Phantom Writer

This was a very good book. I'm a fan of mystery, but I don't like really scary stuff, so this book was perfect for me. The characters (again) are cool and believable. I reccomend this to anyone who loves mystery but doesn't want to have nightmares!

It always takes me a while to decide if I want to start a new series of books, and usually I end up kicking myself for waiting too long. That's how things went with the RED ROCK MYSTERIES series. I had seen them for a while and thought they might be good. Then I picked up PHANTOM WRITER and devoured it. PHANTOM WRITER is book #6 in the series, and being written by two of the biggest giants in Christian fiction for kids, Jerry B. Jenkins and Chris Fabry (who also collaborated with Tim LaHaye on the Left Behind the Kids series), this book had excellent story-telling. The plot centers around twins Ashley & Bryce Timberline, who head off with their mother to finish a missing horror writer's latest and maybe final novel. While Mom works on the book, the twins snoop around the creepy writer's estate looking for any clues leading to the whereabouts of the writer. Don't worry, this isn't your pansy mystery story where the only thing wrong is the grape juice has gone missing. The plotting is tight, the villains are well-thought out and somewhat convincing, and there are enough twists and turns to keep you guessing - at least for a while. The hardest thing to adjust to is the short chapters (there are 91 in this 238-page book), which switch between Bryce's viewpoint and Ashley's viewpoint. The story moves VERY quickly, and at times you'll be flipping pages so fast the story seems to blur by. But nevertheless, PHANTOM WRITER is a great addition to the bookshelf, and perfect for a fun read with a little suspense, but nothing too intense.