The Massively Multiplayer Mystery

I read to my 8 and 9 year old sons every night. Mostly we've been reading fantasy books, like the Oz series, or series like Araminta Spooky and Hiccup Haddock. They just recently began to prefer live action movies (like National Treasure) to cartoons, so I was looking for a different genre of books for nighttime. I had no idea what to expect, but they were enthralled by this Spy Gear book. Who cares about the undeveloped characters? Who cares about the shallow plot? Here were 4 boys on a break neck speed adventure doing lots of cool stuff. Better still, the humor was spot on! My boys were always begging for one more chapter, and my wife would ask me what all the noise was about as my sons were hollering with laughter every night. Everything is tongue in cheek, off beat or wildly off kilter. We can't wait for the next book in the series to come in. Septimus Heap is on hold; Spy Gear rules the roost for now!

So, not sure how you get to write an editorial review ... but I think being a college student pretty much qualifies me as much as being a puppeteer does ... which is apparently what Mr. Minkel does ;-) I liked this book just as much, if not MORE, than the first of the series. The characters are so much more developed and compellingly interesting than most children's books these days! They are vivid and interesting, and I would hardly call the references to the spy gear commercial ... this book is all about the characters and the action, which are interesting AND funny. Yes. The jokes ARE funny. And the author doesn't condescend to the kids, which I dig!!!

I already reviewed the first book, but this one's even better since Mr. Barba doesn't have to spend as much time introducing characters ... although he develops them beautifully in this continuation of Spy Gear's adventures. Such a great children's book ... also good for parents! This is something the family would enjoy reading together. Laughs galore! :-)

I think this was superb. I especially like Lucas Bixby. I think the book would be better told in the characters' perspective, instead of the author's. But overall, this book DESERVES 5 stars.