The Saint's Bones

Fans of the Harry Potter Series, The Three Investigators: Alfred Hitchcock Series, and Madeline L'Engle's, A Wrinkle In Time, grab your pens now and add THE GANG, Book 1: The Saint's Bones (also known as The Gang), to your reading list now! "The Gang," headed by brainy freshman Leonard Reasoner, is comprised of average teens with extraordinary abilities, and unlike my high school years; their challenges include battling zombies and running from an age old evil out to murder them as they come to grips with their growing psychic abilities; Sister Providence, the principal - and midterms. Creative, witty dialogue peppered thoroughout the novel accelerates the story line and clarifies world building details, while enhancing the believability of, "The Gang's," woes and reactions to rapidly changing and challenging events. While I may not be as psychic as the Gang's youngest member Noah, my sixth sense tells me that The Gang is going to be an award winner. Author Mark Edwards, has created an engaging literary work that clearly ranks him among the upper echelon of young adult authors in history. His smooth, flawless, and classic writing style; convincing, likable characters, and keen knowledge about teen life, had me enthralled and positively convinced that I was back in high school right along side the young men and women of the fictional St. Adalbert's Catholic High School. . The Gang is an expertly woven and incredibly captivating paranormal tale that has the potential to usurp Rowling's place on both, young adult, and adult, book shelves everywhere. The Gang is a refreshing break from tired, formula fiction and is a Must Read for; mystery, sci-fi, paranormal fiction and fiction fans ages young adult and up.

The Saint's Bones was such a great read, I tentatively recommended it to my oh-so-sophisticated freshman who read it cover-to-cover overnight! He is currently using it for a comic strip book report in his class, so I'm sure it will be making the rounds. I found the visual descriptions so vivid, I had to put it down once in awhile to catch my breath!

I read this book on a recommendation from a friend, but I wasn't sure what to expect. What I found was a book I couldn't put down. Somehow Edwards makes ordinary characters so vivid you would swear you have met them, and fantasy characters so real you can forget it is fiction. Some of the situations are so humerous, I was laughing out loud with tears coming down my face. This book is more than a kids novel. In fact, it is the first book my wife and I have fought over who gets to read the next chapter first. Well worth a second copy. It's really that good!