Alfred Kropp: The Seal of Solomon

The best fiction being written right now is for young adults. I've read Harry Potter, but only as I have begun to write young adult fiction myself have I started to enjoy the vast array of terrific modern children's literature that is available to adults. We don't even have to have a special library card to get into the kid's section! Alfred Kropp came to my attention because Rick's third novel, "The Thirteenth Skull" bears the same name as my third novel. This is a lucky coincidence, because Rick Yancy is a great writer and I'm thrilled to add him to my list of "must buy" authors. (When you start pre-ordering the hardcovers, you know you're hooked.) Start out with "The extraordinary adventures of Alfred Kropp." Kropp is a young hero, insecure, unsure, and not very brave. When he ends up stealing the great sword Excalibur, the action kicks into high gear and never lets up. The Seal of Solomon is the second book and it's better, faster, and even more intense. There's a lot of heads flying in these novels, and more than the usual share of gore. So your kids will love them. Leave the books lying around and tell them they can't read these, they have too much action and bloody fight scenes. Then pretend you don't notice when they are missing. Don't forget to read them first, though. Like Harry Potter, these books are for everyone. I highly recommend them.

I haven't been able to get my hands on the first Alfred Kropp book yet but after having read this book, I definitely will. This book has all the ingredients that makes a book exciting - adventure, danger and even some softer moments like when Alfred thinks of his dead mum or is compassionate towards his treatment of Kenny, the other foster child living at the Tuttles. A good book which I didn't want to put down!

After finding, and then losing, his father, Bernard Samson, a billionaire, then discovering himself as the last direct descendant of the famed knight, Sir Lancelot, retrieving King Arthur's sword, Excalibur, and, finally, surviving his own death in THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP, Alfred, naturally, now finds life a tad dull. Except for the new sport at school called "Kropping" -- a practice of daily harassment and humiliation recently adopted by his classmates -- his life has pretty much returned to normal. Boring. It seems his days of saving the world with OIPEP are over. Until someone ordered his extraction and he is kidnapped. He awakens aboard a ship, foggy and disoriented. In no time, he's forced out of a plane over the Arabian Desert and is preparing to speed across the dunes on sand-foils at 150 miles per hour. Their target? The Hyena, a terminated OIPEP agent who has stolen the Seals of Solomon. The Great Seal, a ring, and the Lesser Seal, also known as the Holy Vessel, must be intercepted before the Lesser Seal is broken, releasing evil the world has not seen for 3,000 years. But they are too late. They find the Lesser Seal has been compromised and once again Alfred is thrust into the role of unlikely hero. I guarantee that once you start this book you will be unable to put it down. Rick Yancey is the master of cliffhanger chapter endings. His descriptions are at once gross and fascinating. Alfred is endearing and funny, and epitomizes the hero in all of us. Who doesn't have the childish dream to save the world and be a hero? Through Alfred Kropp, the reader can live that dream. Rick Yancey has created an engaging character in Alfred. This reader eagerly awaits many more Alfred Kropp adventures! Reviewed by: Cana Rensberger

If you liked the first Alfred Kropp story, you will love this one. It keeps you hooked from start to finish. I am hoping there will be at least a third in the series. You don't have to be a kid to enjoy it.

It's a hard cover, so it had to come in good shape. I love Alfred Kropp, so I definitely like this book.