Review: The 100-Year-Old Secret - Tracy Barrett

Synopsis: "Go to The Dancing Men and ask for a saucer of milk for your snake. Then all will be revealed."

That's all the note says - before the ink disappears! Xena and Xander Holmes think living in London will be boring. But when they discover they're related to Sherlock Holmes and inherited his unsolved casebook, life becomes much more exciting. 

The siblings set out to solve the cases their famous ancestor couldn't, starting with the mystery of a prized painting that vanished a hundred years ago. Can two smart twenty-first-century kids succeed where the celebrated Sherlock Holmes could not?

Review: For kids who have just discovered the wonders of Sherlock Holmes and are now amateur Sherlockians, this is a terrific series to encourage that obsession. Well-written and containing enough little alludements to satisfy any fan, The 100-Year-Old Secret starts this series off with a swift kick. It wastes no time in the beginning, but launches straight into . . . . well, everything. For the most part, Xena and Xander are not horrible, but I wish they showed more interest in history-type things. Why do kids who don't care about that sort of thing always the ones who end up being related to some famous historical or fictional person?! It drives me crazy, and it always has.

The main problem I saw with this book is the resounding lack of villains. For a first installment in a series, that can be looked over, but if it persists in the other installments, then already I see a major problem with this series. The bottom line is you can't have mysteries - especially if they are unsolved Holmes cases - without villains! It just doesn't work.

However, I have hopes for this series and look forward to reading the next one. Until then, I will give it the benefit of the doubt.

Star Rating:  JJJ 

Others in The Sherlock Files:

1)The 100-Year-Old Secret

2)The Beast of Blackslope

3)The Case That Time Forgot

4)The Missing Heir

Review: King of Ithaka - Tracy Barrett

Synopsis: Telemachos has a comfortable life on his small island of Ithaka, where his mother keeps the peace even though the land has been without its, his father, since the Trojan War began many years ago. But now the people are demanding a new king, unless Telemachos can find Odysseus and bring him home.

"Return to the place that is not, on the day that is not, bearing the thing that is not. On that day the king will return." With only this mysterious prophecy to guide him, Telemachos sets off over sea and desert in search of the father he has never known.

Review: My opinion on this story is divided, so I'll give the pros first. It is well written and very interesting - especially if you're familiar with The Odyssey. It isn't historical fiction, for Tracy Barrett keeps the mythical creatures like centaurs and mermaids in it, so it's more like a myth. However, it still has many rich historical details that flesh out the landscape and sometimes makes the Reader forget that it's not a true story.

And that, I am afraid, is where the pros end. While it is well written, the dialogue is so modern that it made me clench my teeth in frustration. And that wasn't the only thing that made me irritated. Telemachos has got to be one of the most aggravating adolescent heroes I've met. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration - but he bloody well comes close to falling into that category. He's whiny, he spends all of his time ogling girls and getting drunk, he cannot fight or do anything useful, and he's always making stupid decisions. Hmm, nope - it's not an exaggeration after all! Telemachos's centaur friend - Brax - is okay, if only because he doesn't narrate the story like Telemachos does, and Polydora is not nearly as annoying as I was expecting her to be. In fact, she wasn't annoying at all - just kind of . . . bland. I could not have cared less about what happened to any of them.

There isn't really any sexual content, but the guys spend plenty of time talking about girls and ogling girls, as I mentioned above, but it's more of just a nauseating element than anything else. Probably what ticked me off most about this book was how Odysseus was portrayed. The only decent hero in Greek legend and the Author turns him into a wife-beater. Literally.

All in all, King of Ithaka was interesting and I don't regret reading it, but I probably won't be adding it to my collection. If I do, it's at the bottom of my list.

Overall Rating: KK