School Library Journal Review

Gr 5-8-While trying to manage a rickety old roadside motel, Cyrus, Antigone, and their older brother Daniel are dealing with the loss of their father and a mother who is comatose in the hospital. Their lives seem to going nowhere until an eerie stranger sets into motion a series of events that will change everything. All of sudden Cyrus becomes the keeper of a magical snake and a ring of mystical keys that includes the all-powerful Dragon's Tooth which is said to have the ability to bring back the dead. Soon afterwards, Dan is kidnapped by Dr. Phoenix and Antigone and Cyrus are on the run from evil forces seeking the Dragon's Tooth for themselves, and they swear an oath to an order of explorers who seem like their only hope to rescue their brother. This first volume (Random, 2011) in a new series by N. D. Wilson is full of twists and turns. Narrator Thomas Vincent Kelly makes the imaginative cast of characters three dimensional and especially excels in voicing Phoenix and all the evil minions as they move forward with their treacherous plans. Cyrus, Antigone, and their allies are given strong individual personalities, and Kelly nails all the accents from New York to proper British. Give this to Harry Potter fans, and they will be left eagerly awaiting the next installment.-Shari Fesko, Southfield Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.