenge, and when she receives a coded message through the post her life changes for ever. She's chosen for a secret team working to crack this most complicated code in the world to uncover the secret it hides.

But it's a code that has driven people mad trying to solve it.

Together with her new friends, Brodie must break the rules to break the code, at every turn facing terrible danger. For someone is watching them - and will even kill to stop them.

I have occasionally moaned about the relative lack of quest style thrillers for younger readers, when there are so many being published for adults. Back in February I posted a review of the hugely enjoyable The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman, a quest thriller for young adults that focused on the infamous Voynich Manuscript. Now, courtesy of writer H.L. Dennis, the 9+ age group have their very own Voynich Manuscript story, a book the publishers are touting as 'The Da Vinci Code for kids'.

The Power of Three is the first book in the new Secret Breakers series published by Hodder. The solution to the secrets behind the mysterious Voynich Manuscript, aka MS 408, has evaded experts for decades, to the point where many were sent over the edge in their obsession to crack it. As such, it was locked away with a government ban on anyone working on it again. Now Mr Smithies, a member of the British Black Chamber, a secret organisation formed to find out secrets and crack codes, has got his hands on a new piece of information, and he goes behind the backs of his superiors to create a brand new team of code breakers, and this time they are kids, all of them descendants of previous members of the Black Chamber.

Brodie Bray is the first of these young people that we are introduced to, as she receives a cryptic invitation that she finds more than a little sinister. The invitation leads to her solving another clue that leads to her journeying to Bletchley Park, home of the WWII code breakers. Here she meets Hunter and Tusia, two other gifted young people, and a small group of Black Chamber has-beens who are to become their tutors in the arts of code breaking. Soon the trio are making head way with the first clue to the Voynich Manuscript, work that could lead to them risking their lives to solve the mystery.

Despite the popularity of books by the likes of Darren Shan and Geoff Kinney, kids still love mystery stories. The popularity of the Adventure Island and Laura Marlin Mysteries books are testament to this, and I think the 9+ age group will also love the Secret Breakers. The three children have been chosen for their intellectual gifts, but they are certainly not your stereotypical geeks. Throughout the story they are tested physically as well as mentally, and they also have to demonstrate courage and resilience. These kids are great role models for mystery loving readers, who I am sure will take great delight in following their adventures as they attempt to solve each clue/code that comes their way.

I think my only criticism of the book was the amount of unnecessary foreshadowing that is included in the plot. It is something I have started to notice occurring more often in children's and YA books over the past couple of years, and I think that editors are as much to blame as authors. There were a number of instances where Ms Dennis included a short scene, outside of the flow of the main plot, seemingly only to add more tension to the overall story. To me this seemed a little to obvious, and a little irritating. However, this is one of the moments where I have to remind myself that I am reviewing a book written for 9+ children, who really will not care at all about this. It is only a minor gripe on my part, but I had to get it off my chest.

I do not know how many books are planned in this series, but the sequel, Orphan of the Flames, is scheduled to be released in October 2012. H.L. Dennis has won herself a new fan here and I am very much looking forward to seeing where she takes her young heroes next, as the ending of The Power of Three, although not being a cliff hanger, has left me very much intrigued. My thanks go to the lovely people at Hodder for sending me a copy to review.

be just as eager as I am to read the next instalment once they get to the end of this first book  

Review: The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left her in the merciful dark.

But the next morning, it was all still true: Chris was dead. His girlfriend Adriane, Nora's best friend, was catatonic. And Max, Nora's sweet, smart, soft-spoken Prince Charming, was gone. He was also—according to the police, according to her parents, according to everyone—a murderer.

Desperate to prove his innocence, Nora follows the trail of blood, no matter where it leads. It ultimately brings her to the ancient streets of Prague, where she is drawn into a dark web of secret societies and shadowy conspirators, all driven by a mad desire to possess something that might not even exist. For buried in a centuries-old manuscript is the secret to ultimate knowledge and communion with the divine; it is said that he who controls the Lumen Dei controls the world. Unbeknownst to her, Nora now holds the crucial key to unlocking its secrets. Her night of blood is just one piece in a puzzle that spans continents and centuries. Solving it may be the only way she can save her own life.

Since Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code took the world by storm there have been hundreds of what I like to call 'quest novels' published. Of course, they were around long before The DVC, and 'quest' is one of my favourite genres of adult novels, which is why I first picked up Angels and Demons not long after it was first published in the UK. You cannot go into any major book store (or supermarket) these days without seeing a plethora of these books begging to be bought. A state of affairs that has long had me asking the question - why on earth are there not more (any?) quest novels being written for young adults?? Author Robin Wasserman has now delivered her reply, and it's a cracker.

I probably would not have picked up The Book of Blood and Shadows if I had seen it in a book shop. The cover almost shouts "YA paranormal romance" to my blinkered mind, and with nary enough hours in the day to read all of the books I already have I am pretty sure this one would have slipped by the wayside. Fortunately I picked up on a few comments made on Twitter by some of my fellow bloggers, and the generous people at Atom sent me a copy to try out. Thank you Atom - I loved it!

The book tells the story of Nora Kane, a high school student who has joined a college project to decipher a centuries old mystery known as the Voynich manuscript (google it - it exists). Nora's father is an expert on classical languages, and Nora has been brought up to be something of a whizz at translating Latin texts, so she is more than a little put out when the bad tempered head of the project assigns her the task of translating a bundle of seemingly pointless letters written by a young lady centuries earlier. This young lady, Elizabeth Weston, just happens to have been the daughter of Edward Kelley, the alchemist who may have been the author of the ancient Book, but this fact is still not enough to stop Nora from sulking. However, once she starts working her way through the letters she becomes more and more interested in Elizabeth's life, and slowly begins to realise that the letters may be much more important than anyone had previously thought.

Of course, a quest novel isn't a quest novel without someone getting brutally murdered along the way, and The Book of Blood and Shadow is no exception to this rule. The victim in this case is Nora's closest friend Chris, and before she knows it she finds herself under suspicion of complicity in the crime, and her own boyfriend the police's main suspect. Nora's quest to prove his innocence and to solve both the ancient and modern mysteries sees her jetting off to Europe, and then running away to Prague with Chris's girlfriend Adriane, and this is when the thriller part of the story really kicks in.

To say any more would be to create spoilers. I started reading this book with few preconceptions as to what it would be like, and I think it was all the better for this. What I will say is that the characters are spot on, especially Nora who is far from being a perfect heroine in that she can by self-centred and moody at times, but she will also stop at nothing to find out who killed her friend. However, the people around her do not always share these same goals, and Nora quickly develops trust issues bordering on paranoia at times, although in this case Joseph Heller's famous quote from Catch-22 "just because your paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you" is perfectly apt in this case. 

This is a story of crosses, double-crosses, triple-crosses and perhaps even quadruple-crosses that will have you guessing up until the very end. In fact, just as you have decided for sure that you know who the murderer might be, something happens that has you changing your mind. And then a couple of chapters on and you change your mind back again. And so on and so forth. If you like mystery stories, this one is for you. Similarly if you like action thrillers. And absolutely for you if like me you like quest novels.

One of my great loves as far as quest novels is concerned is the way authors (yes, even Dan Brown) take historical facts and twist them around to suit their story. Of course, they risk facing the wrath of the historical society dullards  who don't like this sort of thing, but that doesn't mean that they do not put in hours and hours and hours researching the background for their story. Robin Wasserman has certainly earned her 'top researcher' badge in writing this book, as we discover in the afterword that many of the historical figures she weaves into her story were real people.

Robin Wasserman can hold her head high in the company of the likes of Dan Brown, Andy McDermott, Scott Mariani and other writers of adult quest novels. The Book of Blood and Shadow is a fascinating and thrilling read and I would recommend it to teen boys and girls who want a little more mystery in their reading material.

Review: Empire of Gold by Andy McDermott (Nina Wilde/Eddie Chase Book 7)

When archaeologist Nina Wilde and her husband, ex-SAS soldier Eddie Chase, are given the chance to work on an Interpol investigation into smuggled artefacts, they are stunned to realise that the artefacts hold clues to the location of a lost Inca settlement hidden somewhere in South America.

As Nina and Eddie dig deeper, it soon becomes clear that finding the settlement may only be the start of their incredible quest. One which, astonishingly, may lead them to one of the greatest legends of all time: El Dorado - the mythical city of gold.

Nina and Eddie are desperate to locate the fabled city. But they are not alone in their search. Deep in the jungles of Venezuela, they face corrupt soldiers, murderous revolutionaries and ruthless drug lords who will stop at nothing to obtain the city's treasures. With so much at stake, what price will they pay for the greatest of fortunes?

Contrary to popular belief, not everything I read these days is targeted at younger readers. Every now and again I feel the need to read something a little more adult, although the number of books I receive to review means that this does not always happen as often as I like. When I do get that hunger there are several genres of book that I turn to depending on my mood, and one of my favourites is what I loosely refer to as "quest stories". At this point I should admit that yes, I loved The Da Vinci Code, although I much prefer Angels and Demons (despite its ridiculous moments), but was very disappointed with The Lost Symbol. Since the global success of The Da Vinci Code there have been many, many books published of a similar nature, some of them brilliant, and some of them making me wonder how they ever got published in the first place. Of these, for me a small handful of authors stand out as personal favourites, with Scott Mariani's Ben Hope books and Andy McDermott's Nina Wilde/Eddie Chase series definitely up there at the top.

Empire of Gold is the seventh book in Andy's very popular series, but before I go any further I should make two things very clear: you really should start by reading the first book (The Hunt For Atlantis) and then, if you like it, read the rest of the series in order; and secondly, these books are most definitely written for the adult market, although I really, really wish books like this had been around when I was in my mid teens. If you are new to my blog then yes, I do occasionally review books written for the adult market on The Book Zone, as my experience at school has shown that a large number of confident male readers abandon the kids and YA targeted books soon after they enter their teens, and turn instead to books like this. However, I always want my readers to be fully informed about the books I review, and so should point out that these books are pretty violent, there is at least one swear word on pretty much every page, and they also contain the occasional "sexy scene" (adults who remember the ever-patronising Simon Bates and his film certification explanations on VHS tapes back in the late 80s will no doubt be chuckling now). Like I said.... I wish I could have had books like this when I was a teenager!

Like many of the books in this genre, Andy McDermott's work could never be described as literary fiction, but if they were they would definitely be nowhere near as much fun, and I probably wouldn't get much past the first few chapters. I read these books because they are pure escapist entertainment. They are books that help me forget the stresses of my job, even if only for an hour at a time, and I feel my mental health is all the better for reading them. A fairly dramatic statement maybe, but it's the truth.

Andy McDermott's series follows the adventure-filled life of archaeologist Nina Wilde and her former bodyguard and now husband, Eddie Chase. I won't focus for too long on their history together in the series for fear of creating spoilers, but their married life is far from a smooth one. I know of at least one reader (a friend of mine) who has over the course of the series become a little fed up with the constant bickering between the couple (and she thinks there are just a few too many swear words in the stories as well), and I have to admit that sometimes I have found myself wanting to shout at the pair to get things sorted. However, the strong bond between them that has been forged in some of the most extreme moments of danger always seems to prevail in the end.

Empire of Gold is definitely one of my favourite in the series so far. As usual, the promise of an incredible archaeological discovery (in this case El Dorado) sees the pair jetting off around the world, pursued by mercenaries in the employ of the greedy and the corrupt. As with all of the previous books in the series the action scenes, of which there are many, are without exception exhilarating affairs that will have your heart pounding with nervous excitement, and have you mentally taking bets on just how the pair are going to survive this time? Writing scenes like this are one of the author's greatest strengths, somehow managing to keep these scenes seeming as fresh as the first, and at no point did I feel that the author was recycling scenes from previous books.

If you struggle to suspend your disbelief then these books probably are not for you. If, however, you have a thirst for hi-octane adventure stories, full of loveable goodies and detestable baddies, then Empire of Gold and its predecessors are just for you, whether you are 15 or 95, or anywhere in between. I read Empire of Gold during my recent flight to New York, having been told at check-in that the entertainment system on the plane was broken. I am not sure I would have read an in-flight movie if one had been available as within minutes of take-off I was engrossed in the story and it certainly made the journey seem a lot shorter than it was. However, I was then left silently screaming by nailbiting cliffhanger that Andy McDermott leaves his readers with at the end and I now can't wait for the release of Temple of the Gods in November! My thanks go to the generous people at Headline for sending me a copy of Empire of Gold.