The Reckless Rescue (The Explorers #2) by Adrienne Kress

Change of pace! I've just finished The Explorers: The Reckless Rescue at 12:39 AM, my time (I know . . . good grief) so I'm opting to use a format I used waaaaay back in 2007. Yes, really, I've been blogging for-freaking-ever. The idea is to make it easy reviewing because I'm beat. Either way, I'm going to tell you about the book, so whatever works, right?

What led you to pick up this book?

I read the first book in the series The Explorers: The Door in the Alley in June of 2017 and loved it. Adventure! Humor! Danger! It's crazy fun, enough so that I was not even put off by the cliffhanger ending. And, I hate cliffhanger endings. So, when a thoughtful publicist offered to let me review the second in the series, I jumped at the chance. Here's a link to my review of the first book:

The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress


Summarize the plot but don't give away the ending. 

Sebastian has been kidnapped by three dangerous men because he holds the key to an important map in his photographic memory. Evie has promised to rescue him. When Sebastian ends up running from his kidnappers after landing in Korea, Evie travels with Catherine (one of the Filipendulous Five explorers) to Australia to find someone who can help them locate a man who has part of the map whose key Sebastian has memorized. But, wherever they go, danger follows.


What did you like most about the book?

Adrienne Kress has a knack for combining silly humor with fast-paced scenes -- lots of running, climbing, jumping, dodging, racing around corners, etc. I love it all. I also loved the way the author used a K-Pop band -- something I'm sure young readers will appreciate -- to add a little unusual flavor to Sebastian's story.


What did you think of the main character?

There are really two main characters: Sebastian and Evie. The book alternates between their two stories and I like them both. Sebastian is a rule-follower and in this story he must break rules, now and then, to save his hide. Evie is every bit as smart as Sebastian but her brain works a little different and they tend to complement each other. I appreciate a smart heroine.


Share some quotes from the book.

Oops, I didn't mark any quotes. But, the chapter headings are every bit as fun as the story, itself (and so are the footnotes), so here's a chapter heading:

Chapter 38: In which everything comes to a head. Or whatever body part you feel like, really. 

See? Silly. I love silliness. The storyline is really so fast-paced that I didn't take the time to mark anything. Talk about silly.


Share a favorite scene from the book:

I love the action scenes -- all of them -- and there are quite a few. At the beginning, for example, there's a bit of turbulence on the plane (which is why Sebastian ends up in Korea . . . not the final destination) and when they land, Sebastian does something daring and runs for his life. The author does a fantastic job of writing just enough description that you understand exactly what is happening but it's minimal, at the same time. So, the pages just fly. And, that probably was one of my favorite scenes.


Highly recommended - At the end of my review of the first book in The Explorers series, I reiterated my hatred for cliffhangers. Oh, how I loathe them. Did I tell you I'm not a fan of cliffhangers? I like a book to stand on its own. These don't, sorry, and I do dislike that. But, this series is so fiercely, hilariously entertaining that I'm not entirely peeved that there are clearly two more to come and The Reckless Rescue ended, again, on a cliffhanger. In fact, this cliffhanger made me literally laugh out loud. Best cliffhanger ending ever. I hope I'm still on somebody's list of reviewers when #3 comes out. I did have trouble understanding what was going on, at first. It took a while for my memory to warm up. But, the author just throws you into the active volcano of her imagination and you can't help but get blown right into the action, so . . . who cares what happened in the first one? OK, yeah, at some point you need to figure it out. But, while you're remembering, you'll be having an awful lot of fun, I promise.


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress

This story begins, like most stories do, with a pig wearing a teeny hat. And I'm sure right now you're thinking to yourself, "I've read this story before." But please let me assure you that this isn't that pig in a teeny hat story you're reading but the other one. The one you haven't read. Yet. 


This is the opening to The Explorers: The Door in the Alley by Adrienne Kress. Sebastian is the hero and eventually we meet Evie, who becomes his partner in mystery-solving and adventure. I knew I was going to love the story as soon as I read that first page because I adore an author who writes with a sense of the absurd.

Sebastian is a 12-year-old with a devotion to routine, a photographic memory, a love of maps, and a propensity for science and math. His entire family is equally nerdy, so he gets a great deal of support in his pursuits. Evie is 11 years old, alone and sad, her parents dead, her only escape from the children's home in which she lives a weekly dinner with two very beige people called the Andersons who feed her beige food.

WARNING: The rest of this review contains spoilers. Skip down to the rating if you're concerned.

Then, things begin to change. Sebastian is forced to take a different route home from school and when he does, he happens across a door in an alley that says, "The Explorers Club". And, because of a pig in a teeny hat, he eventually ends up working behind that door and discovering a box full of photographs and newspaper clippings. Evie is out for her weekly dinner when two scary men show up at the Andersons' house looking for a key and Evie ends up having to escape from a fire with a mysterious letter sent by a man she thought was dead: her grandfather.

What happened to the people in the photos hidden inside the box Sebastian has found in The Explorers Club? Why does mentioning their names anger the club's members? How is the letter connected to the contents of the box? Will Sebastian and Evie be able to put all the clues together and duck all the bullets the two bad guys are shooting at them?

Highly recommended - Wow, what an adventure. I love the fact that the hero and heroine in this exciting middle grade book are very sharp kids, weird things happen, the book is action-packed to the point that sometimes you're practically hyperventilating at the end of an exciting scene, and the author has a wicked sense of humor. My only warning is that The Explorers: The Door in the Alley unfortunately ends on a cliffhanger. In fact, the author even makes a joke out of the cliffhanger - you have to love it that she's at least witty about it while she's ripping the proverbial rug out from under your feet. I call it a warning (maybe the correct word is "complaint") because I absolutely hate cliffhangers and often will refuse to buy a second book in a series if a first story isn't entirely wrapped up in some form. The rare exceptions are the books I love so much that I really must read on.

The Explorers may be one of those rare exceptions to my cliffhanger rule. It was so massively entertaining that it would have gotten 5 stars from me if it hadn't been a cliffhanger (I only took one star off -- and, in hindsight, that seems a bit harsh; I'll go back and change it to 4.5/5 at Goodreads). I love the characters. Sebastian is meticulous but kind and gracious. He means well and it's difficult for him to break rules, even when he's encouraged. Evie is sad, at first, but once given a challenge she puts her whole heart into solving the mystery, although she's definitely invested in it because it involves searching for a family member. And, she also really knows her mind. She's a nice, strong heroine.  The writing is excellent and often very, very funny, the pacing perfect -- she does give you a break, just as you're really gasping for air -- and The Explorers Club is an imaginative place that you can't help but wish existed. Also, there's a cat named David Copperfield. Who doesn't love a book with a cat? A perfect read for any adventure-loving kid and the first in a series.


©2017 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.